PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Liam Kennedy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Diego Escobar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kennedy
vs
Escobar

175 cm
27
155 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

182 cm
20
160 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Conviction
Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Liam Kennedy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Diego Escobar!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Richard Clark and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kennedy walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Kennedy seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Escobar tries to close the distance and clinch but Kennedy swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kennedy throwing a counter right hand but Escobar manages to avoid it.
Escobar bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Escobar has taken the fight to the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Kennedy fails to land.
Kennedy digs a right hand underneath Escobar's ribcage. Escobar let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Kennedy misses with some punches.
Escobar swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Kennedy lands a hook that snaps the head of Escobar backwards.

Kennedy breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Escobar.
Kennedy circles away from the clinch attempt.
A little feinted left hand from Kennedy on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Escobar misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Kennedy misses with a looping right.
A head kick misses from Escobar.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobar throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Kennedy is looking for a counter combo.
Kennedy circles away from the clinch attempt
and Kennedy counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Escobar throws a sloppy head kick
and Kennedy cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

It looks like Diego Escobar has been cut.
Escobar wants to clinch but Kennedy slips to the side
and Kennedy counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Escobar connects with the punch.
Kennedy keeps the fight on the outside.
Escobar throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A little feinted left hand from Kennedy on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Escobar has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Kennedy avoids the head kick by Escobar.
A little feinted left hand from Kennedy on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Escobar tries to clinch but Kennedy moves away
and Kennedy counters with a straight right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Escobar tries to clinch but Kennedy moves out of range.
Kennedy fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Escobar defending well as Kennedy loads up on a big left hand.
Escobar throws a hook but Kennedy blocks it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The fight stays on the outside here - Escobar looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Escobar has managed to clinch.
Kennedy blocks a body shot from Escobar.
Kennedy misses with the head strike.
Kennedy misses with a hook from the clinch.

Kennedy breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kennedy swats away the attempt to clinch by Escobar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar throws a jab but it's blocked by Kennedy.
Kennedy blocks a head kick by Escobar.
It looked like Kennedy wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Escobar scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Escobar displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Kennedy throws out the jab.
Kennedy avoids the head kick by Escobar.

Escobar closes the distance and pushes Kennedy back into the cage.
Escobar tries to pull guard but Kennedy won't allow it.
Kennedy lands a hook that snaps the head of Escobar backwards.
Escobar cracks Kennedy with a nice body shot.
Escobar's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Escobar lands a hook that snaps the head of Kennedy backwards.
A short right from Escobar.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kennedy misses with a short punch on the inside.
Kennedy lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
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!
Kennedy misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Escobar softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Escobar jumps guard but Kennedy stands there with Escobar around his waist. Escobar gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Kennedy's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Kennedy swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Escobar fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kennedy swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Escobar throws a lazy head kick
and Kennedy makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Escobar wants to clinch.
Kennedy sizes up Escobar with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liam Kennedy dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Diego Escobar'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.

Escobar tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Kennedy manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Kennedy misses with an uppercut
and Escobar connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Kennedy throws a hook to the side of Escobar's head but Escobar sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Kennedy swats away the attempt to clinch by Escobar.
An attempted straight right counter from Kennedy misses the target.
Diego Escobar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Escobar ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Kennedy throws a right hand that misses
and Escobar counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kennedy is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Kennedy takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Kennedy scores with a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kennedy misses with a right hand
and Escobar counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Kennedy thinking.
Escobar wants to clinch up but Kennedy keeps it at a distance.
Escobar tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Kennedy throws a jab when Escobar was well out of range.
Kennedy swats away the attempt to clinch by Escobar.

Escobar closes the distance and pushes Kennedy back into the cage.
Escobar blocking some punches.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Escobar creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Escobar blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Kennedy blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Escobar blocking some punches.
Kennedy misses with a punch on the inside.
Escobar blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Kennedy swings wildly with an uppercut but Escobar uses good head movement to avoid it.
Escobar is trying to pull guard but Kennedy has him pressed against the cage.

Escobar has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Kennedy uses from the top position.
Escobar trying to keep a closed guard but Kennedy is proving a slippery customer.
Escobar wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Kennedy has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Escobar is proving hard to escape from.
Escobar pulls Kennedy in close to prevent any damage.

Escobar has managed to work for a loose triangle. I think Kennedy should be able to defend this one pretty easily though. Oh, Escobar has tightened it up now! Kennedy should have reacted faster there - he's in big trouble and yes, he's tapped out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Diego Escobar!
Diego Escobar bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.