PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Michael Pope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lyoto Machida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pope comes to the cage accompanied by For Whom The Bell Tolls. Machida is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by For Whom The Bell Tolls. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Pope
vs
Machida

190 cm
27
213 lbs
17 - 11 - 0

185 cm
38
205 lbs
31 - 24 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Michael Pope!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 24 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lyoto Machida!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Alexandre Firmino and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pope throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Machida cracks Pope with a good jab.
Nice shot by Pope.
Pope cracks Machida with an open hand slap.
Machida walks into a straight right hand from Pope.
Machida needs to keep his hands up - Pope had a free shot at his head there.
Pope fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Machida has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Pope ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Pope lands a jab.
Pope missing with a left hand there. Machida was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
The crowd cheers as Pope lands an impressive looking overhand right. Machida doesn't seem phased though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pope wants to slow Machida down by chopping away at his legs.
Pope tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Machida was well out of range. Poor timing from Pope.
Pope moves out of range of the leg kick from Machida.
Pope connects with a nice looking jab.
Pope lands a jab to the head.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Pope lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Machida has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Machida and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Machida moves out of range of the strikes.
The fight stays on the outside here - Pope looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Pope swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Michael Pope seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Machida blocks a jab.
Machida throws a series of punches but Pope avoids them all with ease.
Machida throws a head kick that misses.
Machida drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Machida throws a nice outside leg kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Machida's jab looks to have found its range, popping Pope under the eye.
Pope tests Machida's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Pope has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Machida.
Machida with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Pope to score with a decent uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Machida throws a head kick that misses.
Machida misses with a hook.
Some bone on bone action there as Machida checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Pope throws a shot from downtown. Machida moves away and avoids it.
Machida throws a head kick that misses.
Pope misses with a wild combination.
Pope throws a low kick but Machida moves out of range easily.
Pope loads up on a big right hand but Machida slips the punch.
Pope uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Machida has time to react.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Machida wants to slow Pope down by chopping away at his legs.

Pope darts in and clinches Machida up against the cage.
Machida is looking to break free of the clinch but Pope has double underhooks.

Pope's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Pope lands a nice shot that snaps Machida's head back.
Pope thows a body shot but no joy.
Pope throws a hook but Machida avoids it easily.
Machida will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Pope jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Pope takes a head kick and keeps coming.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Pope dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Pope moves out of range of the strikes.
Machida avoids a kick to the body.
Machida uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Pope.
A slow jab from Pope misses its intended target.
Pope throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Pope misses with an uppercut. Machida saw that one coming.
Machida looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Machida throws a head kick that half lands.
Machida takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Machida ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Pope dips to his left and cracks Machida with an uppercut!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pope throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Machida sees it coming and avoids it easily.
The fighters circling - Machida throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A swing and a miss from Pope.
Pope throws a hook but Machida blocks it.
Pope misses with a hook.
Pope tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Pope tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A big left from Pope misses.

Pope drops Machida with a beautiful combination! Machida stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Pope is looking for the KO!

Machida is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Machida misses with a hook. Pope ducked under it nicely.
Machida blocks a low kick nicely.
Pope avoids a punch combination nicely.
Lyoto Machida is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sloppy strikes from Pope. Those never looked like landing.
Pope lands with a shot to the body.
Machida needs to keep his hands up - Pope had a free shot at his head there.
A big left from Machida misses.
An inside leg kick lands from Pope.
Machida misses with a combination
and Pope makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Machida staying out of range there.
A punch combination from Machida misses.
Pope sizes up Machida with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Machida takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Machida misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Pope throws a leg kick which misses Machida's front leg but catches the back leg as Machida tries to avoid it.
Machida avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Machida takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Machida just misses with a punch to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Machida throws a right and a left that both miss.
Machida rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Pope moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Pope scores with a shot to the body.
Machida has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Pope.
Machida is breathing heavily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Pope scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Pope with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Machida misses with a two punch combination.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Machida gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Pope.
Machida throws a left and a right that both miss
and Pope connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Pope dominated that second round.
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. 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.

Pope dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Machida. That did some damage!
Good exchange - Pope coming out on top.
Machida is still on wobbly legs! Can Pope finish him?
Machida fails to land with a series of punches.
Machida seems to have recovered his senses.
A chopping leg kick lands by Pope.
Machida tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Pope fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Machida has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Pope scores with a nice strike.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Machida tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Pope chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Machida takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Pope rushes Machida and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pope can't find room to land a body shot as Machida controls the action.
Machida has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Pope lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Nice body punch from Pope.
Pope lands with a short shot to the head.
Good body shot from Pope.
Pope softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Pope makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Pope unloads with a big right hand that wobbles Machida! He's leaning against the cage trying to keep his feet but Pope is unloading with more strikes now! Machida drops to his knees and the referee stops the fight for a TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:43 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Michael Pope!
Michael Pope spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.