PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kung Li (ranked 3029 p4p, 5984 weight class) and Cameron Betts (ranked 311 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Li
vs
Betts

175 cm
25
150
2 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
145
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Determined

Shadow Realm Apparel

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kung Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Cameron Betts!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Johanna Lukiainen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Betts is defended easily by Li.

Li closes the distance and clinches.
Li throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Bettss head.
Li lands a hook to the side of the head.
Li lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Betts backwards.

Li ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Li no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Li working for a triangle but Betts defends it easily.
Li is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Betts trying to control but Li is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Li looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Betts has picked Li up and slammed him! Li can't keep hold of the triangle and Betts manages to pass to side control!
Betts moves into full mount!
Betts throwing strikes here but Li is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

Betts is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Li has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Betts looking to control but Li is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Li tries to reverse the position but Betts maintains control.
Li knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Betts on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Betts has hold of Li's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Li manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Betts takes his opponent's back. Perhaps a chance to lock up a rear naked choke here.

Betts is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Li is defending well though. Betts let's go of the attempt for now.
Li wants to control his opponent's hands but Betts gets his hands free.
Betts has the hooks in. Li is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Betts is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Li trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Li tries to escape but Betts has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
Li wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Betts trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Li is trying to stand back up.
Betts controlling well, preventing Li from escaping the position.
Li is working hard here to advance position.
Li wants to get back to his feet.
Li can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Betts lands a shot to the head.
Li is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Betts is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Li defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Li is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Cameron Betts dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Li avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Li seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Li scores with a jab. Betts acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Betts rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Li moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Li slaps away a takedown attempt from Betts, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Betts tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Li throws the left hand but Betts avoids the punch easily.
Betts feints the counter takedown.
Betts slips under a jab from Li.
Betts shoots in but Li avoids the takedown attempt easily.
It looked like Li wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Li throws out a loose jab but Betts uses good head movement to avoid it.

Betts gets tackled into the cage by Li. Li maintains the clinch.
Li lands with a right to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Li lands a left hand that snaps the head of Betts backwards.
A short right from Li.
Li working some nice short punches in the clinch.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Betts manages to break the clinch.
Li lands a glancing blow to the side of Betts's head.

Betts is rocked!
Betts is breathing heavily.
Betts attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Betts is still on wobbly legs! Can Li finish him?

That's one minute gone in the round.

Li closes the distance and clinches.
Betts seems to have recovered his senses.
Betts tries to pull guard but Li forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Kung Li has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Cameron Betts.

Li pulls guard.
Betts postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Betts wants to control from the top but Li keeps moving.
Betts is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

Betts got a little sloppy there for a moment and Li has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Betts has managed to get both his arms back between Li's legs - danger averted.
Li is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Betts is controlling him.
Li looking for a sweep. Not yet Li, not yet.
Li is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Betts can do to turn this around?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li wants to stand and escape but Betts is having none of it.
Li pulls Betts in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Li scores with a sloppy right hand. Betts should have avoided that one.
Li ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Li gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Li lands a nice shot to the body.
A short left from Li.
Li gets through Betts's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Li lands with a short shot to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A short right from Li on the inside.

Li has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Betts uses from the top position.
Li is pulling down on Betts's head to control his posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Betts prevents Li from getting back to his feet.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Li holds on and takes a little breather.

Li looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Li is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Betts tries to keep at a distance but Li has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Li drags the fight down to the ground.
Betts stops Li from standing up.
Li looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Betts stops Li from standing up.
Cameron Betts has got the better of the ground game so far.
Betts tries to free his leg and advance position but Li is retaining full guard.
Betts stops Li from standing up.
Li on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Li tries to get out of the position.
Betts won't allow Li to sweep him here.
Li wants to improve his position but instead Betts has moved into half guard.
Li is looking to improve his position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Kung Li dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Li's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Li duly obliges.
Li misses with a straight right.
Betts changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Li misses with a series of wild punches.
Betts is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Betts blocks a jab.
Betts uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Li.
Li jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Li shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Betts as he jumps to the side.

Li clinches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Betts tries to pull guard but Li forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Li lands with a left to the head.
Li scores with a nice hook to the head.
Betts tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Li just stands there and leans against the cage.
Li lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Betts gets underhooks to prevent Li's takedown attempt.
Li pushes Betts back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.

Li has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Betts uses from the top position.
Betts preventing the sweep.

Li had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Betts defends it easily.
Li is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Betts slips nicely into half guard.
Li is refusing to be controlled, as Betts sits in half guard.
Betts takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Betts is working away from the top position though.
Li tries to kick Betts off but Betts keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Betts prevents Li from improving his position.
Betts wants to control but Li is keeping him busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li trying to control from the bottom.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Li moves into the clinch.
Li is working Betts over against the cage.
Betts wants to stall.
Betts takes a shot to the head.
Li lands with a light punch inside.
A nice right hand lands inside from Li.
A short right from Li on the inside.

Li successfully pulls guard.
Li pulls Betts in to control the position.
Li looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Li pulls Betts in to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Betts trying to control the position from guard on top but Li is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Li pulls Betts in close to prevent any damage.
Li wants to sweep here but Betts controlling him for the moment.
Betts stops Li from standing up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Li closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Li is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kung Li showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Li has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kung Li!
In his post fight interview, Kung Li started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.