PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between John Lee (ranked 2876 p4p, 4259 weight class) and Corey Baird (ranked 289 p4p, 368 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Lee
vs
Baird

160 cm
25
153
9 - 5 - 0

170 cm
26
148
5 - 7 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Brooklyn Apothecary
Urban Fighter

Iraqi Steroids, Inc.

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 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, John Lee!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Corey Baird!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Baird misses with an uppercut.
A swing and a miss from Baird.
Lee fails in his attempt to clinch.

Lee drives through and clinches with Baird against the cage.
Baird misses with a short punch on the inside.
Lee drops down looking for an ankle pick but Baird pulls his leg out and moves away.
Lee shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Lee looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Lee clinches with his opponent.
Baird is working Lee over against the cage.
Baird misses with a hook from the clinch.
Baird throws a head punch that misses.
Baird lands a right hand that snaps the head of Lee backwards.
Baird lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Lee backwards.
Lee drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Lee. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Lee.

Lee turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Lee manages to end up in side control.

Baird throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baird throws a body punch but Lee moves out of range.
Baird misses with an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lee has closed the distance and engaged Baird in a clinch.
Baird tries to throw a body punch but Lee avoids it by throwing Baird back against the cage.
Baird lands a left hand that snaps the head of Lee backwards.
Baird swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Baird fails to land.
Baird working aggressively here.
Baird is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Lee has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Baird avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Baird doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Lee gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Baird is trying to maintain the position but Lee is very close to passing his half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Lee in particular looking to stall.
Lee throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Baird to regain full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee trying to control but Baird is working from the bottom.
Our spies down at at Brazilian Top Team inform us that Baird has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Lee slips nicely into half guard.

Lee is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Lee is working for a submission of some sort.
Lee thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lee is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Baird sees it coming and defends easily.
Lee throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Baird is trying to control but can't.
Lee trying to pass the guard but Baird defending well.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lee trying to control the action but Baird is working from the bottom.
Lee throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Lee missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Lee trying to control from half guard but Baird is working away.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Lee uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Baird.
Baird takes one to the chin there.

It looks like Corey Baird has been cut.

Lee gets a double leg takedown into Baird's guard.
Baird keeping moving, preventing Lee from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lee's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Lee throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Lee throws a big elbow that misses.
Lee trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Baird wants to sweep but no luck.
Lee throws a big right hand that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Corey Baird will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Corey Baird's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Lee misses with a hook. Baird ducked under it nicely.

Lee clinches.
Baird has a couple of punches blocked by Lee.
Baird lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Baird blocks an uppercut.
Baird lands a hook to the side of the head.
Baird digs a right hand underneath Lee's ribcage. Lee let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Lee drops down looking for an ankle pick but Baird pulls his leg out and moves away.
A slow jab from Baird misses its intended target.
Baird scores with a hook.

Lee rushes Baird and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Baird working aggressively here.
Baird prevents a takedown attempt there.
Lee has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Baird after a bit of a struggle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Lee. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lee blocking some punches.
Baird lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Baird fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Lee connects with a massive knee from the clinch and Baird goes down! Lee jumps into full mount looking to finish!

Baird is rocked!
Lee throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Baird is still in real trouble! Can Lee finish him?
Lee 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baird can't escape the position.
Lee working Baird over with strikes here.
Lee cracks Baird with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Lee!
After winning the bout, John Lee thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.