PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Balink Tarlah (ranked 1944 p4p, 5556 weight class) and Ender Knightley (ranked 230 p4p, 522 weight class). 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.

Tarlah
vs
Knightley

179 cm
42
180
28 - 21 - 0

181 cm
20
180
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

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 28 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Balink Tarlah!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ender Knightley!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, James Ackerman and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knightley misses with an uppercut.
Tarlah misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Knightley throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Tarlah sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Knightley lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Knightley connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Knightley leaves Tarlah with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Knightley throws a leg kick
and Tarlah counters with a stiff right hand.
Tarlah uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Knightley.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knightley keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Tarlah.
Knightley displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Tarlah throws out the jab.
Knightley throws a hook but Tarlah blocks it.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Knightley.
Ender Knightley seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tarlah closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Tarlah lands in his opponent's guard.
Tarlah missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Tarlah with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Tarlah trying to control the position from guard on top but Knightley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Knightley is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Tarlah trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Tarlah 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knightley looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Tarlah lands a couple of elbows.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tarlah accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Tarlah landing with the ground and pound.
Tarlah postures up in Knightley's guard and throws a big left but Knightley blocks it.
Tarlah postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet but Tarlah is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Knightley not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Knightley looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarlah missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Knightley wriggles free and stands up.
Knightley tries to land a leg kick but Tarlah saw it coming and moves away.
Knightley doesn't manage to clinch there - Tarlah circles away.
Tarlah takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

Tarlah darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Knightley wants to improve his position but Tarlah is controlling well.
Knightley keeping hold of Tarlah's head, controlling as best he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarlah lands strikes from half guard.
Knightley is holding on to half guard well.
Tarlah throwing shots but Knightley is blocking nicely.

Knightley kicks off Tarlah and gets to his feet.
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!

Knightley drives through and clinches with Tarlah against the cage.

Knightley manages to break the clinch.
Knightley connects with a crisp jab.

It looks like Balink Tarlah has been cut.
Knightley shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Tarlah eats them both and turns towards Knightley to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Knightley misses with a telegraphed body shot
enabling Tarlah to counter with a crisp jab.
Knightley misses with a hook. Tarlah ducked under it nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ender Knightley dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Balink Tarlah's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Tarlah shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Knightley sprawls well. Knightley wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Tarlah gets slowly back to his feet.

Tarlah shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Knightley napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Balink Tarlah overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Tarlah wants to control but Knightley is keeping him busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tarlah postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet.
Knightley tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knightley is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Tarlah's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Knightley wants to improve his position but Tarlah is controlling well.
Knightley has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Tarlah missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Knightley is looking to control Tarlah's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Knightley avoid being mounted?
Tarlah throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Knightley is refusing to be controlled, as Tarlah sits in half guard.
Knightley on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarlah takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Tarlah is taking a breather. Knightley says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet.
Knightley is not content to let Tarlah control the position.
Tarlah lands with a punch from half guard.
Tarlah is thwarting Knightley's attempts to control the position.
Tarlah sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Knightley is controlling Tarlah's trapped leg to prevent Tarlah from advancing to side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knightley avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Tarlah.
Tarlah is looking to take a break and control but Knightley is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Tarlah connects with a nice short shot to Knightley's temple.
Tarlah thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Tarlah not doing much here.
Tarlah is thwarting Knightley's attempts to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Knightley keeping control of the position.
Knightley felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Tarlah throwing shots but Knightley is blocking nicely.

Knightley pushes Tarlah off and gets back to his feet.
Knightley tries a low kick but Tarlah avoids it.

Tarlah shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Tarlah missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tarlah throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Balink Tarlah dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Balink Tarlah's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Tarlah takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Knightley thuds his right hand into Tarlah's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.

Tarlah drives through and clinches with Knightley against the cage.

Knightley manages to break the clinch.
Knightley swings widly with a right hand
enabling Tarlah to counter with a crisp jab.
Tarlah missing with a left hand there. Knightley was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Tarlah takes a body punch but keeps moving.

Tarlah shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Knightley napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
An elbow from Tarlah crashes against the mat.
The strikes coming from Tarlah are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Tarlah working away.
Tarlah throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Tarlah creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Knightley sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knightley is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Knightley wants to control but Tarlah postures up.
Tarlah lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Tarlah wants to control but Knightley is keeping him busy.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet.
Tarlah sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Knightley is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Tarlah working the body and head with strikes.
Tarlah wants to control but Knightley is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knightley is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Tarlah is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Tarlah misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Tarlah putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Knightley wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Tarlah.
Tarlah lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knightley is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
A nice elbow there by Tarlah.
Tarlah dominating with strikes here.
Tarlah with good strikes from the mount here!
Knightley is looking to improve his position but Tarlah isn't that keen on the idea.
Knightley tries to buck Tarlah off but he can't manage it.
Knightley wants to control but Tarlah is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarlah landing shots from mount.
Tarlah looking to finish Knightley with some ground and pound. This is bad for Knightley!
Tarlah avoids the attempt from Knightley to control.
Tarlah prevents Knightley from getting the reversal.
Knightley tries to lock up and control but Tarlah gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tarlah throwing strikes here but Knightley is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Tarlah scoring with strikes but Knightley is staying in there.
Tarlah unloading with bombs!
Tarlah working Knightley over with strikes here.

Knightley is rocked!
Tarlah lands a big shot to the head and Knightley winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Balink Tarlah!
A very excited looking Balink Tarlah 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.