PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between James Smith (ranked 958 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Blood (ranked 572 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Smith
vs
Blood

176 cm
27
164 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

165 cm
27
155 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, James Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ivan Blood!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Santiago Holmes and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sloppy strikes from Blood. Those never looked like landing.
Blood misses with a jab, cross combination.
Blood looks to land a combination but Smith avoids it well.
Blood displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

It looks like James Smith has been cut.

Smith fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Blood to the ground. Smith is now in Blood's guard.
Blood is looking to stand back up but Smith counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Blood.

We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Smith throwing shots but Blood is blocking nicely.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Smith lands with a punch from half guard.
Smith sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Blood defending well though.
Smith wants to control but Blood is keeping him busy.
Smith drops an elbow to the side of Blood's head.
Smith lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Blood on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Smith throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Smith throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Blood wants to improve his position but Smith is controlling well.
Smith passes to side control.
Smith connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Blood some visible discomfort.
Smith misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Smith will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Smith scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Blood to see if he's OK.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Blood parries the strikes from Smith easily there. Smith is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Blood to escape.
Smith lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Blood taking a bit of punishment here - Smith scoring with strikes.
Blood really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Smith. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Smith in side control lands a decent elbow.
Smith definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Blood can do anything to dispel that myth.
Blood can't do much from the bottom here.
The strikes coming from Smith are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Blood avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Smith.
Smith working the body and head with strikes.
Smith lands a nice forearm strike.
Smith controls the position.
Smith looks up at the clock and then as Blood takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Smith smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith grinds an elbow into Blood's temple.
An elbow from Smith crashes against the mat.
Smith in side control lands a decent elbow.
Blood seems a little lost for a moment, as Smith dominates the positioning.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Smith lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Blood down.
Smith advances to full mount.
Blood is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
BOOM! Smith connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Blood is rocked!
Smith drops a big elbow. That's hurt Blood! More shots from Smith and the ref steps in! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). James Smith!