PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mark Henderson (ranked 797 p4p, 93 weight class) and Rei Bourke (ranked 285 p4p, 33 weight class). Rei Bourke acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Henderson
vs
Bourke

170 cm
27
158 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

170 cm
26
146 lbs
14 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

ZZ POPS

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Mark Henderson !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Rei Bourke!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Santiago Holmes and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Henderson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Henderson feinted with a counter takedown.
Nice defenses there by Henderson .
Bourke has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Henderson looks to land a right hand but Bourke moved out of range.
Bourke takes a swing at Henderson 's ribcage but misses.
Bourke scores with a crisp jab that stopped Henderson in his tracks.
Henderson moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Henderson will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nice sprawl there from Bourke as Henderson shoots in.
Bourke throws out a counter right but Henderson avoids it with no problem.
Nice defenses there by Henderson .
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Bourke cracks Henderson with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Bourke has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Henderson to stand back up!

Henderson is rocked!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bourke waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Henderson .
Oh Henderson is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Bourke forces Henderson back against the cage and clinches.
Henderson seems to have got his legs back now.
Bourke lands a right hand.
Bourke lands a body shot.
Henderson drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Bourke gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Henderson . That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice left hand lands by Bourke.
Good body shot from Bourke.
A short uppercut from Bourke.
Bourke lands an uppercut.
Bourke lands a right hand that snaps the head of Henderson backwards.
Henderson looking for a takedown.

Bourke manages to break the clinch.
Bourke throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Rei Bourke seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bourke lands a slapping body shot.
A jab from Bourke misses.
Henderson misses with a left hand

and Bourke counters with a nice right hand that sends Henderson toppling to the canvas! Henderson scrambles and gets back to his feet - can Bourke finish him?!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Henderson slips under a jab from Bourke.
Henderson throws a right hand that misses
and Bourke counters with a huge left! Henderson is in big trouble! He's backing up but Bourke isn't giving him chance to recover. Under a barage of punches the ref has to step in to save Henderson from any more damage. A dominating finish by Bourke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:56 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rei Bourke!
A relieved looking Rei Bourke thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.