PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Lasse Kongo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sean Mess (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lasse Kongo has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kongo
vs
Mess

165 cm
18
157 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

180 cm
20
160 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Lasse Kongo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Sean Mess!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Donald Grub and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kongo gets the takedown into side control.
Mess is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Kongo's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mess regains full guard. Nicely done.

Kongo postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Mess is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Kongo, into his guard.

Kongo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Mess doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Mess manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Kongo is breathing heavily.

Mess gets to his feet. Kongo looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Kongo closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mess circles away.
Kongo tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Mess swivels and escapes.
Mess tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kongo paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Jab by Mess.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mess throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Mess scores with a three punch combo!

Mess closes the distance and clinches.

Kongo jumps guard and drags Mess to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Mess must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Mess 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.
Kongo could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Mess advances position into side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mess decides to stand back up.
Mess fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kongo shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Mess but Mess pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lasse Kongo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kongo shoots in but no luck this time.
Kongo tries to grapple but his opponent circles
letting Mess counter with a right hand.
Mess is looking to clinch but Kongo is avoiding it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Mess does it's job there.
Mess is looking to clinch.

Kongo feints and as Mess raises his hands in defense, Kongo changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Mess wants to stand and escape but Kongo is having none of it.
Kongo stands and throws Mess's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Mess is looking to reverse the position.

Kongo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Mess is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Kongo looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kongo works to advance to full mount. Mess defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

Kongo has hold of Mess's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Mess manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Kongo won't let Mess get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Mess is trying to escape the mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Mess trying to punch from the bottom. They're landing but they're really not going to hurt Kongo.
Mess tries to reverse the position but Kongo maintains control.
Mess is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Sean Mess will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Mess is looking to clinch but Kongo is avoiding it.
Mess throws a shot to the body.
Mess tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Kongo counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Mess wants to improve his position but Kongo is controlling well.
Mess pushes Kongo off looking to stand but Kongo dives back in and keeps control.
Kongo moves into full mount! Mess won't be happy about that!
Mess is wriggling around trying to escape.
Mess is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Mess throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Kongo swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Mess is now in Kongo's guard. A big mistake from Kongo there, giving up the dominant position!
Mess forces his way into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kongo works his way to full guard. Good work.
Mess preventing the sweep.
Kongo is working hard here to advance position.

Kongo has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Mess can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Kongo looking for a sweep. Not yet Kongo, not yet.

Mess stands up from Kongo's guard - Mess perhaps looking for a knockout.
Kongo with a poor takedown
and Mess counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mess stuffs the takedown.
Mess is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Mess gets a clinch.
Kongo is working for takedown but Mess is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lasse Kongo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mess wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Mess can't break the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Mess fails to land.

Mess tightens his grip and picks Kongo up, before dumping him to the ground. Kongo manages to land in guard.

Mess stands up from Kongo's guard - Mess perhaps looking for a knockout.
Kongo fails to land the takedown.
Mess is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No luck for Kongo with that takedown attempt.
Mess throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A nice leg kick lands there from Mess.
Mess circles away from the clinch attempt
and Mess connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Kongo with a poor takedown
and Mess counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Mess connects with a looping right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kongo closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Mess makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Mess is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Mess wants to clinch

and Kongo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Kongo.
Kongo might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Mess pushes Kongo off and scrambles back to his feet.
Kongo uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Mess.
The fighters circle momentarily. Mess darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kongo doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Mess counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Kongo has his takedown stuffed
and Mess counters with a solid body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Sean Mess will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kongo scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Kongo is looking to pass Mess's guard but actually Mess recovers to full guard.

Mess looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Mess is looking for a triangle but Kongo pushes his legs off easily.

Mess working for a triangle but Kongo defends it easily.
Kongo sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Mess's guard.
Mess looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mess kicks off Kongo and gets to his feet.
Kongo misses with a takedown attempt
and Kongo takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kongo shoots and misses
and Mess counters with a one-two to the body.
Mess tries to close the distance and clinch but Kongo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Mess cracks a nice hook into Kongo's ribs.
Mess is looking to clinch but Kongo is avoiding it.
Mess throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Kongo has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Nice body punch from Mess.
Mess tries to clinch there but Kongo circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mess doesn't manage to clinch there - Kongo circles away.

Mess gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Mess wants the takedown. Kongo is fighting it off but Mess persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Kongo's guard against the cage.

Mess thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Kongo has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Mess can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Kongo had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Mess is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Kongo Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Mess's back instead.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Mess is trying to stand back up.
I really don't envy Mess right now.
Lasse Kongo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mess holding both Kongo 's hands and preventing any damage.
Mess breaks Kongo's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Mess tries to free his leg and advance position but Kongo is retaining full guard.

Mess drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Mess jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Mess would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Kongo tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mess swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kongo tries to clinch up
and Mess makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Lasse Kongo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Kongo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Kongo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Mess is keeping the position for now.
Mess wants to stand up but Kongo is controlling him.
Kongo is pushing down on Mess's leg trying to pass to half guard. Mess is fighting to maintain full guard but Kongo has managed to sneak the leg through.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Kongo is trying to work for a kimura but Mess is defending well.

Kongo is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sean Mess comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Mess 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sean Mess!