PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between George St Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jack Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). George St Pierre has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

St Pierre
vs
Li

220 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

182 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, George St Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jack Li!
The judges for this bout are Donatello Bradman, Winston Howard and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
St Pierre misses with a few strikes there.
Li wants to clinch.
Li ducks down and throws a hook to the body but St Pierre moves away.
Li falls off balance throwing a combination
and St Pierre counters with a left and a right that stings Li.

Li rushes St Pierre and presses him up against the cage.
St Pierre is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Li stalling the fight.
Li wants a takedown.
St Pierre working hard to break the clinch.
St Pierre tries to break free but Li pushes him back against the cage.
Li tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
St Pierre is trying to break the clinch but Li is controlling him.

St Pierre pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Li shoots in for a takedown but St Pierre shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
St Pierre really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li misses with a straight left.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Li!

St Pierre clinches.
St Pierre tries to break the clinch but Li is controlling the position.

St Pierre breaks from the clinch.
An inside leg kick from Li misses.
A clash of legs there as St Pierre blocks the low kick.
Li tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
St Pierre lands a two punch combo.
St Pierre avoids the head kick by Li.
St Pierre stalks Li and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Li's face. Li staggers backwards, shaken.
St Pierre fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre misses with a jab, cross combination.
Li misses with a shot to the body
and St Pierre counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Jack Li seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
St Pierre keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
George St Pierre has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jack Li.
Li looks gassed!
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by St Pierre!

It looks like Jack Li has been cut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Li takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.

St Pierre darts in and clinches Li up against the cage.
St Pierre tries to circle away but Li has him pinned against the cage.
St Pierre is trying to break free.
St Pierre is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
St Pierre scores with a shoulder strike.
St Pierre lands with a light punch inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li misses with a knee to the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from St Pierre.

St Pierre manages to pull guard.
Li is looking to work some ground and pound but St Pierre has wrist control.
Li pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. St Pierre is keeping the position for now.
Li trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

St Pierre pushes Li off and scrambles back to his feet.
Li throws a left and a right that both miss
and St Pierre counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Li throws a combination that misses
and St Pierre counters with a three punch combo that has Li backing up. Li nods at St Pierre to acknowledge the strikes.
St Pierre ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li slips a jab and a cross from St Pierre.
Li stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from St Pierre.

St Pierre moves into the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on St Pierre's face as he tries to break the clinch.
St Pierre tries to pull guard but Li holds him up against the cage and eventually St Pierre drops back down to his feet.

Li manages to break the clinch.
Li throws a combination that misses
and St Pierre counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
St Pierre throws a left and a right that both miss

and Li decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in St Pierre's guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Li trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Li has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
St Pierre working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Li.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

George St Pierre dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jack Li's cut.
That's time! St Pierre's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

St Pierre sizes up Li with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
St Pierre cracks Li with an open hand slap.
Li throws a left and a right that both miss

and St Pierre holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
St Pierre working hard to break the clinch.
St Pierre lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Li backwards.

St Pierre manages to break the clinch.
St Pierre displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
No joy there for St Pierre, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Li tries to clinch up but St Pierre circles away and keeps his distance.
Li tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but St Pierre swivels and escapes.
St Pierre defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Li.
Li is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre fails with an attempt to clinch.
A looping hook to the body misses from Li. St Pierre does a little dance to reset his feet.
A bone on bone clash there as St Pierre blocks the leg kick.
St Pierre looks to land a combination but Li avoids it well.
Li throws a sloppy head kick
and St Pierre counters with a two punch combo.
St Pierre shoots in for a takedown but Li shows good takedown defense.

St Pierre has closed the distance and engaged Li in a clinch.

Li escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
St Pierre throws a series of punches but Li avoids them all with ease.
No joy there for St Pierre, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
A shot to the body from Li misses
and St Pierre counters with a series of strikes. Li will be more careful next time no doubt.
St Pierre is trying hard to land a takedown here. Li sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
St Pierre avoids a punch combination nicely.
Li fails with a takedown attempt.
George St Pierre has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jack Li.
Li throws a jab but it's blocked by St Pierre.
Li tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but St Pierre paws at him with a jab and circles away.
St Pierre lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Li backs up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Li shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Li was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
St Pierre's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Li landing shots from mount.
Li controlling the position easily from mount.
Li trying to control but St Pierre is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li controlling his opponent.
Li in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
St Pierre takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
St Pierre is trying to stand up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jack Li will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Jack Li's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! 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.

St Pierre misses with a few strikes there.
A slow jab from Li misses its intended target.
Li fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
A right-left combo lands from St Pierre.
Li with a jab.
George St Pierre is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Li scores with a nice head shot.
St Pierre scores with a jab.
St Pierre is looking to clinch.
St Pierre throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Li.

St Pierre gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li trying to control but St Pierre is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
St Pierre wants to get back to his feet but Li is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Li trying to control but St Pierre is working from the bottom.

That's two 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.
Li is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Li wants to control from the top but St Pierre keeps moving.
St Pierre will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Li stands and throws St Pierre's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Li working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Li is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, St Pierre has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Li postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Li wants to control but St Pierre is keeping him busy.
Li scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at St Pierre to see if he's OK.

Li tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Li has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

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.
Li misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Li trying to control the position but St Pierre is working away.
Li in side control lands a decent elbow.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Li in side control, just content to control the action for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jack Li comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Li has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Donatello Bradman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Jack Li!