PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Jake Gustafsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jay Merel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Merel has chosen WcW - Ernest "The Cat" Miller Theme as his entrance music. 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.

Gustafsson
vs
Merel

196 cm
19
205 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

189 cm
18
211 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Solid boxing
Very quick

Excellent boxer
Experienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jake Gustafsson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jay Merel!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Steven Brown and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gustafsson misses with a body shot.
Merel has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Gustafsson jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Gustafsson throws a right and a left that Merel avoids nicely.
Gustafsson throws a low kick but Merel moves out of range easily.
Gustafsson misses with a lunging right hand
and Merel counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Merel throws a hook but Gustafsson avoids it easily.
Gustafsson misses with a two punch combination.
Gustafsson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Gustafsson throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Merel.
Gustafsson misses the shot to the body.
Jake Gustafsson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A big right from Merel misses.
Merel throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Jab, jab by Gustafsson - just one landing.
Merel tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Gustafsson was well out of range. Poor timing from Merel.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gustafsson misses with a straight right.
Gustafsson misses with a series of wild punches.
Gustafsson defending well as Merel loads up on a big left hand.
Gustafsson lands a right hook to the body.
Gustafsson misses with a double jab
and Merel counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Gustafsson thinking.
Gustafsson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Merel slips under a jab.
Gustafsson lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Merel circles away quickly and effectively.
Merel uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Gustafsson.
Gustafsson misses with a jab to the body
and Merel counters with a nice body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gustafsson wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Gustafsson is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.
Gustafsson throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Gustafsson uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Merel.
Merel misses with a right hand
and Gustafsson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Merel uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Gustafsson has time to react.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gustafsson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Merel.
Gustafsson misses with a body shot.
Gustafsson tries to bum rush Merel with a series of wild strikes but Merel uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Gustafsson misses with a looping right.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gustafsson thows a left - swing and a miss!
Merel ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gustafsson moves away.
Gustafsson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Merel moves away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jake Gustafsson will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Gustafsson ducks under a wild hook from Merel.
Merel slips a jab from Gustafsson.
Gustafsson uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Merel.
Gustafsson with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Merel connects with a nice looking jab.
Gustafsson is looking to wear down Merel with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Merel keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Gustafsson misses with a low kick as Merel jumps back.
Merel throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Gustafsson stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Merel throws the left hand but Gustafsson avoids the punch easily.
Gustafsson swats away the attempt to clinch by Merel.
Merel takes a swing at Gustafsson's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merel ducks under a wild hook from Gustafsson.
Gustafsson works over Merel's head and body with a nice combination.
No joy there for Merel, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Gustafsson lands a two punch combo.
Jake Gustafsson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Gustafsson wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Gustafsson falls off balance throwing a combination
and Merel counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gustafsson jabs at Merel's body.
The fighters circling - Gustafsson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Gustafsson thows a body shot but no joy.
Merel lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Merel displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Gustafsson throws out the jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merel takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Merel misses with a wild body shot.
Gustafsson lands a jab to Merel's midsection.
Gustafsson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Merel sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Merel takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Gustafsson takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Gustafsson throws a left and a right that both miss
and Merel cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Gustafsson misses with a double jab
enabling Merel to counter with a crisp jab.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Merel checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Gustafsson misses with a right hand

and before Gustafsson can reset, Merel rushes him with a swarm of punches, sending him crashing to the floor, in all sorts of trouble! Gustafsson is trying to beat the count but we're up to 6 already and he's nowhere near. 7,8... he's up! He's going to continue!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jay Merel takes that one, thanks to the knockdown.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Gustafsson scores with a nice head shot.
Gustafsson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Merel checks a leg kick nicely.
Gustafsson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Merel moves away.
Gustafsson missing with a left hand there. Merel was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Gustafsson tries to bum rush Merel with a series of wild strikes but Merel uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A looping hook to the body misses from Gustafsson. Merel does a little dance to reset his feet.
Gustafsson shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Gustafsson tests Merel's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Merel defending well as Gustafsson loads up on a big left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merel throws a series of punches but Gustafsson avoids them all with ease.
Gustafsson lands with a nice combination. Merel backs away looking to recover.
Gustafsson misses with a wild combination.
Jay Merel seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Merel misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gustafsson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Merel.
Gustafsson throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Merel throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Gustafsson thows a body shot but no joy.
Gustafsson catches Merel with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Merel avoids a punch combination nicely.
Gustafsson throws a big shot that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merel throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A bone on bone clash there as Merel blocks the leg kick.
Gustafsson lands with a straight right. Merel didn't see that one coming.
Gustafsson misses with a wild combination.
Gustafsson connects with a body shot that sends Merel's belly button to the back.
Gustafsson misses with a looping right.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Gustafsson misses with the combination.
Gustafsson looks to land a left hand but Merel moved out of range nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jake Gustafsson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gustafsson has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 William Gold scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 28:28
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Jay Merel!
A very excited looking Jay Merel made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.