PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cowboy Henry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Li comes to the cage accompanied by Give My Bullet Back. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Li
vs
Henry

176 cm
28
192 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

185 cm
23
185 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, James Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Cowboy Henry!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Viktor Lagutenko and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Henry lands an overhand right.

It looks like James Li has been cut.
Henry throws a right and a left that Li avoids nicely.
Li swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Henry looks to score with a jab to the body but Li is just out of range.
Horrible takedown by Li or perhaps it was just good defense by Henry which made him look bad.
Henry fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Li manages to avoid it.
Henry falls off balance throwing a combination

and Li counters with a shoot takedown. Henry fights it but they end up in guard.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.

Li is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Henry is looking to stand up but Li isn't so interested in that idea.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li preventing the sweep.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up. James Li wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Li shoots in but no luck this time.
Henry misses with a takedown attempt

and Li counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Henry makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Henry.
Li sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Henry's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li trying to control the action but Henry is working from the bottom.
Li throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Li is keen to just control but Henry is a slippery customer.
Henry is holding on to half guard well.
Henry is looking for a sweep. Li is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Li is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Henry is trying to control but can't.
Henry wants to get back to his feet.
Henry trying to control but Li postures up.
Li throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Henry makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Henry shoots in but no luck this time.
Henry throws a series of punches but Li avoids them all with ease.
Henry throws a series of punches but Li avoids them all with ease.

Li changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Henry looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Henry is looking to reverse the position.
Li grinds an elbow into Henry's temple.
Li cracks Henry with a big right hand but Henry just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
You can see the frustration on Henry's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Henry is not content to let Li control the position.
Li is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Henry is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henry is pushing Li's head away, looking to escape. Li manages to hold on to the position though.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Henry gets back to half guard.

Li is working for a submission of some sort.
Li 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.

Li is looking for a kimura but Henry is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Li to get the leverage.
Henry moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Henry trying to control the position here.
Li throws a big right hand that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Li dominated that round.
The cut man is working on James Li's cut.
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.

Henry misses with a takedown attempt - Li sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Henry gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Li to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Li missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.
Henry is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Li trying to control the position from guard on top but Henry is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Henry wants to sweep here but Li controlling him for the moment.

Henry has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Li off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry looks to land a combination but Li avoids it well.
Henry displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Henry misses with an uppercut. Li saw that one coming.

Li throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Henry tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Li is in Henry's guard.
Li makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
James Li overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.
Henry has Li pulled in close to control his posture.
Henry 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.

Li thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li throwing strikes but missing.
Li trying to control the position from guard on top but Henry is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
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!
Henry trying to control the position here.
Li in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Li won't allow Henry to get back to his feet.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Henry misses with the combination.
Henry uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Li.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lazy left from Henry finds it's target.
Some wild striking there from Henry.
Li tries for a takedown but Henry sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Li.
Henry misses with the combination.
Left hook, right uppercut from Henry.
Henry throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Henry gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Li to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Henry 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.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Henry wants to stand up but Li is controlling him.
Henry keeping moving, preventing Li from controlling successfully.
Li is looking to work some ground and pound but Henry has wrist control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Li trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.
Li is working Henry over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Cowboy Henry will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on James Li's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Henry misses with a two punch combination.
Good exchange - Henry coming out on top.
Henry fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Henry lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Li avoids a punch combination nicely.
Henry misses with a straight right.
Cowboy Henry is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Henry uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Li.
Li attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.

Li shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Henry is trying to defend but Li finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Henry trying to hold on to Li's head to control him but Li postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry wants to get back to his feet.

Henry is defending against the submission attempts here by Li.
Henry is trying to stand.
Li prevents Henry from improving his position.
Li is trying to control. Henry wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Li trying to control from Henry's half guard. Henry has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Henry keeping moving, preventing Li from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li stopping the sweep attempt from Henry.
Henry is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Li trying to control the position from guard on top but Henry is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Henry tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Henry keeping moving, preventing Li from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of James Li.
Nice sprawl there from Henry as Li shoots in.
Henry is trying hard to land a takedown here. Li sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry misses with a wild combination.
Li misses with a wild combination.
Li is trying hard to land a takedown here. Henry sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Henry lands a nice shot that snaps Li's head back.
A punch combination from Henry misses.
Henry throws a jab but it's blocked by Li.
Henry misses with a two punch combination.
Henry scores with a three punch combo!
Henry takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A punch lands to the side of Li 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Cowboy Henry seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henry looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Cowboy Henry seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Henry misses with a series of wild punches.
Some wild striking there from Henry.
Henry checks a low kick from Li.
Li closes the distance but Henry moves to the side

and Henry counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Li is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Li is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Li looking for a sweep. Not yet Li, not yet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cowboy Henry comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Henry 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 28:29
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cowboy Henry!