PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jordan Strike (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maximilian Morrel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Morrel comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Battle Born kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Strike
vs
Morrel

185 cm
21
204 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

178 cm
22
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Sparta Fightware

Pitt Nutrition + Laundry (160 Recovery, Stamina

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 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jordan Strike!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Maximilian Morrel!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Sano and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Strike looks to score with a jab to the body but Morrel is just out of range.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Morrel has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Strike misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Morrel.
A looping hook to the body misses from Strike. Morrel does a little dance to reset his feet.
Strike scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Jordan Strike seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Strike feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Morrels jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Strike throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Morrel fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Strike avoids it really well and circles away.
Morrel tries for a takedown but Strike sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Strike lands a lovely overhand right.
Morrel avoids the body shot from Strike.
Morrel displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Strike throws out the jab.

Morrel closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Strike breaks the clinch.

Morrel shoots in and bounces Strike off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

Morrel drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Morrel jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Strike is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Morrel thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Morrel drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Morrel seems to have locked his on tight now - Strike screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Morrel, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:44 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Maximilian Morrel!
After winning the bout, Maximilian Morrel thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.