PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Iggy Manley (ranked 3199 p4p, 0 weight class) and Apollo Reid (ranked 4239 p4p, 0 weight class). Manley comes into the arena with Born in the USA blaring out of the sound system. Reid has chosen Living in America by James Brown as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Iggy Manley has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Manley
vs
Reid

180 cm
26
192 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

189 cm
25
192 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid 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 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Iggy Manley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Apollo Reid!
The judges for this bout are Dirk Anderson, Santiago Holmes and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Manley looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Reid clinches up with Manley and pushes him back against the cage.
Reid stalling against the cage.
Reid avoiding damage.

Manley breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Reid gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Manley tries to pull guard but Reid holds him up against the cage and eventually Manley drops back down to his feet.
Manley drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Reid gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iggy Manley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Reid prevents the takedown attempt.
Manley wants to take the fight to the mat but Reid manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

Reid escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Reid fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Manley, pushing him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reid is pressed up against the cage. Manley has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Reid down to the mat. Reid avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Reid misses with a kick to the body

and Manley counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Reid is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Reid not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Reid is looking to stand up but Manley isn't so interested in that idea.
Manley throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Reid works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Manley connects with a couple of short punches.
Manley stops Reid from standing up.

Reid pushes Manley off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Manley fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Reid to the ground. Manley is now in Reid's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Manley accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Manley controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Manley wants to pass the guard but Reid is keeping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Manley won't allow Reid to sweep him here.
Manley is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Reid wants to get back to his feet but Manley is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Manley cracks Reid with a solid left hand.
Our spies down at at King Of Pain inform us that Reid has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Reid throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Manley stopping the sweep attempt from Reid.
Reid is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Manley is controlling him.
Manley distracts Reid with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Manley trying to control the position from guard on top but Reid is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Manley postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manley is stalling in the full guard.
Manley looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Manley connects with a couple of short punches.
Manley is working Reid over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Manley lands a couple of elbows.
Manley is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Manley postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Reid is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Manley is controlling him.
Manley working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Reid's head.
Manley landing with the ground and pound.
Manley works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reid tries to kick Manley off but Manley keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Reid is trying to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ground and pound from Manley.
Manley controlling the action here.
Reid is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Manley scores with a couple of nice shots.
Manley is figuring out what he wants to do next.
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. Manley connects with a nice short shot to Reid's temple.
Reid is looking for a sweep. Manley is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Manley 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.
Manley seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Reid does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Manley is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Ground and pound from Manley.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Iggy Manley dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Reid takes the fight into the clinch.
Reid taking a breather.
Manley tries to pull guard but Reid forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Reid is pressed up against the cage. Manley has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Reid down to the mat. Reid avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Manley avoids the head kick by Reid.
Reid throws a body shot but no joy.
Reid keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iggy Manley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Reid scores with a spinning back kick!

Manley tries to keep at a distance but Reid has taken the fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Manley jumps guard but Reid turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Reid pushes Manley back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Reid lands a good knee to the midsection. Manley won't want to take too many of those.
Manley is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Reid is keeping busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reid with a knee to the head.
Manley jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Reid walks away with a smile on his face. Manley gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Manley misses with the combination.
A nice side step and Reid releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Manley looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Reid is fending him off so far but Manley persists. Nope, Reid circles away and we're back to standing.
Manley fails to land the takedown.
Reid misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Manley.
Reid loads up on a big right hand but Manley slips the punch.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Manley.
Iggy Manley overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Reid tries to buck Manley off but Manley is having none of it.
Reid is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Manley drops an elbow to the side of Reid's head.
Manley lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Reid wants to get back to his feet.
Reid trying to hold on to Manley's head to control him but Manley postures up.
Manley looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Manley lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Manley takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Manley is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Reid defends it well.
Reid wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reid is looking for a sweep. Manley is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Manley passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Reid!
Reid is looking to improve his position but Manley isn't that keen on the idea.
Reid taking shots to the head.
Manley lands a nice shot to the head.
Reid is trying to stand up.
Manley working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Reid wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Reid is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Manley is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Reid can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Manley working Reid over with strikes here.
Manley lands a big shot there that rocks Reid but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

Reid is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Manley postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Reid badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of Manley around the waist but Manley pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! Manley is the winner by TKO! Manley jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:36 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Iggy Manley!
Iggy Manley 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.
The defeated Apollo Reid had this to say: 'Good luck.'.