PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Varban Botev (ranked 3191 p4p, 5926 weight class) and Pearce Pennington (ranked 393 p4p, 521 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Botev
vs
Pennington

187 cm
26
194
2 - 0 - 0

170 cm
25
190
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Solid chin

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Varban Botev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Pearce Pennington!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Lou da Vinci and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pennington shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Botev's guard.
Pennington with a nice head shot there.
Botev managing to control the position.
Pennington works over Botev with some ground and pound from guard.
Botev on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Botev tries to get out of the position.
Pennington missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Pennington trying to control but Botev is working from the bottom.
Botev wants to sweep but no luck.
Botev keeping moving, preventing Pennington from controlling successfully.
Pennington looking to pass the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pennington trying to control but Botev is working from the bottom.
Botev bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Pennington's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Botev throwing strikes but missing.
Botev postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Pennington really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Botev. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Pennington utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Botev working some strikes from top position.
Botev lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Botev showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Botev throws a big right hand that misses.
Botev is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Pennington working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Botev.
Botev is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Pennington being controlled here, momentarily.
Botev works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Pennington felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Botev missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Botev 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.
Botev not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pennington keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Botev takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Botev seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Botev sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pennington defending well though.
Botev not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Botev looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Botev lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Botev is controlling the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pennington taking some punishment here, with Botev in his half guard.
Botev missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Botev is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Botev looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Botev lands with a punch from half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Varban Botev dominated that 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.

Botev swings for the body but Pennington moves out of range.
Botev thows a left - swing and a miss!
Pennington slips under a jab from Botev.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Botev.
Botev grinds an elbow into Pennington's temple.
Pennington managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Botev.
Pennington defending against the ground and pound.
Botev is chipping away with strikes.
Botev tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Botev landing strikes.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Botev landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Sloppy strikes there by Botev.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Botev working the ground and pound but Pennington is defending the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Botev in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Botev scores with punches from side control.
Botev moves into full mount!
Botev postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Pennington looks a forlorn figure.
Pennington blocking the ground and pound.
Botev lands a heavy elbow.
BOOM! Botev connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Botev lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Pennington is rocked!
Pennington in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Pennington is still in real trouble! Can Botev finish him?
Whack. That's a big, big shot from Botev! Pennington is out cold! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Varban Botev!
Varban Botev tried to hype himself up post fight but didn't word it too well and it ended up with him sounding like a bit of a tool.