PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Michael Pope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Karl Michaels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pope's entrance music is For Whom The Bell Tolls. A fine choice. Michaels has chosen Gimme Shelter as his entrance music. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Pope
vs
Michaels

190 cm
29
213 lbs
19 - 12 - 0

187 cm
29
212 lbs
14 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Fast

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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 19 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Michael Pope!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Karl Michaels!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Michaels throws a looping overhand right but Pope ducks down to avoid it.
Pope takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Jab from Pope.
Michaels has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Michaels takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Michaels throws a leg kick but Pope checks it.
Pope tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Michaels looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Michaels connects with a right hand. Pope shakes it off.
Pope moves out of range as Michaels strikes.
Pope throws a hook but Michaels avoids it easily.
Pope slips under a jab from Michaels.
A big left from Michaels misses.
Michaels throws the kick towards the body but Pope avoids it.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Michaels.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pope scores with a leg kick.
Karl Michaels seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Pope throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Michaels looks to land a right hand but Pope moved out of range.
Michaels wants to land a leg kick but Pope is out of range.
A combination from Michaels does no damage.
Michaels connects with an inside leg kick.
Pope throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
A solid leg kick lands there for Michaels.
Pope feints and then cracks Michaels's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Michaels down.
Michaels throws a half hearted mid kick.
Pope wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Michaels looks winded!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Pope throws a left and a right that both miss
and Michaels counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pope lands with a right hand.
Michaels with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Pope moves into the clinch successfully.
Pope misses with a punch on the inside.

Pope breaks the clinch.
Michaels throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Michaels misses with a wild body shot.
Michaels looks to score with a jab to the body but Pope is just out of range.
Nice defenses there by Pope.
Pope misses the shot to the body.
Michaels slips a jab from Pope.
Pope lands an overhand right.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels tried to score with a low kick but Pope checks it.
Michaels throws a solid leg kick but Pope takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Michaels.
Michaels has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Pope.
Michaels buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Pope throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Michaels looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Michaels uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Pope.
Michaels throws a solid leg kick but Pope takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Michaels.
Pope connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Michaels thows a left - swing and a miss!
Pope blocks the body kick.
Michaels misses with a low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels throws out a powerful jab.
Michaels swings widly with a right hand
enabling Pope to counter with a crisp jab.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pope displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

It looks like Karl Michaels has been cut.
Michaels pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Michaels misses with a leg kick.
Michaels goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Michaels throws a jab but it's blocked by Pope.
Michaels pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Pope misses with a straight left.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Michaels uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Pope has time to react.
Pope avoids a kick to the body.
A thudding body kick lands there by Michaels!
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 Michael Pope will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Karl Michaels's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Michaels tries to land a front kick but Pope steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Pope moves out of range of the body kick from Michaels.
Michaels's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Pope connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Michaels scrambles back to his feet.
Pope throws a jab but it's blocked by Michaels.
Pope pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Pope throws a right hand that Michaels ducks under and follows up with a left that Michaels also avoids with ease.
Michael Pope is winning the standup battle so far.
Pope feints a jab promting Michaels to slip. Pope then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Michaels slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Pope scores with a nice head shot.

Michaels is rocked!
Pope lands hard precision jab right on the jaw that stiffens Michaels up and sends him tumbling to the mat! The ref grabs Pope from behind before he can pounce. Some folks in the crowd didn't like that stoppage, but I saw Michaels's eyes roll way back in his head, he was done.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:51 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Michael Pope!
In his post fight interview, Michael Pope started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.