PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mario Rossi (ranked 1181 p4p, 1451 weight class) and Wilhelm Strauss (ranked 177 p4p, 209 weight class). Rossi comes to the cage accompanied by Mr Rossi. Strauss has chosen Root Of All Evil as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. 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.

Rossi
vs
Strauss

180 cm
33
186
21 - 14 - 0

174 cm
39
181
27 - 10 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

Arcticus University: London

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 21 - 14 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mario Rossi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 10 - 1, fighting out of London, Wilhelm Strauss!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Kenichi Hosakawa and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rossi misses with a low kick.
Strauss connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Strauss defending well as Rossi loads up on a big left hand.
Strauss feints the counter takedown.
Rossi takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Rossi blocks a low kick nicely.
Rossi looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Strauss circles away from the clinch attempt.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Strauss.
Strauss throws a body punch but Rossi moves out of range.
Rossi pushes Strauss away with a front kick.
Rossi punishes Strauss's body with a nice straight punch.
Strauss throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.

Rossi closes the distance and clinches.
Strauss tries to stall but Rossi uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Strauss blocks an elbow strike.
Strauss is trying to break free.
Rossi misses with a short punch on the inside.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Strauss effectively controlling the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rossi misses with a short punch on the inside.
Strauss blocks an uppercut.
Rossi working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Strauss takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Rossi misses with a hook to the ribs.
Rossi with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Strauss breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Strauss misses with the combination.
Rossi throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Rossi throws a low kick, looking for Strauss's leg but Strauss calmly moves out of range.
Rossi works the jab nicely.
Strauss scores with the left hand. Rossi knows he should have avoided that one.
Rossi lands a nice looking kick to the body. Strauss takes a step back to recover.
Strauss is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strauss scores with a jab to the jaw.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rossi checks the leg kick.
Strauss looks to land a combination but Rossi avoids it well.
Strauss ducks under a wild hook from Rossi.
Rossi wants to clinch.
Strauss misses with a few strikes there.
Rossi stalks Strauss and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Strauss's face. Strauss staggers backwards, shaken.

It looks like Wilhelm Strauss has been cut.
Strauss walks into a stiff left hand from Rossi.
Strauss misses with a wild body shot.
Rossi throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Strauss feints the counter takedown.
Rossi connects with an inside leg kick.

Rossi moves into the clinch successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strauss lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rossi backwards.
Strauss lands a body shot in the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Rossi.

Strauss breaks from the clinch.
Strauss misses with a hook.
Strauss moves away from the strike by Rossi.
Rossi misses with a leg kick.
Rossi tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Strauss manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Strauss avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
And Strauss tries to counter it with a takedown but Rossi pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Some wild striking there from Strauss.
Strauss goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Rossi rushes Strauss and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Rossi lands with a short shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch on the inside from Rossi fails to land.

Strauss breaks the clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rossi tries to close the distance and clinch but Strauss swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Strauss lands a glancing blow to the side of Rossi's head.
Strauss takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Rossi turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Strauss looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
A nice leg kick from Strauss, right into the meat of the thigh.
Strauss jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Strauss works the jab nicely.
Strauss buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Rossi tries to clinch but Strauss is having none of it.
A big right from Rossi misses.
Strauss drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Rossi defends it well.
Rossi tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Strauss paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Strauss throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Strauss connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Rossi's hands.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Wilhelm Strauss dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Wilhelm Strauss's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rossi avoids the body shot from Strauss.
Strauss with a hook.
Rossi slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Rossi misses with a hook. Strauss ducked under it nicely.
Rossi misses with an uppercut. Strauss saw that one coming.
Strauss throws a nice inside leg kick.
Strauss turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Rossi with the inside leg kick.
Strauss paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Strauss lands with a good body shot.
Strauss throws a nice inside leg kick.
Rossi swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Strauss tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
A leg kick checked by Strauss.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Rossi throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Strauss misses with a looping left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rossi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Strauss.
Rossi throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Strauss on the side of the head.
Rossi scores with a three punch combo!
Rossi throws a hook but Strauss blocks it.
Strauss drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Rossi defends it well.
Rossi tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Some bone on bone action there as Strauss checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Strauss moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Strauss misses with a kick to the body.
An attempted straight right counter from Rossi misses the target.
Strauss ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Rossi showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Strauss.
Strauss with a jab.
Strauss circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rossi bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rossi misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
And Strauss tries to counter it with a takedown but Rossi pushes his down on his head and steps out.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Strauss takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Strauss swats away the attempt to clinch by Rossi.
Strauss lands with an uppercut that bounces Rossi off the cage and back into range.
Rossi checks a leg kick.
Rossi feinted there with a counter leg kick.

Rossi takes the fight into the clinch.

