PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Shang Chi (ranked 4763 p4p, 451 weight class) and Bo Nickal (ranked 4451 p4p, 426 weight class). Chi comes to the ring accompanied by Incomplete. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Chi
vs
Nickal

177 cm
19
175 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

178 cm
19
178 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Good gas tank

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Shang Chi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Bo Nickal!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Nickal changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Chi looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Nickal fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Chi knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Nickal on the ground.
Chi parries the strikes from Nickal easily there. Nickal is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Chi to escape.
Chi is in a tricky position. We've heard reports from his gym mates at Mello MMA that he's been drilling escapes, so let's see if he can get back to his feet.
The referee asks Nickal politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Nickal prefers to stall for the moment though.
Chi dodges the ground and pound from Nickal.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Nickal scores with a couple of short elbows.
Nickal is chipping away with strikes.
The ground and pound from Nickal seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Nickal scores with a couple of short elbows.
Nickal working the head with strikes.
Nickal creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Chi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Nickal in side control lands a decent elbow.
Chi takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Chi is trying to escape the position but Nickal is controlling the position.
Chi takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Nickal working the ground and pound but Chi is defending the strikes.
Nickal lands a decent elbow from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nickal working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Nickal throws a strike aimed at the side of Chi's head but Chi avoids it well.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nickal sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Chi is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Nickal trying to control the position but Chi is working away.
Nickal landing strikes.
Nickal working the ground and pound.
Nickal throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Chi taking punishment in the form of punches.
Nickal cracks Chi with a big elbow.
Nickal working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Chi avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Nickal.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nickal has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Chi seems a little lost for a moment, as Nickal dominates the positioning.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Chi prevents Nickal from improving position.
Nickal working the head and body with strikes.
Chi wants to get back to his feet but Nickal drags him back down.
Nickal looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Nickal controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chi takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Nickal lands a decent elbow from side control.
Nickal cracks Chi with a big elbow.
Nickal wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chi keeps working.
Nickal tries to advance to mount but Chi denies him.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Chi wants to control but Nickal postures up.
Nickal creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Chi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Nickal looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Chi is avoiding damage well.
Nickal works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Nickal trying to control the action but Chi is working from the bottom.
Nickal landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nickal taking a breather here.
Nickal misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Nickal scores with punches from side control.
Nickal creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Chi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Chi taking punishment in the form of punches.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Let's hope that Nickal has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Chi is not content to let Nickal control the position.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Nickal lands a few punches from side control.
You can see the frustration on Chi's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Chi is letting Nickal control him for a moment.
Nickal wants to control but Chi is keeping him busy.
Chi struggling a bit here.

That's six 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.
Chi prevents Nickal from moving into mount.
Nickal working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Chi is trying to buck Nickal off.
Chi parries the strikes from Nickal easily there. Nickal is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Chi to escape.
Nickal lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Chi is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Nickal is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Chi will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Nickal working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Nickal tries to move into full mount but can't pass Chi's legs.
Nickal wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chi keeps working.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Nickal working the ground and pound.
Nickal working the head and body with strikes.
Nickal in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Nickal tries to move into full mount but can't pass Chi's legs.
Nickal trying to control the action but Chi is working from the bottom.
Chi takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Nickal controlling from side mount.
Nickal scoring with punches from side control.
Chi seems a little lost for a moment, as Nickal dominates the positioning.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Chi is being controlled here.
Chi wants to get back to his feet.
Chi takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Chi is trying to escape the position but Nickal is controlling the position.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Nickal working the ground and pound.
Chi is being controlled here.
Nickal landing a few strikes.
Nickal landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Nickal controls the position from side control.
Nickal cracks Chi with a big elbow.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nickal is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Nickal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bo Nickal dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Some wild striking there from Chi.
Nickal with the counter takedown but Chi avoids it easily.
Nickal takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Nickal fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
A swing and a miss from Nickal.
Chi lunges at Nickal with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Nickal's hand.
Chi is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Nickal pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Nickal throws a shot from downtown. Chi moves away and avoids it.
Nickal jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Nickal misses with a hook.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Chi uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Nickal.
Chi just misses with a punch to the body.
Shang Chi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nickal gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Chi pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Chi blocks a jab.
It looked like Chi was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Nice straight punches there by Chi. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Chi.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chi misses with a looping right.
Nickal throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Chi staying out of range there.
Chi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Chi ducks under a wild hook from Nickal.
Chi connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Nickal momentarily.
Nickal misses with a straight left.
Chi uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Nickal.
Nickal has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Chi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Nickal.
Nickal blocks a head kick by Chi.
Nickal walks into a straight right hand from Chi.
Nickal throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Chi's waist but Chi gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Nickal off to one side.
Chi scores with a decent looking hook.
Chi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Nickal scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nickal lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Well, if Nickal 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nickal thows a huge punch but Chi dodges it nicely.
Chi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Chi is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Nickal scores with a couple of nice shots.
Chi taking some punishment here, with Nickal in his half guard.
Chi won't allow Nickal to pass to mount.
Chi has hold of Nickal's hands but Nickal slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Nickal takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Nickal wants to free his trapped foot but Chi is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nickal is controlling the pace.
Nickal working the head and body with strikes.
Chi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Nickal.
Nickal is looking to pass Chi's guard but actually Chi recovers to full guard.
Nickal trying to control but Chi is working from the bottom.
Chi wants to get back to his feet but Nickal is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Chi can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Nickal controls the pace.
Nickal forces his way into half guard.
Chi pushes Nickal off looking to stand but Nickal dives back in and keeps control.
Bo Nickal has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nickal trying to control the action but Chi is working from the bottom.
Nickal content to control rather than advance.
Nickal lands with a punch from half guard.
Nickal is taking a breather. Chi says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Nickal not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Nickal takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Nickal looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Nickal performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Nickal working Chi over with strikes.
Chi wants to control but Nickal is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Nickal takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Chi avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Nickal.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Nickal working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Nickal is looking to advance position but Chi won't allow it.
Chi trying to hold on to Nickal's head to control him but Nickal postures up.
Chi has hold of Nickal's hands but Nickal slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Nickal lands a nice short elbow.
Nickal is taking a breather. Chi says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Nickal is looking to take a break and control but Chi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nickal is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Nickal landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Nickal slips a nice elbow through Chi's hands, connecting with Chi's forehead.
Nickal stalling.
Nice strikes from Nickal there.
Nickal takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Chi is rocked!
Chi pushes Nickal off looking to stand but Nickal dives back in and keeps control.
Oh Chi is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Nickal is nestled in close to Chi, 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 Nickal.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Nickal lands a big elbow from half guard. That looks like it's hurt Chi quite badly. Chi pulls Nickal in close trying to recover. Nickal postures up and lands two really hard shots that put Chi on queer street! The ref takes a look and decides to call an end to the fight! Possibly an early stoppage but Chi doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 8:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Bo Nickal!