PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Joe Tidd (ranked 1350 p4p, 76 weight class) and Thundering Mantis (ranked 1555 p4p, 90 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Tidd
vs
Mantis

155 cm
26
140 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

165 cm
26
135 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

The Glue Factory

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 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Joe Tidd!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Thundering Mantis!
The judges for this bout are Michael Johnstone, Santiago Holmes and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Tidd drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Tidd tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Mantis looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Tidd looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Mantis is avoiding damage well.
Mantis taking punishment in the form of punches.
Tidd controls the position.
Mantis is trying to control Tidd's posture but Tidd avoids it.
Tidd 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.
Tidd working the body and head with strikes.
Tidd lands a decent elbow from side control.
Tidd happy to just control the position for now.
Tidd has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Tidd is working Mantis over with some ground and pound from side control.
Sloppy strikes there by Tidd.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tidd is staying tight to Mantis's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Tidd sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Mantis is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Mantis avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Tidd.
Tidd creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Mantis managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Tidd.
Tidd creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Mantis sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Tidd misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Mantis is trying to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mantis is working to avoid the ground and pound but Tidd connects with a decent elbow.
Mantis seems a little lost for a moment, as Tidd dominates the positioning.
Tidd landing strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tidd just content to control the position.

Tidd in side control, working for a kimura. He's got hold of an arm and he's torquing it... Mantis is tapping! That's the end of the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:25 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Joe Tidd!
Joe Tidd retains his bantamweight title!
A very excited looking Joe Tidd rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.
In defeat, Thundering Mantis stepped up to the mic, saying 'Joe, you're one hell of a fighter and deserve to be champion! Thank you for the honor of battle.'.