PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Elia Mercurio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Delode (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). James Delode has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Mercurio
vs
Delode

191 cm
26
195 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

225 cm
25
190 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Elia Mercurio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of The Island, James Delode!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Sandra Marshall and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mercurio drives through and clinches with Delode against the cage.
Mercurio is struggling to control the position.
We've been hearing reports that Mercurio has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
A body shot lands from Mercurio.

Delode breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Delode shoots for a double leg takedown but Mercurio sprawls well. He's pushed Delode's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Delode goes for a double leg but Mercurio avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Mercurio continues to drive forward.
Delode doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Mercurio counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

It looks like James Delode has been cut.
Elia Mercurio has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of James Delode.
Mercurio missing with a left hand there. Delode was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Delode with the counter takedown but Mercurio avoids it easily.
Delode is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Mercurio manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Delode on his heels. He'll look to pass Delode's guard now, I'm sure.
Delode working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Mercurio.
Mercurio slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Mercurio stands up over Delode, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Mercurio with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mercurio makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Delode is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Mercurio's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Mercurio stands up over Delode, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Delode keeping moving, preventing Mercurio from controlling successfully.
Mercurio chips away with some ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mercurio accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Mercurio missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Delode managing to control the position.
Mercurio trying to control the position from guard on top but Delode is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mercurio lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Mercurio distracts Delode with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Mercurio throws a strike but Delode rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Mercurio looking to hit a scissor sweep but Delode is one step ahead there.
Delode must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Delode trying to control but Mercurio is working from the bottom.
Mercurio tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Delode wants to control from the top but Mercurio keeps moving.
Mercurio might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Mercurio seems keen to control Delode's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mercurio's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Delode sitting in guard here, content to control.
Mercurio has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Mercurio seems keen to control Delode's posture.
Delode preventing the sweep.
Mercurio pulls Delode in close to his closed guard and prevents Delode from doing any damage or advancing position.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Delode would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Delode dives in and grabs Mercurio's left leg, looking for a takedown. Mercurio pushes down on Delode's head and hops out.
Mercurio defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Delode.
Delode shoots in for a takedown but Mercurio shows good takedown defense.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Delode is defended easily by Mercurio.
Delode looks winded!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Delode fails with a takedown attempt.
Delode closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mercurio circles away.
Mercurio cracks Delode with an open hand slap.

Mercurio rushes Delode and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Delode is trying to force a seperation but Mercurio has the dominant position.
Mercurio misses with a punch on the inside.
Mercurio lands with a left to the head.
Mercurio can't find room to land a body shot as Delode controls the action.
A right hook to the body lands for Mercurio.
Mercurio gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Delode.
Mercurio lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Mercurio throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Mercurio will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Delode up against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elia Mercurio dominated that round.
The cut man is working on James Delode's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Delode fails with a takedown attempt.
Delode shoots for a double leg takedown but Mercurio sprawls well. He's pushed Delode's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
James Delode is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Delode fails with a takedown attempt.
Elia Mercurio has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of James Delode.
Delode gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Mercurio counters with a right hand to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Mercurio. No joy for Delode on that attempt.
Mercurio appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
A punch combination from Mercurio misses.
Delode misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Mercurio drops Delode with a beautiful combination! Delode stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Mercurio is looking for the KO!

Delode is rocked!
Delode is breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Mercurio rushes Delode and presses him up against the cage.
Delode is still on wobbly legs! Can Mercurio finish him?

Mercurio breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Delode gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Mercurio gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:53 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Elia Mercurio!
A very excited looking Elia Mercurio made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.
James Delode spoke after the fight, saying 'thank you to all my fans '.