PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Volkov (ranked 370 p4p, 1919 weight class) and Eric Draven (ranked 50 p4p, 207 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Volkov
vs
Draven

175 cm
33
154
19 - 15 - 0

175 cm
40
158
29 - 16 - 2

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

SynCity Fightwear
Vegan Gains

KOMBAT KLOTHING

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 15 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ivan Volkov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 16 - 2, fighting out of London, Eric Draven!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Paulsen Ambrosius and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Volkov clinches.
Draven is pushing Volkov up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Draven manages to break the clinch.

Volkov drives through and clinches with Draven against the cage.
Draven misses with a knee strike.
Draven presses Volkov against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Draven wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Volkov has him pressed against the cage.
Volkov lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Draven or not.

Draven manages to break the clinch.
Draven takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Draven misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Draven displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Volkov throws out the jab.
Draven slips a jab from Volkov.
Volkov looks to clinch
and Draven counters with a head kick. That will keep Volkov thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Volkov fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Draven avoids it really well and circles away.
Ivan Volkov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Draven throws a head kick that Volkov semi-blocks.
Draven takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Volkov throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Draven misses with a few strikes there.
Draven throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
A jab from Volkov misses.
Draven let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Eric Draven is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Volkov lands with a nice body punch.
Draven tries to clinch up but Volkov circles away and keeps his distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkov misses with a jab to the body

and Draven holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Come on Draven - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Volkov doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Draven wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Volkov has him pressed against the cage.
Volkov doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Volkov leaning against his opponent.
The referee is keeping an eye on Draven - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Volkov's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Draven tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Volkov avoids it.
Draven lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Volkov misses with a hook to the ribs.
Draven is pushing Volkov up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Draven.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Draven lands a nice uppercut.
Draven putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Volkov in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Draven throws a punch but it's blocked by Volkov.
Draven blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Draven is struggling to control the position.
Volkov struggles to land a body shot inside as Draven controls his hands.
Volkov controlling the action here for a moment.
Draven stops a takedown attempt from Volkov.
Draven is trying to force a seperation but Volkov has the dominant position.
Volkov stalls.
Draven is looking to break free of the clinch but Volkov has double underhooks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Draven just leaning against Volkov, taking a breather.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Volkov.
I was talking to Volkov's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Volkov goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Draven stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Draven prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Volkov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Volkov misses with a punch to the body.
Volkov misses with the head strike.
Draven pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Draven tries to land knees in the clinch but Volkov avoids the damage to the body.

Draven breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Volkov blocks a head kick by Draven.
Volkov tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Draven defends well and Volkov ends up having to push Draven into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Draven breaks the clinch.
Draven dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Draven dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Draven lands a front kick.
Volkov moves in looking to clinch but Draven pushes him off.
Volkov looks to score with a jab to the body but Draven is just out of range.
Volkov digs a good body shot into Draven's ribs.
Volkov connects with a body shot.
Draven throws out a leg kick but Volkov moves out of range and Draven only half commits.
Volkov drops down looking for a counter takedown but Draven sprawls and moves away.
Volkov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Draven manages to avoid it.
Draven ducks under a wild hook from Volkov.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Volkov will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Volkov has Draven up against the cage in a clinch.
Draven is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Volkov throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Draven scores with a nice hook to the head.
Draven tries to circle away but Volkov has him pinned against the cage.
Volkov tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Draven's elbow.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Volkov lands a left hand.
Volkov has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Draven is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Draven is trying to break the clinch but Volkov has him pressed against the cage.
Volkov swings wildly with an uppercut but Draven uses good head movement to avoid it.
Volkov just leaning against Draven, taking a breather.
Volkov avoiding damage.
Draven working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Volkov has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Draven is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Volkov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Volkov wants to take the fight to the mat but Draven manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Volkov tries to break the clinch but Draven is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Volkov.
Volkov lands a hook to the side of the head.
Draven is trying to break free.
Volkov has Draven pushed against the cage.
Draven prevents a takedown attempt there.

Draven breaks from the clinch.
Volkov is looking to wear down Draven with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Volkov throws a big shot that misses.
Volkov misses with a body shot
and Draven counters with an outside leg kick.
Volkov misses with an uppercut.
Volkov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Volkov misses with a hook

and Draven holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Volkov lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Draven manages to break the clinch.

Draven closes the distance and clinches.
Draven has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Volkov tries for a takedown. No joy.
Volkov drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Draven gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Volkov is stalling here.
Volkov doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Draven is stalling here.
Draven lands a left hand that snaps the head of Volkov backwards.
Volkov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Volkov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Draven bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Volkov's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Volkov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Draven fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Draven misses with a head kick.
Volkov with a nice cross.
Volkov shoots in looking for a takedown. Draven tries to sprawl out of it but Volkov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Draven manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Draven wants to counter with a clinch but Volkov pushes him away.
Draven moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

Volkov clinches up against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Volkov misses with a body punch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Eric Draven will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Volkov shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Draven napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Draven explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
Volkov misses with a right hand
and Draven counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

Volkov shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Draven napping and manages to drive through into side control!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Draven is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Volkov is controlling him well.
Volkov controls the position from side control.
Draven is trying to get back to his feet.
Volkov scores with punches from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Draven is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Volkov is controlling him well.
Volkov working the head and body with strikes.
Volkov working the ground and pound but Draven is defending the strikes.
Volkov scores with punches from side control.
Volkov has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Volkov connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Draven some visible discomfort.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Draven is pushing Volkov's head away, looking to escape. Volkov manages to hold on to the position though.
Draven is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Draven is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Volkov off and has taken his back!
Draven gets his hands free as Volkov looks to control.
Volkov rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.

Draven is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Volkov doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Draven.
Draven is just content to waste time from the top position. Volkov takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkov has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Draven passes Volkov's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Draven is looking to take a break and control but Volkov is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Volkov tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Draven has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Volkov tries to hold on but Draven pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Draven wants to control the pace but Volkov is squirming around nicely.
Volkov working to try and regain half guard.
Ivan Volkov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Eric Draven is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Volkov tries to hold on but Draven postures up.
Draven pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Volkov is looking to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Draven controlling from mount.

Draven is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Volkov has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Volkov tries to reverse the position but Draven maintains control.
Draven sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Volkov throwing hammer fists to the chest of Draven. What's that going to do exactly?
Volkov has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eric Draven comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Draven 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eric Draven!
Eric Draven managed to slip a mention for his sponsors, KOMBAT KLOTHING, into his post fight interview.