PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Sam Malone (ranked 4436 p4p, 507 weight class) and KJ Talley (ranked 5913 p4p, 630 weight class). KJ Talley has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Sam Malone's chin.

Malone
vs
Talley

190 cm
30
195 lbs
4 - 11 - 0

186 cm
44
191 lbs
29 - 15 - 1

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Sam Malone!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, KJ Talley!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Wesley Smith and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Talley lands with a shot to the body.
Talley throws a nice inside leg kick.
Malone drops his hands momentarily and Talley takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
A lazy body kick from Talley

and Malone decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Talley's guard.
Talley controls Malone momentarily but Malone frees himself.
Malone is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Malone throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Talley works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Malone has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Talley is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Malone controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Talley utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Malone with a flurry of punches that miss.
Malone in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Malone throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Talley looking to control.
Talley is controlling Malone's posture.
Talley trying to keep a closed guard but Malone is proving a slippery customer.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Malone working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Talley escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Malone gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Talley trying to control the position.
Malone wants to control from the top but Talley keeps moving.
Malone is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Malone lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Malone postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Malone throws a big right hand that misses.
Talley is pulling down on Malone's head. It's preventing any offense from Malone, at least for the moment.

Malone got a little sloppy there for a moment and Talley has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Malone has managed to get both his arms back between Talley's legs - danger averted.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Malone is sitting in close to Talley's body. Talley has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Malone is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Malone is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Talley.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:25 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). KJ Talley!
After the fight, KJ Talley was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.