PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Boris Brushnikov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Kelly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Brushnikov
vs
Kelly

170 cm
24
138 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

165 cm
20
138 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Boris Brushnikov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joe Kelly!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Illya Tyunina and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kelly tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Brushnikov paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Brushnikov looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Brushnikov trying to control but Kelly is working from the bottom.

Brushnikov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Brushnikov trying to control but Kelly is working from the bottom.

Brushnikov is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Brushnikov stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kelly swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Kelly wants to stand but Brushnikov is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brushnikov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Brushnikov shoots in looking for a takedown. Kelly tries to sprawl out of it but Brushnikov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Kelly manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Brushnikov tries to clinch up.

Kelly has Brushnikov up against the cage in a clinch.

Brushnikov manages to break the clinch.
Brushnikov slips a jab and a cross from Kelly.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Brushnikov.

Brushnikov working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

Brushnikov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Brushnikov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Brushnikov is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Brushnikov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Brushnikov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Kelly bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Kelly misses with the combination.
Kelly tries to bum rush Brushnikov with a series of wild strikes but Brushnikov uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelly throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Joe Kelly seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Brushnikov will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Brushnikov doesn't manage to clinch there - Kelly circles away.
Kelly is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kelly swinging wilding here.

Brushnikov has taken the fight to the clinch.
Kelly managing to block the knees to the body from Brushnikov.
Kelly is trying to break free.
Kelly working hard to break the clinch.
Kelly displaying some good clinch control by pressing Brushnikov up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Brushnikov working hard to break the clinch.
Kelly tries to break free but Brushnikov pushes him back against the cage.
Kelly changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Brushnikov fights it off and pushes away nicely.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Brushnikov fails with an attempt to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boris Brushnikov dominated that round.
That's time! Brushnikov's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Brushnikov fails to land the takedown.
Brushnikov tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kelly paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kelly lands with a right hand.
Brushnikov circles away from the clinch attempt.

Brushnikov shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Kelly napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Brushnikov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Kelly keeps working.
Kelly taking punishment in the form of punches.

Brushnikov wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Kelly, who protects the arm well.
Brushnikov throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Brushnikov throws an elbow but Kelly slips to the side and avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brushnikov tries to move into full mount but can't pass Kelly's legs.
Kelly wants to get back to his feet but Brushnikov drags him back down.
Brushnikov grinds an elbow into Kelly's temple.
Kelly tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Brushnikov wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Kelly pushes Brushnikov away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Brushnikov gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Brushnikov 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.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Brushnikov takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Kelly misses with a two punch combination.
Brushnikov circles away from the clinch attempt.
Brushnikov fails to land with a series of punches.
Kelly throws a nice looking combination but Brushnikov bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kelly misses with the combination.

Brushnikov looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Brushnikov stands up over Kelly, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Brushnikov stops Kelly from standing up.

Brushnikov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kelly wants to get back to his feet but Brushnikov is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Brushnikov is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelly wants to stand and escape but Brushnikov is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Brushnikov moves into the clinch.
Brushnikov jumps guard but Kelly stands there with Brushnikov around his waist. Brushnikov gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Kelly gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Brushnikov is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Kelly pulls his head out easily.
Kelly winds up and cracks Brushnikov with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kelly looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Brushnikov looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Kelly is keen to just control but Brushnikov is a slippery customer.
Brushnikov wants to improve his position but Kelly is controlling well.
Kelly scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Brushnikov looking for submissions off his back.
Kelly scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Joe Kelly will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Kelly will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Brushnikov dives in and grabs Kelly's left leg, looking for a takedown. Kelly pushes down on Brushnikov's head and hops out.

Brushnikov feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Brushnikov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Brushnikov throws a strike but Kelly rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Kelly gets to his feet - Brushnikov follows without any prompting.
Kelly shoots and misses

and Brushnikov counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Kelly!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Brushnikov jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Kelly is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Kelly and Brushnikov has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Brushnikov misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Brushnikov looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Brushnikov is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Kelly is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Brushnikov misses with the ground and pound.
Brushnikov with the ground and pound but Kelly regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Brushnikov looks to land a strike but Kelly avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Kelly manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kelly connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Kelly lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Brushnikov hang on?
Brushnikov is trying to escape the mount.
Kelly fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Kelly avoids the attempt from Brushnikov to control.
Brushnikov is wriggling around trying to escape.
Brushnikov in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brushnikov wants to control but Kelly is having none of it.
Brushnikov really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Brushnikov tries to hold on but Kelly postures up.
BOOM! Kelly connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Kelly working Brushnikov over with strikes here.
Brushnikov is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Boris Brushnikov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Brushnikov tries to reverse the position but Kelly maintains control.
Kelly connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Kelly wants to control the pace but Brushnikov is squirming around nicely.

That's four 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.
Brushnikov tries to lock up and control but Kelly gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Kelly lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Brushnikov hang on?
Kelly dominating with strikes here.
Kelly landing strikes from the mount and Brushnikov is in trouble!
Brushnikov throwing punches from his back. He's mounted here but still fighting back.
Kelly with a couple of short strikes.
Kelly lands a big shot there that rocks Brushnikov but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Brushnikov is wriggling around trying to escape.
Brushnikov is working hard here to advance position.
Kelly landing strikes, looking to finish!

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Joe Kelly.
I think Kelly has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 28:29
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Kelly!