Strauss breaks the clinch.
Rossi misses with a low kick.
Strauss throws out a leg kick but Rossi moves out of range and Strauss only half commits.
Rossi misses with a jab, cross combination.
Strauss throws a nice looking combination but Rossi bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Strauss 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 Rossi has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Rossi and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Strauss throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Rossi looks to score with a jab to the body but Strauss is just out of range.
Rossi tries to clinch up but Strauss circles away and keeps his distance.
Strauss drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Rossi defends it well.
Strauss tried to score with a low kick but Rossi checks it.
Rossi sizes up Strauss with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Rossi tries to clinch but Strauss is having none of it.
Strauss 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.
Rossi misses with a looping right.
A low kick from Strauss is predictable there
and Rossi counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Strauss looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Rossi slips a jab from Strauss.
Rossi throws a big counter combination but Strauss scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Rossi crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Strauss - the referee stops the clock and Rossi gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Strauss. Rossi manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Nice defenses there by Strauss.
Strauss drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Rossi defends it well.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rossi looks to land a right hand but Strauss moved out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rossi chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Strauss with the inside leg kick.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Strauss fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Rossi looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Strauss just misses with a punch to the body.
Rossi connects with a crisp jab.
Strauss dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Strauss fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Strauss throws a looping overhand right but Rossi ducks down to avoid it.
Rossi uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Strauss.
Rossi throws a big counter combination but Strauss scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Strauss lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Rossi at a distance.
Rossi lands a leg kick that knocks Strauss off balance momentarily.
Strauss ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Rossi rushes Strauss and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Rossi fails to land.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Wilhelm Strauss will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Wilhelm Strauss's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Strauss fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Rossi on the side of the head.
Rossi looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Rossi tries to clinch up but Strauss circles away and keeps his distance.
Strauss misses with an uppercut.
Rossi scoring well with a low kick there.
Rossi throws a wild body kick that Strauss sees coming a mile off.
Strauss tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Strauss uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Rossi.
Strauss throws a sloppy head kick and Rossi moves out of range easily.

Rossi darts in and clinches Strauss up against the cage.
Strauss lands an elbow just above Rossi 's eye.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Strauss wants to get back to striking at distance but Rossi won't allow it.
Nice body punch from Rossi - that landed with a thud.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Strauss.
Rossi tries to land a knee to the head but Strauss blocks with his arms.
Strauss is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Strauss tries to work over Rossi's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rossi lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Strauss backwards.
Strauss is pushing Rossi up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Strauss blocks an uppercut.
Rossi misses with a knee strike.
Strauss looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Rossi throws a punch but it's blocked by Strauss.
Strauss lands a hook to the side of the head.
Rossi with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Rossi tries to work over Strauss's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Strauss drops Rossi with a big knee straight up the middle! Rossi is covering up against the cage but manages to escape and gets back to his feet!

It looks like Mario Rossi has been cut.
Strauss thows a left - swing and a miss!
Rossi doesn't manage to clinch there - Strauss circles away.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rossi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Strauss thuds his right hand into Rossi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Mario Rossi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rossi doesn't manage to clinch there - Strauss circles away.
Rossi swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Rossi is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Rossi throws a half hearted mid kick.
And Strauss tries to counter it with a takedown but Rossi pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Strauss moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Strauss ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Strauss connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Strauss has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Rossi lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
A cross from Rossi lands.
Strauss with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Rossi fails in his attempt to clinch.
Rossi tries to clinch there but Strauss circles away.
Strauss throws a low kick but it's checked well by Rossi.
Rossi looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
Strauss 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strauss lands with a thumping leg kick.
Rossi tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Strauss lands a body shot.
Rossi pivots, looking for a leg kick but Strauss is out of range and Rossi settles back down.
Strauss connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Strauss shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Rossi eats them both and turns towards Strauss to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Strauss tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Rossi was well out of range. Poor timing from Strauss.
Wilhelm Strauss is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Strauss punishes Rossi's body with a nice straight punch.
Rossi throws an overhand right that lands on Strauss's shoulder, as Strauss tries to avoid the shot.
Strauss throws a leg kick which misses Rossi's front leg but catches the back leg as Rossi tries to avoid it.
Rossi tries to clinch but Strauss is having none of it.
Rossi misses with a straight left.
Rossi moves out of range as Strauss throws a body kick.
Rossi paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rossi is looking to score with low kicks.
Rossi tries to close the distance and clinch up but Strauss swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Strauss lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Rossi displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Strauss throws out the jab.
Rossi throws out a loose jab but Strauss uses good head movement to avoid it.
Strauss circles away from the clinch attempt.
Strauss scores with a kick to the body.
Rossi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Strauss's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Rossi connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Strauss scrambles back to his feet.
Strauss moves out of range of the strikes.
Strauss lands a nice leg kick that just misses Rossi's sensitive parts.
Strauss scores with a jab. Rossi acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Strauss tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Rossi was well out of range. Poor timing from Strauss.
Strauss jabs at Rossi's body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wilhelm Strauss comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Strauss winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 27:30
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wilhelm Strauss!
An out of breath and clearly excited Wilhelm Strauss thanked Arcticus University: London for their help and support (and free stuff they sent him).