PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Bobby Hill (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jokke Mela (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mela comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Da Rockwilder kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! 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.

Hill
vs
Mela

179 cm
27
145 lbs
12 - 7 - 0

170 cm
33
144 lbs
25 - 18 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Bobby Hill!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jokke Mela!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hill shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Mela sprawls well. Mela wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Hill gets slowly back to his feet.
Hill avoids the body shot from Mela.
Hill looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Mela is fending him off so far but Hill persists. Nope, Mela circles away and we're back to standing.
Jokke Mela seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Mela punishes Hill's body with a nice straight punch.

Mela drives through with a takedown into Hill's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Hill keeping moving, preventing Mela from controlling successfully.
Hill keeping full guard, as Mela tries to pass.
Mela throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hill works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Mela in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Mela passes Hill's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Mela has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Mela wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hill keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hill is looking to control Mela's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Hill avoid being mounted?

Mela is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Hill wants to control but Mela passes into side.
Hill wants to control but Mela postures up.

Mela tries for a kimura but Hill is defending well.
Hill is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Mela has hold of Hill's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! Hill tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - Mela cranks the arm and Hill screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from Hill, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:44 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Jokke Mela!
Post fight, an emotional Jokke Mela said 'When I was a kid, I asked God for a bike, but I knew God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.'.