PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Krisko Kurtev (ranked 453 p4p, 613 weight class) and Bobby Drake (ranked 66 p4p, 83 weight class). Drake has chosen Hell Yeah - Rev Theory as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Bobby Drake has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kurtev
vs
Drake

189 cm
35
193
26 - 29 - 0

188 cm
28
188
17 - 14 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Bondi MMA 🏝️
New Standard

Knockaround Guys Fight Gear
Brooklyn Apothecary

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 26 - 29 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Krisko Kurtev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Bobby Drake!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Albert Achterberg and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kurtev wants to clinch.

Kurtev instigates a clinch.
Kurtev drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Drake lands a shoulder strike.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Kurtev as Drake tries to tie him up.

Kurtev has hold of one of Drake's legs. Drake is fighting the takedown attempt but Kurtev gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kurtev postures up.
Kurtev won't allow Drake to get back to his feet.
Kurtev won't allow Drake to sweep him here.
Kurtev looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kurtev stops Drake from standing up.
Kurtev stopping the sweep attempt from Drake.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Drake has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Drake tries to keep at a distance but Kurtev has taken the fight into the clinch.
Drake is pressed up against the cage. Kurtev has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Drake down to the mat. Drake avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Kurtev gets caught napping as Drake dives in and scores a takedown. Kurtev manages to retain guard.
Kurtev throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Kurtev's head.
Kurtev throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Kurtev working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Drake doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Drake manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Drake tries to free his leg and advance position but Kurtev is retaining full guard.
Drake in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Drake is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kurtev manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Drake manages to get himself to full guard.

Drake looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Drake keeps trying to improve his position.
Drake is trying to keep Kurtev in close.
Kurtev lands a couple of decent looking shots.

It looks like Bobby Drake has been cut.
Kurtev works over Drake with some ground and pound from guard.

That has opened up Bobby Drake's cut even more.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drake utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Drake is trying to keep Kurtev in close.
Drake avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kurtev with a nice head shot there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kurtev landing with the ground and pound.

The cut above Bobby Drake's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Drake keeping full guard, as Kurtev tries to pass.
Kurtev is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Drake manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Kurtev manages to get himself to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kurtev throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Kurtev preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kurtev tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Drake is in close to Kurtev's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Drake preventing the sweep.
Kurtev tries to strike from the bottom.
Drake postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Drake is looking to pass into half guard but Kurtev pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Kurtev is in guard.

A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kurtev accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Drake is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Drake keeping moving, preventing Kurtev from controlling successfully.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Krisko Kurtev dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Bobby Drake's cut.
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.

The fight stays on the outside here - Kurtev looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kurtev tries to close the distance and clinch but Drake swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kurtev looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kurtev fails with a takedown attempt.

Drake scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Kurtev is looking to improve his position.
Drake lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kurtev is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Drake scores with a couple of nice shots.
Kurtev missing with punches from the bottom.

Kurtev looking for submissions off his back.
Drake slips a nice elbow through Kurtev's hands, connecting with Kurtev's forehead.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drake takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Kurtev is pressing down on Drake's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Drake is working Kurtev over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Kurtev avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kurtev doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Kurtev manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Drake manages to get himself to full guard.

Kurtev trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kurtev trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kurtev postures up.
Kurtev working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Drake has momentary wrist control but Kurtev slips an elbow through the middle.
Kurtev loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Kurtev postures up in Drake's guard and throws a big left but Drake blocks it.
Krisko Kurtev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kurtev working some strikes from top position.
Drake is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Drake utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Drake working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kurtev.
Kurtev lands a couple of digs.
Kurtev postures up.
Drake is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kurtev is looking to work some ground and pound but Drake has wrist control.
Drake looking for a sweep. Not yet Drake, not yet.
Kurtev looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Drake swings for the body but Kurtev moves out of range.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Kurtev.
Drake slaps away a takedown attempt from Kurtev, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Krisko Kurtev. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Drake swings widly with a right hand
and Kurtev counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Drake thinking.
Kurtev tries to close the distance and clinch up but Drake swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Drake misses the shot to the body.
It looked like Kurtev wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Drake throws a lazy right hand but Kurtev sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Drake misses with an uppercut. Kurtev saw that one coming.

Kurtev clinches with his opponent.
Kurtev goes for a takedown attempt but Drake pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Drake comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Drake swats away the attempt to clinch by Kurtev.
Kurtev shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Drake sprawls well. Drake wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Kurtev gets slowly back to his feet.
Kurtev tries to close the distance and clinch but Drake swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Drake misses the shot to the body.

Kurtev drives through with a takedown into guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Drake keeping moving, preventing Kurtev from controlling successfully.
Drake tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Kurtev postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Kurtev stopping the sweep attempt from Drake.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Bobby Drake showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Bobby Drake's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Drake throws a body shot but no joy.
Drake scores with a jab to the head.
Kurtev is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kurtev tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A nice side step and Drake releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.

Drake shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Kurtev manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Kurtev is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Kurtev thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Drake tries to roll over but Kurtev keeps him under control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kurtev throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Kurtev not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Drake wants to improve his position but Kurtev is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drake trying to control from the bottom.
Kurtev seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Drake does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kurtev throwing shots but Drake is blocking nicely.
Kurtev throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Drake is trying to control but can't.
Drake wants to improve his position but Kurtev is controlling well.
Drake on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kurtev trying to mount his opponent but Drake defends it.
Kurtev 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.
Drake tries to get to full guard but Kurtev has control of the leg.
Drake has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Kurtev is working away from the top position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drake works his way to full guard. Good work.
Kurtev is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Bobby Drake's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Krisko Kurtev!
Our winner, Krisko Kurtev, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.