PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Cid Strife (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ed Gennero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gennero has chosen Wally's Pep Talk as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Strife
vs
Gennero

183 cm
25
189 lbs
13 - 1 - 0

182 cm
25
200 lbs
16 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

KAISER
Sun-Tzu

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Cid Strife!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ed Gennero !
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Steve Smith and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gennero on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Strife waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Gennero .
Gennero fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

It looks like Cid Strife has been cut.
Strife throws a low kick but it's checked well by Gennero .
Gennero fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Strife.
Gennero takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Gennero throws a solid leg kick but Strife takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Gennero .
Gennero looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Gennero darts in trying to clinch
and Strife counters with a thumping low kick.
A big left from Strife misses.
Strife misses with a low kick as Gennero jumps back.
Gennero blocks a head kick by Strife.
Gennero fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Strife manages to avoid it.

Strife rushes Gennero and presses him up against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Strife swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Gennero lands an elbow inside.
Strife misses with a punch on the inside.
Strife blocks an uppercut.
Gennero lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gennero lands an elbow just above Strife 's eye.
Strife misses with a hook to the ribs.
Strife misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Gennero doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Gennero 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.
Gennero has a couple of punches blocked by Strife.
Strife fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Gennero throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Strifes head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gennero .
Strife misses with a hook to the ribs.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gennero .
Gennero tries to throw a body punch but Strife avoids it by throwing Gennero back against the cage.
Strife pushes Gennero back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Strife makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Gennero blocks a punch to the side of the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Strife.
Strife fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Strife swings wildly with an uppercut but Gennero uses good head movement to avoid it.
Gennero lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Strife or not.
Strife lands with a light punch inside.
A nice left hand lands by Strife.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
With the fighters up against the cage, Gennero throws an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gennero lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Strife.
Gennero throws a head punch that misses.
Gennero lands an elbow just above Strife 's eye.
Gennero throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Strife being controlled against the cage.
Gennero lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Strife swings wildly with an uppercut but Gennero uses good head movement to avoid it.
Strife gets through Gennero 's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Gennero lands a nice uppercut.
Gennero is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Strife misses with a hook from the clinch.
Gennero lands with a left to the head.
Gennero taking a breather.

Gennero escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gennero misses with a low kick as Strife jumps back.
Gennero takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Gennero throws a leg kick
and Strife counters with a nice low kick that buckles Gennero 's knee momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gennero tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Strife is able to avoid easily.
Gennero defending well as Strife loads up on a big left hand.
Strife takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Strife throws a nice head kick!
Strife tries to move into range but Gennero moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Gennero on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Gennero does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Ed Gennero seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gennero jabs Strife right on the nose. Strife blinks but takes it well.
Gennero fails to land with a series of punches.
Gennero scores with a nice right hand.
Strife looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Strife misses with a low kick.
A little jabbing left from Gennero on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Strife fails to land with a series of punches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gennero tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
A left lands for Gennero .
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Strife lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Gennero has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Gennero and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Strife motions for Gennero to come forward. Strife throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Strife uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Gennero .

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Gennero misses.
Gennero checks the leg kick nicely there.
Gennero on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Strife throws a right and a left that both miss.
Strife throws out a leg kick but Gennero moves out of range and Strife only half commits.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Gennero ! But no joy.
Gennero tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Strife manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Gennero chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Strife can pounce on him.
Strife throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Strife connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Strife scores with the left hand. Gennero knows he should have avoided that one.
Gennero takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Strife throws a shot from downtown. Gennero moves away and avoids it.
Strife scores with a hook to the body. Gennero takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Strife moves out of range as Gennero throws a body kick.
Strife thinks about countering with a body kick.
A jab from Gennero does it's job there.
Crunch! Strife slams his shin into Gennero 's torso.
A jab from Gennero misses.
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 Cid Strife will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Cid Strife's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Gennero misses with a hook.
A low kick from Gennero misses
and Strife connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
A slapping body kick lands there for Strife.
Strife misses with a head kick.
Gennero throws a body punch but Strife moves out of range.
Gennero throws an off balance right hand
and Strife makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Strife moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Gennero misses with a double jab.
Strife was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Strife throws a chopping leg kick but Gennero manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Gennero tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Strife ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Gennero throws a series of punches but Strife avoids them all with ease.
Gennero misses with a body punch
and Strife counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Strife lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
The fighters circling - Strife throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A nice inside leg kick there by Strife. That's going to slow Gennero down.
Gennero has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Strife.
Gennero throws a big shot that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Strife closes the distance and clinches.
A head punch on the inside from Strife fails to land.
A short right from Gennero .
Strife lands a hook that snaps the head of Gennero backwards.
Gennero lands with a right to the head.
Strife blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Gennero has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Strife.
Strife scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Strife swings wildly with an uppercut but Gennero uses good head movement to avoid it.
Strife is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gennero can do to turn this around?
Strife misses with a knee to the head.
Strife lands a left hand.
Strife throws a punch but it's blocked by Gennero .
Gennero struggles to land a body shot inside as Strife controls his hands.
Gennero looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Strife lands with a light punch inside.

Gennero is rocked!
A short left from Strife.
Gennero is still on wobbly legs! Can Strife finish him?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Strife blocks an elbow strike from Gennero .
Strife lands a big right hand that drops Gennero ! The killer instinct kicks in and Strife finishes his opponent with a series of strikes from mount. A dominating finish by Strife!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Cid Strife!
Cid Strife retains his middleweight title!
A relieved looking Cid Strife thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.