PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jihadi Joseph (ranked 664 p4p, 846 weight class) and Jake Drake (ranked 70 p4p, 91 weight class). Drake has chosen Lose Yourself as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Joseph
vs
Drake

175 cm
23
145
6 - 1 - 0

175 cm
24
150
10 - 2 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

HARDCORE Threads
Conviction

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 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jihadi Joseph!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 2 - 1, fighting out of New York, Jake Drake!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, Bruno Hogan and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Joseph lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
A jab from Drake misses.
Drake shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Joseph counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Joseph displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Drake.
Drake ducks under a wild hook from Joseph.
Horrible takedown attempt by Drake or perhaps it was just good defense by Joseph, which made it look bad.
Jihadi Joseph has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jake Drake.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drake misses with a looping right.
An attempted straight right counter from Joseph misses the target.
Joseph stuffs the takedown.
Drake doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Joseph counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Joseph. No joy for Drake on that attempt.
Joseph ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Drake connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Joseph motions for Drake to come forward. Joseph throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Drake changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Joseph lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Joseph throws a shot to the body.
Drake fails with the takedown.
Joseph is looking to counter punch.

Drake scores with a takedown into Joseph's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake postures up in Joseph's guard and throws a big left but Joseph blocks it.
Drake with a flurry of punches that miss.
Joseph wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Joseph working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Drake.
Joseph preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Drake throws an elbow that misses. Joseph uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Drake's guard. Nice move by Joseph!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joseph is stalling in the full guard.
Drake bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Joseph's guard.

Drake looking to pass the guard.
Joseph wants to sweep but no luck.
Drake pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Joseph is keeping the position for now.
Joseph pulls Drake in close to his closed guard and prevents Drake from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Joseph keeping moving, preventing Drake from controlling successfully.
Drake in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Drake in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Joseph keeping full guard, as Drake tries to pass.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Drake accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Drake stands and throws Joseph's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Check out the look on Drake's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jihadi Joseph will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Drake takes one on the button.
Drake connects with the punch.
Nice straight punches there by Joseph. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Joseph.
Drake on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Joseph defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Drake.
Joseph half committed to a counter leg kick.
Drake takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Drake lunges at Joseph with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Joseph's hand.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Drake.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Joseph can't do much from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joseph is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Joseph wants to control but Drake postures up.
Joseph manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Drake trying to get back to full guard but Joseph takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Drake is desperately trying to improve his position but Joseph has a good base and remains in mount.
Joseph tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Joseph controlling from the full mount.
Drake is in all sorts of trouble here.
Joseph controlling from the full mount.
Drake is looking to improve his position but Joseph isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joseph controlling from the full mount.
Joseph is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Drake can do to turn this around?
Drake wants to control but Joseph is having none of it.
Joseph tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Drake is trying desperately to improve position.
Joseph sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Drake is looking to get to half guard.
Joseph takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Drake is wriggling around trying to escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Drake wants to hold on but Joseph pushes him away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Joseph trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Drake gets back to half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jihadi Joseph dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Drake misses with an uppercut. Joseph saw that one coming.
Joseph takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Drake misses with a body shot
and Joseph counters with a right hand to the body.
We've been told by Joseph's head coaches at No Stepchild - No Entrance that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Drake fails with a takedown attempt.
Joseph lands with a shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drake swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Joseph.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drake misses with a left hand
and Joseph counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Jab from Joseph.
Drake comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Jihadi Joseph is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Drake jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Drake fails with the takedown
and Joseph counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Drake throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Joseph's waist but Joseph gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Drake off to one side.
Jihadi Joseph has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jake Drake.
Drake looks to land a right hand but Joseph moved out of range.
Drake avoids the body shot from Joseph.
Jake Drake has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Joseph pinned against the cage. Joseph gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Drake misses with a takedown
and Joseph connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Joseph buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Drake lands with a straight right. Joseph didn't see that one coming.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Drake swings widly with a right hand
and Joseph counters with a stiff right hand.
Drake walks into a straight right hand from Joseph.

Drake is rocked!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joseph cracks Drake on the jaw with a powerful right hand and Drake falls backwards against the cage. Joseph follows up with more strikes that drop Drake to his knees. Joseph keeps the pressure on and the referee jumps in to save Drake! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:08 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Jihadi Joseph!
During a confident post fight interview, Jihadi Joseph thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.