PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Balfour Darrow (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Malik Jones (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Darrow
vs
Jones

166 cm
31
138 lbs
13 - 6 - 0

169 cm
35
142 lbs
19 - 10 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Balfour Darrow!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Malik Jones!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Edson Gomes and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Darrow ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Darrow takes a swing at Jones's ribcage but misses.
Darrow misses with a body punch
and Jones counters with a left and a right that stings Darrow.
Darrow avoids a kick to the body.
Jones just misses with a punch to the body.
Darrow misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Jones.
Jones keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Jones throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Darrow cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Darrow throws a hook but Jones blocks it.

Jones shoots in and gets a takedown into Darrow's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Darrow wants to get back to his feet but Jones is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Jones trying to control but Darrow is working from the bottom.
Jones scoring with punches to the head and body.
Darrow looking to control.
Jones being controlled here momentarily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jones slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Jones avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Darrow is in a tricky position. We've heard reports from his gym mates at Shark Tank MMA that he's been drilling escapes, so let's see if he can get back to his feet.

Darrow escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Jones gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Darrow wants to get back to his feet but Jones is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Jones stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Darrow swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Darrow is trying to control the position but Jones postures up.
Darrow looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Darrow is trying to control the position but Jones postures up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Darrow moves out of range of the leg kick from Jones.
Darrow is looking to wear down Jones with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Darrow throws a poor cross that misses
and Jones counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Darrow misses the jab.
Jones looks to throw the jab but Darrow is out of range.
Darrow digs a good body shot into Jones's ribs.
Jones scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Balfour Darrow seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Darrow misses with a body shot.
Jones throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Jones tries to land a leg kick but Darrow saw it coming and moves away.
Jones takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Darrow misses with an uppercut.
Jones lands a jab to Darrow's midsection.

Jones drives through and clinches with Darrow against the cage.
Jones throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Darrow.
Darrow throws a head punch that misses.
Darrow misses with a hook from the clinch.
Darrow misses with a hook to the ribs.
Jones prevents a body shot from Darrow.
Darrow tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Jones's elbow.

Jones turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Jones manages to end up in side control.
Darrow manages to work his way to half guard, despite Jones's best efforts.
Darrow wants to improve his position but Jones is controlling well.
Darrow wants to control but Jones is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Jones trying to control the action but Darrow is working from the bottom.
Jones is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jones controlling the action here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
It looks like Jones might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Darrow trying to control from the bottom.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Jones connects with a nice short shot to Darrow's temple.
Jones throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Jones in particular looking to stall.
Darrow pushes Jones off looking to stand but Jones dives back in and keeps control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Malik Jones dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Jones fails to land with a series of punches.
Jones takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Jones takes one to the chin there.
Good exchange - Darrow coming out on top.
Jones tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Darrow was well out of range. Poor timing from Jones.
Jones moves out of range of the strikes.
Jones takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Darrow misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Jones.
A little jabbing left from Jones on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Darrow tries to score with a low kick but Jones moves his leg out of the way.
Jones throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Darrow on the side of the head.
Darrow takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Jones fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Darrow misses with an uppercut.
Darrow looks to land a right hand but Jones moved out of range.
Darrow swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Darrow throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Darrow sets himself, and Jones steps forward looking for the clinch! Darrow avoids it this time.
Jones ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Darrow moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jones scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Malik Jones seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Jones misses with a low kick.
Jones ducks under a wild hook from Darrow.
A nice combination there by Darrow.
Jones uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Darrow.
Jones looks to land a combination but Darrow avoids it well.
A slapping leg kick lands for Darrow.
Darrow throws a sloppy head kick and Jones moves out of range easily.
Jones flicks out a counter leg kick but Darrow steps away.
Darrow throws a leg kick which misses Jones's front leg but catches the back leg as Jones tries to avoid it.
Darrow tries to move into range but Jones moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Darrow throws a body kick that misses
and Jones counters with a stiff right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The fighters circle momentarily. Darrow darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Jones uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Darrow.
Darrow misses with an uppercut
letting Jones counter with a right hand.
Jones pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Darrow back to the cage. Jones follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

Darrow is rocked!
Darrow takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Oh Darrow is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Today's fight clock is brought to you by... OOOH that's a huge shot by Jones! Darrow is in big trouble here - the ref steps in to save him and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Malik Jones!
Malik Jones decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.