PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Kelsey Wright (ranked 4639 p4p, 4402 weight class) and Paulie Morelli (ranked 231 p4p, 226 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Wright
vs
Morelli

180 cm
23
140
0 - 0 - 0

171 cm
21
135
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Kelsey Wright!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Paulie Morelli!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wright gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Wright takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Wright fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Morelli doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Nice body punch from Morelli.
Morelli throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Wright.
Morelli lands a body shot.
Wright throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Morelli appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wright takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Wright really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Wright with a lazy takedown attempt
and Wright takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kelsey Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morelli digs a good body shot into Wright's ribs.
Morelli misses with a two punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wright is looking to clinch.
Morelli has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Wright.

Wright shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Morelli's guard.
Morelli is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Wright is controlling him.
Wright trying to control but Morelli is working from the bottom.
Morelli is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Wright is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morelli wants to get back to his feet but Wright is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Wright works over Morelli with some ground and pound from guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Morelli can do anything to dispel that myth.
Wright working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Morelli throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Wright on the side of the head.
No luck for Morelli with that takedown attempt.
Wright is trying hard to land a takedown here. Morelli sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wright drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
A nice leg kick from Wright, right into the meat of the thigh.
Wright fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Kelsey Wright seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morelli swings and misses with a hook to the body.
It looked like Wright was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Morelli.
No joy there for Wright, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Wright tries to clinch there but Morelli circles away.
Wright is looking to land body kicks.

Morelli scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Wright bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Morelli misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Wright closes this distance looking for a takedown but Morelli circles away.
Wright is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Morelli is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Wright rather than just go for the knockout.
Morelli lands a lovely overhand right.
Wright throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Wright fails with a takedown attempt.
Wright fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Morelli manages to avoid it.
Morelli throws out a counter right but Wright avoids it with no problem.
Morelli lands a nice hook to Wright's body. Wright takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Left hook, right uppercut from Morelli.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Paulie Morelli dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Morelli gets the takedown into side control.

Wright sneaks out the side door and pushes Morelli away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Wright defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Morelli.
Nice takedown defense from Morelli. No joy for Wright on that attempt.
Wright tries to clinch but Morelli moves out of range.
Wright misses with a body shot.
Wright swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morelli lands with a straight right. Wright didn't see that one coming.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A combination from Morelli does no damage.
Wright swings widly with a right hand
and Morelli cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Wright tries to clinch up.
Kelsey Wright is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morelli misses with a series of wild punches.

Morelli gets a takedown into half guard.

Wright has one foot on Morelli's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Wright throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Morelli's waist but Morelli gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Wright off to one side.
It seemed like Morelli was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Wright shoots for a takedown but Morelli saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kelsey Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Morelli throws out a powerful jab.

Morelli feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Morelli wants to stand but Wright is controlling his posture from full guard.
Wright looking to control.
Morelli would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Morelli passes into half guard under a barage of strikes.
Morelli wants to stand up but Wright is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wright trying to control here.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Morelli wants to stand up but Wright has a hold of him and won't allow it.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Wright closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Morelli quickly recovers to half guard.
Morelli pushes Wright off looking to stand but Wright dives back in and keeps control.
Wright looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright is keen to just control but Morelli is a slippery customer.

Wright is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Morelli wants to get back to his feet.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Paulie Morelli will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Wright swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Morelli counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Morelli scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Morelli swats away the attempt to clinch by Wright.
Morelli slaps away a takedown attempt from Wright, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Wright with a lazy takedown attempt
letting Morelli counter with a right hand.
Wright drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wright is looking to clinch.
Wright doesn't manage to clinch there - Morelli circles away.
Morelli moves into range and connects with a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morelli rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Wright moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Morelli stuffs the takedown attempt from Wright. Wright gets slowly back to his feet.
Morelli is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Wright with a body shot.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kelsey Wright. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Wright tries to clinch but fails miserably
enabling Morelli to counter with a crisp jab.
Nice straight punches there by Morelli. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Morelli.

Wright is rocked!
Wright ducks right into an uppercut from Morelli.
Oh Wright is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Morelli leaves Wright with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Morelli throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Wright on the side of the head.
Wright tries to work over Morelli's front leg with a kick but Morelli checks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wright fails to land the takedown.
Wright tries to clinch there but Morelli circles away.
Morelli now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Wright seems to have got his legs back now.

Morelli fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Wright to the ground. Morelli is now in Wright's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Morelli tries to stand but Wright is controlling from the bottom.
Morelli has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Morelli wants to stand and escape but instead Wright has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Morelli is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Wright is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wright throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morelli works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Wright loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Morelli wants to get back to his feet but Wright is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Morelli pushes Wright off and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wright gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Morelli counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Wright throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Morelli connects with a single shot there.
Morelli scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Horrible takedown attempt by Wright or perhaps it was just good defense by Morelli, which made it look bad.
Paulie Morelli is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Wright tries to clinch but Morelli moves out of range.
Kelsey Wright has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Morelli throws a one two combo.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paulie Morelli comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Morelli 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight for Paulie Morelli!
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight for Paulie Morelli!
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight for Paulie Morelli!

Paulie Morelli wins by unanimous decision!
After the fight, Paulie Morelli was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.