PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Lion Messi (ranked 5380 p4p, 633 weight class) and Joshua Moore (ranked 6146 p4p, 688 weight class). Moore has chosen The SHOW Must Go On as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Messi
vs
Moore

185 cm
25
170 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

179 cm
22
168 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Inexperienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Free Bands inc.
IniTech Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Lion Messi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joshua Moore!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Patrick Alders and Wagner Zegers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Moore fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Moore lands with a shot to the body.
A big right from Moore misses.
Messi dodges the punch combination from Moore.
Messi seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Messi is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Moore circles away from the clinch attempt.
Messi shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Moore but Moore pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Messi has a takedown stuffed.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Messi misses with a wild combination.
A head kick by Moore misses
and Messi counters with a two punch combo.
Moore scores with a jab to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Moore's corner calls for a 1-2. Moore obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Messi tries for a takedown but Moore sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lion Messi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Moore throws a front kick aimed at Messi's knee but Messi avoids it well.
Messi appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Nice body punch from Moore.
Nice shot by Moore.
Messi rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Moore moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Moore tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Messi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Messi working away.
Moore is looking to reverse the position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Moore holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.

Messi looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Moore is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Messi's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Messi takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Moore looks like he's trying to stand up.
Moore is looking for a sweep. Messi is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
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. Messi connects with a nice short shot to Moore's temple.
Moore is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Messi's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Messi's back!
Messi has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Messi is trying to get back to his feet but Moore has full control of the position and if anything, Messi has just worked his way into a worse spot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Messi tries to roll but Moore sticks to his back.
Moore throwing sloppy strikes.
Messi tries to break free.
Messi is breathing heavily.
Moore lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.

Moore working for a choke but Messi is defending well.

Moore has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.

Moore is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Messi defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Messi trying to control but not successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Messi is in bad spot here.

Messi fending off the submission attempt from Moore.
Messi is trapped and Moore is scoring with shots to the head and body.
Messi trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Messi is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Moore lands shots from the back.
Messi manages to reverse the position and now he's in Moore's guard. Nice work there by Messi.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joshua Moore dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Messi tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Moore paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Messi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Moore has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Messi shoots in looking for a takedown. Moore tries to sprawl out of it but Messi keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Moore manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Moore goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Messi shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Moore counters with a crisp one two that drops Messi! Moore thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Messi to his feet! Messi is in big trouble!

Messi is rocked!
Messi checks a low kick from Moore.
Oh Messi is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Joshua Moore seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Messi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Moore thuds a left hand into Messi's body.
Messi loses concentration momentarily and Moore pounces with a three punch combo! Right, left, right! Messi crashes face first to the mat, out cold! Moore finishes this one with a fantastically precise combo! Great stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Joshua Moore!
Joshua Moore very nearly forgot to thank IniTech Nutrition amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.