PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jermaine Barksdale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juan Velasquez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barksdale comes to the cage accompanied by Ain't No Sunshine- DMX. The crowd seem to be enjoying Velasquez's choice of entrance music: Accept's Balls To The Wall. 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.

Barksdale
vs
Velasquez

190 cm
41
211 lbs
30 - 10 - 1

200 cm
39
225 lbs
32 - 21 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 30 - 10 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jermaine Barksdale!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 32 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Juan Velasquez!
The judges for this bout are , Don Winkell and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barksdale throws a hook but Velasquez blocks it.

Velasquez gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Velasquez pushes Barksdale back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Barksdale has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Barksdale creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Velasquez manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Barksdale blocking some punches.
Velasquez lands with a short punch from the clinch.

Barksdale manages to break the clinch.

Velasquez moves into the clinch successfully.
Barksdale wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Velasquez has him pressed against the cage.
A short right from Velasquez on the inside.
Barksdale taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Barksdale scores with a hook to the body.
Barksdale scores with a shoulder strike.
Barksdale goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A shot in the inside from Velasquez.
Barksdale is trying to break free.
Velasquez is pushing Barksdale up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Velasquez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Velasquez swings wildly with an uppercut but Barksdale uses good head movement to avoid it.
Velasquez blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Velasquez digs a right hand into Barksdale's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Barksdale's gas tank.
Barksdale working hard to break the clinch.
Velasquez lands a left hand.
Barksdale gets through Velasquez's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A head punch on the inside from Velasquez fails to land.
A right hook to the body lands for Velasquez.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Velasquez.
Velasquez working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Velasquez tries to throw a body punch but Barksdale avoids it by throwing Velasquez back against the cage.
Barksdale lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Barksdale wants to break the clinch but can't.
Velasquez throws a head punch that misses.
Barksdale throws a punch but it's blocked by Velasquez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Velasquez tries to work over Barksdale's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Velasquez lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Velasquez lands a left hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Barksdale tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Velasquez just stands there and leans against the cage.
Velasquez lands a right hand.
Velasquez lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Velasquez told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.
Velasquez blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Barksdale misses with a punch to the body.
Barksdale blocks an uppercut.
A short right from Velasquez on the inside.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Velasquez creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

Barksdale is rocked!
Barksdale throws a head punch that misses.
Oh Barksdale is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Barksdale blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Barksdale seems to have got his legs back now.
Velasquez scores with a nice hook to the head.
Barksdale tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Velasquez lands a right hand.
Velasquez taking a breather.
Velasquez makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Velasquez lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Barksdale backwards.

Velasquez drops Barksdale onto one knee with a big uppercut from the clinch! Barksdale is propped up by the cage and works his way back to his feet!
Barksdale misses with a hook from the clinch.
Velasquez misses with a body punch.
Barksdale tries to break the clinch but Velasquez is controlling the position.
Velasquez has Barksdale pressed against the cage, preventing Barksdale from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Barksdale is trying to break the clinch but Velasquez has him pressed against the cage.
Barksdale looking to slow down the pace here.
Velasquez lands with a right to the head.
Velasquez lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Velasquez throws a head punch that misses.
Velasquez lands a nice shot to the body.
Barksdale is breathing heavily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Velasquez lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Velasquez presses Barksdale against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Velasquez lands with a light punch inside.

Velasquez pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Velasquez rushes Barksdale and presses him up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Velasquez working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Velasquez has a couple of punches blocked by Barksdale.
Velasquez scores with a nice hook to the head.
A left hand lands to the body for Velasquez.
Velasquez lands a right hand that snaps the head of Barksdale backwards.
Velasquez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Barksdale's elbow.
Velasquez lands a shoulder strike.
Velasquez lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Barksdale tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Velasquez's elbow.
Barksdale is trying to break the clinch but Velasquez is controlling him.
Velasquez lands a left hand.
Barksdale tries to throw a body punch but Velasquez avoids it by throwing Barksdale back against the cage.

Velasquez drops Barksdale onto one knee with a big uppercut from the clinch! Barksdale is propped up by the cage and works his way back to his feet!
Velasquez unloads with a big right hand that wobbles Barksdale! He's leaning against the cage trying to keep his feet but Velasquez is unloading with more strikes now! Barksdale drops to his knees and the referee stops the fight for a TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:53 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Juan Velasquez!
A relieved looking Juan Velasquez thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.