PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Zhan Dhelan (ranked 780 p4p, 920 weight class) and Jacque Joteel (ranked 94 p4p, 112 weight class). Joteel has chosen Moogwalzer as his entrance music. Jacque Joteel will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Dhelan
vs
Joteel

150 cm
31
145
19 - 9 - 1

175 cm
26
149
10 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 9 - 1, fighting out of New York, Zhan Dhelan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jacque Joteel!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Hirohito Nitta and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Joteel darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Dhelan lands a jab to the nose.
Joteel is looking to land body kicks.
Dhelan looks to land a left hand but Joteel moved out of range nicely.
Dhelan fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Dhelan throws the left hand but Joteel avoids the punch easily.
Joteel moves away from the strike by Dhelan.
Joteel on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Dhelan looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Joteel is fending him off so far but Dhelan persists. Nope, Joteel circles away and we're back to standing.
Joteel wants to counter the offense by Dhelan and move into the clinch position.
Decent striking displayed by Joteel there.

It looks like Zhan Dhelan has been cut.
Joteel stuffs the takedown.
Dhelan is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Joteel.
Joteel comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Dhelan shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Joteel is controlling Dhelan's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Joteel gets full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dhelan preventing the sweep.
Dhelan pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Joteel is keeping the position for now.
Joteel controls Dhelan momentarily but Dhelan frees himself.

Dhelan drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Joteel manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Dhelan has Joteel in his guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dhelan is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Joteel avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Dhelan throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Joteel slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Joteel's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

Dhelan is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Dhelan controls Joteel momentarily but Joteel frees himself.
Dhelan is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Joteel is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Joteel controls from within his opponent's guard.
Joteel tries to free his leg and advance position but Dhelan is retaining full guard.
Joteel must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joteel seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Dhelan has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Joteel has passed into side control.
Joteel is looking to take a break and control but Dhelan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Dhelan is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Joteel's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Joteel content to control rather than advance.
Joteel works his way into side control.
Dhelan struggling a bit here.
Dhelan manages to work his way to half guard, despite Joteel's best efforts.
Joteel performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Dhelan actively working from the bottom here.
Joteel wants to pass to mount but Dhelan is defending the position.

Dhelan is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Joteel pulls his head out easily.
Dhelan is trying to control but can't.
Joteel takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
More stalling from Joteel.

Dhelan looking for submissions off his back.
Dhelan trying to control but Joteel postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jacque Joteel will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Zhan Dhelan's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Dhelan throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Joteel counters with a nice low kick that buckles Dhelan's knee momentarily.
Dhelan throws a body shot but no joy.
Joteel looks like he wants to counter punch here.
A decent looking cross lands there for Dhelan.
Dhelan just misses with a punch to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Joteel. No joy for Dhelan on that attempt.
Joteel slips under a jab from Dhelan.
Dhelan shoots in for a takedown but Joteel shows good takedown defense.
A little jabbing left from Joteel on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Joteel misses with a looping left.
Dhelan misses with a body punch
and Joteel counters with a nice body shot.
Dhelan tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Joteel was well out of range. Poor timing from Dhelan.
Jacque Joteel seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Joteel cracks Dhelan with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Dhelan looks to land a right hand but Joteel moved out of range.
Joteel swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Zhan Dhelan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Joteel throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Joteel tries to land a leg kick but Dhelan saw it coming and moves away.
Dhelan goes for a double leg but Joteel avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Joteel continues to drive forward.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zhan Dhelan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dhelan looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Joteel is fending him off so far but Dhelan persists. Nope, Joteel circles away and we're back to standing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Dhelan defending well as Joteel loads up on a big left hand.
Joteel has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dhelan shoots in looking for a takedown. Joteel tries to sprawl out of it but Dhelan keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Joteel manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Joteel looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Dhelan takes a jab right on the kisser.
Dhelan misses with a looping right.

Dhelan closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Dhelan has worked his way into a potential kimura here. Joteel is trying to get out of the position but his squirming has just got him deeper into trouble. Dhelan yanks on the arm and Joteel is forced to tap due to a very painful looking submission! Nice work by Dhelan.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:49 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Zhan Dhelan!
Zhan Dhelan bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.