PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Malcolm Hopkins (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ray Mancine (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Hopkins
vs
Mancine

180 cm
29
190 lbs
17 - 16 - 0

192 cm
23
193 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

GTI - 1337 sponsors VERSUS

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 17 - 16 - 0, fighting out of London, Malcolm Hopkins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ray Mancine!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, James Glass and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hopkins bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Mancine misses with a looping right.
Mancine misses with a straight right.
Hopkins tries to score a power double leg takedown but Mancine sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Hopkins somewhat.
Hopkins throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Mancine sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hopkins will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hopkins slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
A jab from Hopkins misses.
Mancine loads up on a big right hand but Hopkins slips the punch.
Hopkins fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Malcolm Hopkins. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hopkins shoots in looking for a takedown. Mancine tries to sprawl out of it but Hopkins keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Mancine manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Hopkins shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Mancine but Mancine pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Hopkins cracks the inside of Mancine's front leg.
Hopkins tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Mancine is able to avoid easily.
Nice sprawl there from Mancine as Hopkins shoots in.
Hopkins throws a lazy right hand but Mancine sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Mancine throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hopkins counters with a leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mancine on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Hopkins. Hopkins obviously looking to wear him down.
Hopkins swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hopkins keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hopkins thows a left - swing and a miss!
A left and a right from Hopkins both land. Nice combination.
Hopkins uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Mancine.
Hopkins tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Hopkins throws the left hand but Mancine avoids the punch easily.
Hopkins lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Mancine at a distance.
Hopkins throws a big shot that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hopkins keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Mancine.
Mancine misses with a straight right.
Mancine connects with a solid leg kick.
Mancine swings widly with a right hand
and Hopkins counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Mancine throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Mancine misses with an uppercut.
Hopkins misses with a double jab.

Hopkins scores a takedown into full mount!
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Mancine is working to get back to half guard.
Mancine is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hopkins throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Mancine really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hopkins wants to control the pace but Mancine is squirming around nicely.
Hopkins 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.

Hopkins is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Mancine has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Mancine tries to get back to half guard but can't.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hopkins lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Mancine is in a horrible position here. Hopkins smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Hopkins has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Mancine's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Malcolm Hopkins dominated that 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.

Hopkins cracks the inside of Mancine's front leg.
Mancine is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hopkins.
Hopkins throws a body punch but Mancine moves out of range.
Hopkins lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Mancine tries to clinch there but Hopkins circles away.
A leg kick checked by Hopkins.
Mancine blocks a low kick nicely.
Hopkins misses with a body shot.
Hopkins misses with a hook. Mancine ducked under it nicely.
Mancine connects with a right hand. Hopkins shakes it off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mancine is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Hopkins throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Hopkins moves out of range of the strikes.
Mancine scoring well with a low kick there.
Mancine avoids a punch combination nicely.
The fighters circling - Mancine throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Mancine lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

Mancine fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Hopkins, pushing him back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Mancine on the inside.
Mancine misses with the head strike.
Mancine misses with a short punch on the inside.
Mancine has a couple of punches blocked by Hopkins.
Hopkins blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Mancine scores with a nice hook to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mancine lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Hopkins or not.
Mancine throws a punch but it's blocked by Hopkins.
Mancine leaning against his opponent.
Hopkins blocking some punches.
Mancine lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Hopkins backwards.
Mancine letting Hopkins take a breather here.
A nice right hand lands inside from Mancine.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mancine throws a head punch that misses.
Still in the clinch, Mancine scores with a nice short uppercut.
Hopkins is trying to drag Mancine to the mat but Mancine just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Mancine throws a head punch that misses.
Hopkins is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Mancine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nice body punch from Mancine - that landed with a thud.
Mancine fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Mancine presses Hopkins against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hopkins tries to break free but Mancine pushes him back against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mancine lands a shoulder strike.
Hopkins wants to stall.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hopkins.
Hopkins is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Mancine to keep the fight standing.
Hopkins's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Hopkins blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Mancine.
Mancine misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ray Mancine seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
A shot in the inside from Mancine.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mancine lands a nice uppercut.
Mancine gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Hopkins.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Malcolm Hopkins. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mancine can't find room to land a body shot as Hopkins controls the action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ray Mancine showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Mancine gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Mancine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Hopkins blocking some punches.
Mancine throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Hopkinss head.
Hopkins is trying to stall.
Mancine throws a head punch that misses.
Mancine fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Mancine misses with a hook from the clinch.
Come on Mancine - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Hopkins's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Mancine scores with a nice hook to the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mancine.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mancine lands with a short shot to the head.
Still in the clinch, Mancine scores with a nice short uppercut.
Mancine can't find room to land a body shot as Hopkins controls the action.
Mancine throws a punch but it's blocked by Hopkins.
Hopkins is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Mancine's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Mancine being controlled against the cage.
Mancine lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Mancine cracks Hopkins with a nice body shot.
Hopkins blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Mancine pressing his opponent against the cage.
Mancine misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Mancine creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mancine.
Hopkins is looking to break free of the clinch but Mancine has double underhooks.
A shot in the inside from Mancine.
Mancine misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Mancine swings wildly with an uppercut but Hopkins uses good head movement to avoid it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mancine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Mancine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hopkins blocks an uppercut.
Mancine throws a punch but it's blocked by Hopkins.
Mancine misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Mancine.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hopkins.
Mancine misses with the head strike.
Mancine avoiding damage.
Mancine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Mancine working aggressively here.
Hopkins blocking some punches.
Mancine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A body shot lands from Mancine.
Mancine makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Mancine.
Mancine lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hopkins backwards.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mancine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Hopkins has Mancine pressed against the cage.
Mancine misses with a short punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Mancine fails to land.
Mancine lands a left hand.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Mancine lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Mancine fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hopkins blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Still in the clinch, Mancine scores with a nice short uppercut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mancine misses with a hook from the clinch.
Mancine misses with a short punch on the inside.
Mancine stops a takedown attempt from Hopkins.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ray Mancine comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Mancine 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Glass scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ray Mancine!
Ray Mancine gave a mention to GTI - 1337 sponsors VERSUS in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).