PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Charon Lehto (ranked 3 p4p, 8 weight class) and Ezekiel Marley (ranked 1 p4p, 2 weight class). Marley has chosen WANTED as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Lehto
vs
Marley

201 cm
36
275
31 - 8 - 0

199 cm
26
265
20 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

NARCOS
FF Gear

Conviction
Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 31 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Charon Lehto!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ezekiel Marley!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Marley throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Lehto went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Lehto moves forwards but Marley connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Marley looks to land a body kick but Lehto moved away.
Lehto blocks the body kick.
Lehto was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Lehto swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Marley counters with a nice body kick.
Nice uppercut there from Lehto.

It looks like Ezekiel Marley has been cut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lehto throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Marley stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Lehto rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Marley counters with a right hand to the body.
Lehto tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lehto moves away from the strike by Marley.
Marley misses the body punch
and Lehto counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Marley thows a leg kick but Lehto checks it
and Lehto counters with a straight right hand.
Marley thuds his shin into the meat of Lehto's side.
Lehto connects with a body shot that sends Marley's belly button to the back.
Marley takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Lehto lands a head shot.
Lehto misses with a hook. Marley ducked under it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marley throws an off balance right hand
and Marley takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Good shot there by Lehto.
Marley throws a hook but Lehto blocks it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Marley throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Lehto appears to be looking for a big counter.
Lehto throws a right hand that misses
letting Marley counter with a right hand.
Lehto misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Marley.
Marley doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Marley ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Charon Lehto seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Marley scores with a sloppy right hand. Lehto should have avoided that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehto gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Marley counters with a nice uppercut.
Lehto misses with a hook. Marley ducked under it nicely.
Marley tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lehto paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Marley throws a right hand that misses
and Lehto counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Marley lands with a thumping leg kick.
Marley lets loose with a powerful body kick. Lehto will feel that in the morning.
Lehto throws an off balance right hand
and Marley counters with a right hand to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marley throws an overhand right that lands on Lehto's shoulder, as Lehto tries to avoid the shot.
Lehto takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Lehto is breathing heavily.
Lehto tries to land a body kick
and Marley counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Marley moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Marley chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Marley is looking to clinch but Lehto is avoiding it.
Lehto was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.

Marley moves into the clinch.
Lehto wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Lehto blocks a punch to the side of the head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ezekiel Marley dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ezekiel Marley's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Lehto misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Marley.
Marley throws out a counter right but Lehto avoids it with no problem.
Lehto avoids the body shot from Marley.
Marley throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Lehto's head.

It looks like Charon Lehto has been cut.
Lehto swings away with a body shot that misses
and Marley counters with a low kick, right behind Lehto 's knee.
Ezekiel Marley seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The fight stays on the outside here - Marley looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A quick step to the side and Lehto tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Decent striking displayed by Lehto there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lehto stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Marley.
Marley scores with a jab.
Marley blocks the body kick.
Marley misses with a left hand
and Lehto counters with a stiff right hand.
Marley uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Lehto.
Lehto blocks a low kick nicely.
Lehto seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Marley has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Marley there as he acknowledges the shot.
Lehto fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Marley manages to avoid it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marley cracks Lehto with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Lehto uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Marley.
Lehto throwing a counter right hand but Marley manages to avoid it.
Marley misses with the body kick
and Lehto counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
A leg kick checked by Lehto.
Lehto has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Lehto ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice body punch from Marley.
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!
Lehto lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Marley throws the left hand but Lehto avoids the punch easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehto moves out of range as Marley throws a body kick.
Lehto tries to move into range but Marley moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Marley scores with a jab. Lehto acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Lehto.
A countering left hand to the body from Marley misses.

Marley closes the distance and clinches.
Lehto is trying to force a seperation but Marley has the dominant position.
Marley crunches a lovely knee into Lehto's ribcage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lehto is trying to push Marley away but Marley has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Marley lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Lehto or not.
Our sources have told us that Lehto has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
Marley tries to throw a body punch but Lehto avoids it by throwing Marley back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marley working Lehto over with knees to the body.
Marley doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Marley is working Lehto over against the cage.
Marley misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Marley lands with a right to the head.
Marley lands an uppercut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Marley lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Knees to the body from Marley.
Marley struggles to land a body shot inside as Lehto controls his hands.
Lehto tries to break the clinch but Marley is controlling the position.
A right handed body shot lands from Marley.
Lehto tries to land knees in the clinch but Marley avoids the damage to the body.
Marley misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Marley blocks a body shot from Lehto.
Lehto tries to circle away but Marley has him pinned against the cage.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Marley obliges.
Lehto takes a knee to the side of the body.
Marley unloads a knee to the mid-section.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Marley.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Marley.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ezekiel Marley showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Marley tries to clinch up but Lehto circles away and keeps his distance.
Marley avoids the body shot from Lehto.
It seemed like Marley was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Lehto thuds his right hand into Marley's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Marley pivots, looking for a leg kick but Lehto is out of range and Marley settles back down.
Lehto appears to be looking for a big counter.
Lehto throws a lazy head kick
and Marley counters with a nice uppercut.
Marley throws a body shot but no joy.
Marley has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lehto takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Lehto takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marley looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Lehto will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Lehto swings widly with a right hand
and Marley counters with a big right hand! Oh Lehto is in trouble here! Marley follows up with more strikes and that's it! The ref has stopped it!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:17 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ezekiel Marley!
Ezekiel Marley is the new heavyweight champion!
Ezekiel Marley thanked the fans post fight for their support.