PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Morse (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mariano Italiano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Mariano Italiano enters the cage!

Morse
vs
Italiano

172 cm
30
187 lbs
6 - 9 - 0

188 cm
23
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Fast

HGH Nutrients Q160-Q158

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, James Morse!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Mariano Italiano!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, James Glass and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Italiano uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morse.
Italiano moves out of range of the body kick from Morse.
A big left from Morse misses.

Italiano looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Italiano wants to pass the guard but Morse is keeping the position.
Morse might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Morse utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Morse keeping moving, preventing Italiano from controlling successfully.
Italiano lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Italiano throwing strikes but missing.
Morse avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morse wants to stand and escape but Italiano is having none of it.
Italiano looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Morse trying to keep a closed guard but Italiano is proving a slippery customer.
Italiano chips away with some ground and pound.
Italiano postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Italiano trying to control the position from guard on top but Morse is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morse knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Italiano on the ground.
Italiano is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Italiano trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Italiano throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Italiano trying to control but Morse is working from the bottom.
Italiano loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Italiano connects with a couple of short punches.
Italiano trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Italiano distracts Morse with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Italiano wants to control from the top but Morse keeps moving.
Italiano lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Italiano is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Italiano with a flurry of punches that miss.
Morse controls Italiano momentarily but Italiano frees himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Italiano is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Italiano preventing the sweep.

James Morse has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Italiano stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Italiano lands a nice shot to the body.
Morse swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Italiano looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Morse chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Italiano can pounce on him.
Italiano lands a nice shot to the body.
Italiano throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Morse's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Italiano works over Morse's head and body with a nice combination.
Italiano defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Morse.
Morse is breathing heavily.
Italiano scores with a jab to the body.
Morse takes one on the button.
Italiano scores with a leg kick.
Italiano lands a leg kick that knocks Morse off balance momentarily.
Italiano feints a jab promting Morse to slip. Italiano then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Morse slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
No joy there for Morse, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Italiano lands with a thumping leg kick.
Mariano Italiano seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Italiano lands with a nice body punch.
Morse takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Italiano buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Morse thows a leg kick but Italiano checks it
and Italiano counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The crowd cheers as Italiano lands an impressive looking overhand right. Morse doesn't seem phased though.
Italiano lands a nice looking body kick.
Italiano cracks a nice hook into Morse's ribs.
Italiano slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Italiano lands with a shot to the body.
The crowd cheers as Italiano lands an impressive looking overhand right. Morse doesn't seem phased though.
Morse looks for a takedown but Italiano sprawls well.
Italiano lands a nice hook to Morse's body. Morse takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Nice uppercut lands for Italiano. That snapped Morse's head back.
Italiano has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Morse takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morse throws a leg kick
and Italiano makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Italiano with a hook.
Italiano lands a jab to Morse's midsection.
Italiano checks the leg kick.
Italiano works Morse's body with a nice hook.
Morse on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Italiano lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Italiano catches Morse with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

Morse is rocked!
Italiano ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Italiano fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Morse to the ground. Italiano is now in Morse's guard.
Oh Morse is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Italiano is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Morse seems to have got his legs back now.
Italiano connects with a couple of short punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Italiano is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Italiano works over Morse with some ground and pound from guard.
Italiano is pushing down on Morse's leg trying to pass to half guard. Morse is fighting to maintain full guard but Italiano has managed to sneak the leg through.
Italiano is nestled in close to Morse, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Ground and pound from Italiano.
Morse tries to roll over but Italiano keeps him under control.
Italiano looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Well, if Italiano is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Italiano is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morse is staying active underneath Italiano, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Italiano content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Italiano wants to control but Morse is keeping him busy.
Morse is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Italiano lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Italiano landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Morse is refusing to be controlled, as Italiano sits in half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Italiano lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Italiano not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Italiano seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Morse is in trouble now - Italiano has advanced to mount!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Italiano raining down hammerfists from mount.
Mariano Italiano has got the better of the ground game so far.
Italiano landing strikes, looking to finish!
Morse wants to control but Italiano is having none of it.
Italiano breaks from Morse's wrist control and lands an elbow.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Morse in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Morse in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mariano Italiano showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Italiano scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

Italiano closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Italiano not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Morse is refusing to be controlled, as Italiano sits in half guard.
Italiano stalling away here and it's allowed Morse to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Italiano postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Italiano is looking to work some ground and pound but Morse has wrist control.
Italiano postures up and lands a big shot to Morse's brow.
Morse is trying to keep Italiano in close.
Italiano controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Italiano connects with a couple of short punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Italiano slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Italiano is looking to work some ground and pound but Morse has wrist control.
Italiano connects with a couple of short punches.
Italiano has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Italiano landing with the ground and pound.
Italiano is in close to Morse's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Italiano with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Morse tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Italiano keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Morse's head.
Italiano scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Italiano's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Italiano lands a couple of elbows.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Italiano with a nice head shot there.
Italiano working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Morse's head.
Italiano throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Italiano passes Morse's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Italiano takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Italiano trying to pass the guard but Morse defending well.
Italiano scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Italiano is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Morse is just riding it out for now. Italiano eventually gives up the hold.
Italiano performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morse won't allow Italiano to pass to mount.
Morse avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Italiano.
Italiano working over Morse with some ground and pound. Morse looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Morse looks like he's trying to stand up.

Italiano is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Italiano missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Italiano lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Italiano lands with a punch from half guard.
Morse taking some punishment here, with Italiano in his half guard.

Italiano is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Italiano lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Italiano missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
James Morse has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Morse is trying to stand back up but Italiano is controlling him
Italiano winds up and cracks Morse with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Mariano Italiano is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

Italiano is trying to work for a kimura but Morse is defending well.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mariano Italiano comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Italiano has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 25:30
Judge James Glass scores the fight 25:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mariano Italiano!