PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Eksem Von Ketler (ranked 392 p4p, 11 weight class) and Johnny Pearson (ranked 350 p4p, 9 weight class). Von Ketler's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Bonecracker- Shocore. Eksem Von Ketler has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Von Ketler
vs
Pearson

166 cm
29
139 lbs
20 - 8 - 0

174 cm
26
138 lbs
17 - 10 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Aspire Clothing

Sully's Bar & Grill

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Eksem Von Ketler!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Johnny Pearson!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Joseph Jones and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pearson looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Von Ketler appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Von Ketler misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Pearson.
Pearson looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Pearson throws a head kick that misses.
Von Ketler dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Von Ketler dips to his left and cracks Pearson with an uppercut!
A swing and a miss from Pearson.
Von Ketler feinted with a counter takedown.
Pearson connects with a crisp jab.
Pearson is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Von Ketler uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Pearson.
Von Ketler changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Pearson throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Von Ketler counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Pearson waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Von Ketler.
Pearson lands a nice looking kick to the body. Von Ketler takes a step back to recover.
Von Ketler throws a good cross that connects.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pearson lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Pearson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Von Ketler manages to avoid it.

Von Ketler rushes Pearson and presses him up against the cage.
Pearson tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pearson has a couple of punches blocked by Von Ketler.
Pearson landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Pearson throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Von Ketlers head.
Von Ketler lands an elbow inside.
Von Ketler goes for a takedown attempt but Pearson pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Von Ketler gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Pearson misses with the head strike.
Pearson lands a left hand that snaps the head of Von Ketler backwards.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Von Ketler.
Pearson has a couple of punches blocked by Von Ketler.
Von Ketler looking to stall.
Pearson misses with a body punch.
A short right from Pearson.

Von Ketler pulls guard successfully.

Pearson got a little sloppy there for a moment and Von Ketler has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Pearson has managed to get both his arms back between Von Ketler's legs - danger averted.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Pearson stands up and waves to Von Ketler to follow him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Decent striking displayed by Pearson there.
Von Ketler missing with a left hand there. Pearson was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A jab from Pearson misses.

Pearson tries to keep at a distance but Von Ketler has taken the fight into the clinch.
Pearson doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Pearson struggles to land a body shot inside as Von Ketler controls his hands.
I was talking to Von Ketler's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Pearson.

It looks like Eksem Von Ketler has been cut.
Pearson tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Von Ketler's elbow.
Von Ketler prevents a body shot from Pearson.

Von Ketler wants the takedown. Pearson is fighting it off but Von Ketler persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Pearson's guard against the cage.
Von Ketler is working Pearson over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Von Ketler trying to control the position from guard on top but Pearson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Pearson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Von Ketler won't allow Pearson to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Von Ketler postures up in Pearson's guard and throws a big left but Pearson blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Von Ketler wants to pass the guard but Pearson is keeping the position.
Von Ketler trying to control but Pearson is working from the bottom.
Pearson wants to stand up but Von Ketler is controlling him.
Pearson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Pearson is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Pearson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Pearson has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Von Ketler off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Von Ketler throws a low kick but Pearson moves out of range easily.
Pearson takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Von Ketler changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Pearson tries to avoid it but Von Ketler manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Pearson to the ground. Pearson escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pearson throws a jab when Von Ketler was well out of range.
Von Ketler avoids a kick to the body.
Johnny Pearson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Von Ketler ducks under a wild hook from Pearson.
Pearson throws a big shot that misses.
Crunch! Pearson slams his shin into Von Ketler's torso.
Good shot there by Pearson.
Pearson misses with a head kick.
Von Ketler moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Pearson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Pearson misses the shot to the body.
Von Ketler blocks a head kick by Pearson.
Pearson feints and then cracks Von Ketler's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Von Ketler down.
Pearson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Von Ketler checks the leg kick.
Von Ketler thows a left - swing and a miss!
Von Ketler throws a jab when Pearson was well out of range.
Pearson tries a low kick but Von Ketler avoids it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johnny Pearson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Eksem Von Ketler's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Von Ketler bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Pearson misses with an uppercut. Von Ketler saw that one coming.
Von Ketler misses the shot to the body.
Johnny Pearson seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Von Ketler dodges the punch combination from Pearson.
Pearson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Von Ketler.
Pearson is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Von Ketler fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Pearson thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Von Ketler if he has to take too many more of those.
Von Ketler scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
A punch lands to the side of Pearson 's head but he takes it in his stride.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pearson goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Pearson works Von Ketler's body with a nice hook.
Pearson moves forwards but Von Ketler connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Pearson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Von Ketler paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Pearson gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Pearson misses with an elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pearson throws an elbow but it misses.
Von Ketler lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Pearson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Pearson tries to throw a body punch but Von Ketler avoids it by throwing Pearson back against the cage.
Von Ketler lands a nice elbow.

It looks like Johnny Pearson has been cut.
Pearson pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
A short left from Pearson.
Pearson working some nice short punches in the clinch.

Von Ketler breaks from the clinch.
Von Ketler fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Pearson on the side of the head.
Pearson misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Pearson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Von Ketler tries to counter with a takedown but Pearson is quick to defend against it.
Pearson swings for the body but Von Ketler moves out of range.
Pearson throws a lazy body kick

and Von Ketler counters with a shoot takedown. Pearson fights it but they end up in guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Von Ketler with a flurry of punches that miss.
Von Ketler is looking to work some ground and pound but Pearson has wrist control.
Pearson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Von Ketler stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Pearson swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Von Ketler passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Von Ketler lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Pearson down.
Pearson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Von Ketler.
Von Ketler tries to advance to mount but can't.
Von Ketler 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.
Pearson is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Von Ketler tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Von Ketler misses with the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Von Ketler scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Pearson to see if he's OK.
Pearson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Von Ketler.
Pearson is trying to buck Von Ketler off.
Von Ketler tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sloppy strikes there by Von Ketler.
Pearson is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Von Ketler asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Von Ketler working the body and head with strikes.
Von Ketler cracks Pearson with a big right hand but Pearson just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

Pearson is rocked!
Pearson is working to avoid the ground and pound but Von Ketler connects with a decent elbow.
Pearson is still in real trouble! Can Von Ketler finish him?
Von Ketler in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Pearson looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Von Ketler turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eksem Von Ketler!
Eksem Von Ketler retains his bantamweight title!
Eksem Von Ketler very nearly forgot to thank Aspire Clothing 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.