PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Markus Kray (ranked 1373 p4p, 175 weight class) and Luke Vader (ranked 3000 p4p, 341 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Kray
vs
Vader

180 cm
21
173 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

173 cm
25
170 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Knockout power

Paradise Health and Nutrition

Arcticus University: London

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Markus Kray!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Luke Vader!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Tarja Halkonen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kray staying out of range there.

Kray moves into the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Kray.
Vader avoids a wild elbow strike from Kray.
Kray blocking some punches.
Vader wants to get back to striking at distance but Kray won't allow it.

Vader pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Kray looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Vader throws a jab but it's blocked by Kray.
Kray blocks a jab.
Vader misses with a looping left.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big right from Vader misses.
Kray on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Kray keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Kray clinches.
Vader working aggressively here.
Kray blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vader wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Kray tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Kray dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Kray tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Vader breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vader misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kray.

Kray has taken the fight to the clinch.
Vader blocks an elbow strike from Kray.
Vader wants to get back to striking at distance but Kray won't allow it.
Vader is trying to push Kray away but Kray has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Vader fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Kray.

It looks like Luke Vader has been cut.
Kray tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Vader breaks from the clinch.
Vader throws a looping overhand right but Kray ducks down to avoid it.
Kray staying out of range there.
Vader swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Good exchange - Kray coming out on top.
Kray is looking to clinch.
Vader thuds a left hand into Kray's body.
Kray avoids the body shot from Vader.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Kray takes the fight into the clinch.

Vader breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Vader looks to land a right hand but Kray moved out of range.
Kray with a hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kray moves into the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Vader's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Vader struggles to land a body shot inside as Kray controls his hands.
A frustrated look appears on Vader's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Kray blocks an uppercut.
Vader misses with a short punch on the inside.
Vader is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Vader wants to get back to striking at distance but Kray won't allow it.

Vader breaks from the clinch.
A jab from Vader misses.
Vader swats away the attempt to clinch by Kray.
Kray tries to close the distance and clinch but Vader swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Good standup being displayed there by Kray as he connects with a hook.

Kray takes the fight into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Nice elbow from Kray.
Vader managing to block the knees to the body from Kray.
Vader wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kray has him pressed against the cage.
Vader blocks an elbow strike.
Kray blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Kray with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Kray looking to throw knees to the head but Vader is blocking nicely.
Kray throws an elbow but it's blocked.
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 Markus Kray will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Luke Vader's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Kray ducks under a wild hook from Vader.
Vader misses with an uppercut.

Kray has Vader up against the cage in a clinch.
Kray lands an elbow just above Vader 's eye.
Vader is looking to break free of the clinch but Kray has double underhooks.

Vader escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Kray closes the distance and clinches.
Kray is pushing Vader up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Vader pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vader looks to land a left hand but Kray moved out of range nicely.
Kray tries to close the distance and clinch but Vader swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kray closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Vader misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch on the inside from Vader fails to land.
Vader misses with some punches.
Vader on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Kray is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Vader is defending well for now.
Kray with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Kray with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Kray looking to throw knees to the head but Vader is blocking nicely.
Kray tries to land knees in the clinch but Vader avoids the damage to the body.
Kray misses with a knee strike.
Vader blocks an elbow strike from Kray.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vader blocks an elbow strike.
Kray is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Vader is defending well for now.
Vader lands with a short shot to the head.
Vader tries to work over Kray's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Kray tries to land a knee to the head but Vader blocks with his arms.
A frustrated look appears on Vader's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Kray taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Kray lands a damaging elbow.

That has opened up Luke Vader's cut even more.
Kray tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Kray tries a knee to the head but Vader blocks it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vader swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Vader lands a hook that snaps the head of Kray backwards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Vader breaks from the clinch.

Kray takes the fight into the clinch.
Kray working Vader over with knees to the body.
Kray lands an elbow that stopped Vader in his tracks for a moment.
Kray is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
The referee calls for Kray to work.
Kray gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
Vader throws a head punch that misses.
Vader blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Vader avoids a wild elbow strike from Kray.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vader can't find room to land a body shot as Kray controls the action.
Vader dodges an elbow strike from Kray.
Vader can't break the clinch.
Kray misses with an elbow over the top.
Kray missing with knees to the body.
Vader tries to break the clinch but Kray is controlling the position.
Kray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vader can do to turn this around?
Kray misses with a knee to the head.
Knees to the body from Kray.

Vader breaks from the clinch.
Vader lands with an overhand left.
Vader looks to throw the jab but Kray is out of range.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Kray misses with a double jab.

Kray fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Vader, pushing him back against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Markus Kray dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Luke Vader's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Kray tries to close the distance and clinch up but Vader swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Kray moves into the clinch.
Kray looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Kray has Vader pushed against the cage.
Kray with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Vader misses with the head strike.
Kray with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Kray misses with a knee strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kray tries to land knees in the clinch but Vader avoids the damage to the body.
Kray throws a knee to the head but misses.
Vader has a couple of punches blocked by Kray.
Vader blocks the elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kray trying to land knees to the body.
Vader fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Vader throws a head punch that misses.

Vader breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Vader misses with a looping right.
Kray fails in his attempt to clinch.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Vader! But no joy.
Vader thows a left - swing and a miss!
A looping hook to the body misses from Vader. Kray does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vader throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Vader throws the left hand but Kray avoids the punch easily.
Vader misses with a looping left.
Kray slips under a jab from Vader.
Vader throws a lazy right hand but Kray sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Kray is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Luke Vader has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kray is looking to clinch.
Kray fails with an attempt to clinch.

Kray drives through and clinches with Vader against the cage.
Kray lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Kray pushes off an throws an elbow but Vader leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Vader takes an elbow to the temple.
Markus Kray has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Vader can't break the clinch.
Kray looking to throw knees to the head but Vader is blocking nicely.
Kray tries a knee to the head but Vader blocks it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kray tries a knee to the head but Vader blocks it.
Kray pushes off an throws an elbow but Vader leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Kray blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kray lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Kray blocks a body shot from Vader.
Vader is trying to break the clinch but Kray is controlling him.
Kray taking a breather.
Kray tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Vader avoids the elbow strike from Kray, against the cage.
Vader misses with a punch on the inside.
Kray tries to land knees in the clinch but Vader avoids the damage to the body.
Vader managing to block the knees to the body from Kray.
Vader misses with a hook from the clinch.
Kray prevents Vader from breaking the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vader avoids a wild elbow strike from Kray.
Vader takes an elbow to the temple.
Kray misses with an elbow strike.
Kray blocks an uppercut.
Vader swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Kray creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Vader's defenses.

The cut above Luke Vader's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Vader takes a knee to the side of the body.
Vader has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Vader throws a head punch that misses.
Kray missing with knees to the body.
Vader misses with a short punch on the inside.
Markus Kray is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Kray using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Vader has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

And that's the end of the fight!
Markus Kray showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Kray, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Markus Kray!
After winning the bout, Markus Kray thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.