PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zico Ali (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lyoto Machida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Machida has chosen For Whom The Bell Tolls as his entrance music. Zico Ali has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ali
vs
Machida

193 cm
23
220 lbs
6 - 7 - 0

185 cm
50
205 lbs
39 - 43 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Decent wrestler
Excellent MT
Determined

EVOLUTION Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Zico Ali!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 39 - 43 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lyoto Machida!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Leandro Rodrigues and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Machida misses with a double jab.
Ali attempts a counter takedown but Machida avoids it well and moves away.
Lyoto Machida seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
No joy there for Machida, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Machida cracks Ali with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Machida throws a left and a right that both miss
and Ali connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Machida throws a combination that misses
and Ali counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

Ali lands a big shot that drops Machida! Can he finish him?

Machida is rocked!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ali with a flurry of punches that miss.
Machida is still in real trouble! Can Ali finish him?
Machida utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ali throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Machida works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Ali decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Machida, up you get!
Machida waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ali.
Machida seems to have recovered his senses.
Machida tries to bum rush Ali with a series of wild strikes but Ali uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
We've been hearing reports that Ali has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.

Ali is looking for a takedown. Wow, that's a brutal slam - Machida is in big trouble! Ali is landing strikes from the mount and this one is all over! The ref jumps in to save a confused looking Machida. Poor guy.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:41 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Slam). Zico Ali!