PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mark Merel (ranked 2692 p4p, 320 weight class) and Dean Roger (ranked 4069 p4p, 449 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Merel
vs
Roger

191 cm
23
190 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

190 cm
29
200 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter

Bullet Proof System

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mark Merel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dean Roger!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, John Roberts and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Roger fails to land with a series of punches.
Roger misses with an uppercut. Merel saw that one coming.
Roger digs a good body shot into Merel's ribs.
Roger misses with a hook.
Merel moves away from the strike by Roger.
Roger staying out of range there.
Merel blocks a head kick by Roger.
Roger ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Merel moves away.
Roger misses with an uppercut. Merel saw that one coming.
Merel uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Roger.
Merel attempts a counter takedown but Roger avoids it well and moves away.
Merel looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Nice defenses there by Roger.
Merel darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Roger takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Roger will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A big left from Merel misses.
Roger is looking to chop away at Merel's legs.
Roger scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Roger waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Merel.

Roger gets caught napping as Merel dives in and scores a takedown. Roger manages to retain guard.
Roger told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Roger controls Merel momentarily but Merel frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merel controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Merel seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Roger for as long as he can get away with.
Roger utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Merel 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.
Merel stays in close to Roger's body and controls the position.
Merel continues to stall.
Roger working a defensive guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Roger keeping moving, preventing Merel from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Roger throws a leg kick

and Merel counters with a nice double leg into side control. Roger won't be happy with that.
Roger is being controlled here.
Roger is trying to get back to half guard.
Merel working the body and head with strikes.
The referee asks Merel politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Merel prefers to stall for the moment though.
Merel scores with punches from side control.
Merel trying to control the action but Roger is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Roger is working to avoid the ground and pound but Merel connects with a decent elbow.
Roger takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Merel scoring with punches and elbows.
Roger tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Roger is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Merel trying to control the action but Roger is working from the bottom.
Roger has hold of Merel's hands but Merel slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Merel in half guard on the top. He's looking for a kimura... He's got it locked and he's managed to free his trapped foot. Roger tries to escape but it's on too tight and he has to tap! Great BJJ skills there from Merel!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:18 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Mark Merel!
Our winner, Mark Merel, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.