PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Hrvoje Vinkovic (ranked 1395 p4p, 797 weight class) and Tyrese Mercado (ranked 146 p4p, 95 weight class). Tyrese Mercado will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Vinkovic
vs
Mercado

177 cm
21
170
5 - 0 - 0

194 cm
28
170
9 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

BANZAI NUTRITION
Squirrel Sportswear 🐿️

BANZAI NUTRITION
Pulling Guard

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hrvoje Vinkovic!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Tyrese Mercado!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Johanna Lukiainen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vinkovic with a nice cross.

Vinkovic bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Mercado looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
You can see the frustration on Mercado's face as Vinkovic controls the position.
Mercado really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Vinkovic. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Mercado is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Vinkovic asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Vinkovic moves into full mount!

Vinkovic is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Mercado can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Vinkovic is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Mercado can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Vinkovic with the ground and pound from mount.

Vinkovic is working for a guillotine from mount but Mercado frees his head quite easily.
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!
Vinkovic has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Mercado's face.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vinkovic is landing with some decent strikes but Mercado is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Vinkovic with a couple of short strikes.
Vinkovic looking to finish Mercado with some ground and pound. This is bad for Mercado!

Mercado is rocked!
Mercado is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Vinkovic looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Mercado is still in real trouble! Can Vinkovic finish him?
Vinkovic cracks Mercado with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Mercado is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Vinkovic loads up with a big shot that hurts Mercado! He's pulled Vinkovic in close but Vinkovic has postured up and lands more strikes. Can Mercado survive? More strikes from Vinkovic and Mercado is out! The ref jumps in to save him! Brutal ground and pound!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:48 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Hrvoje Vinkovic!
Hrvoje Vinkovic is the new lightweight champion!
Hrvoje Vinkovic seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.