PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alexei Vestuvich (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Vestuvich
vs
Sakuraba

200 cm
22
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
22
185 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Alexei Vestuvich!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Brandon Sakuraba!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Shigeki Fujiwara and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Vestuvich is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Sakuraba's half guard.
Sakuraba wants to get back to full guard.
Sakuraba throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

Vestuvich is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Sakuraba doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Vestuvich.
Vestuvich sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Sakuraba has hold of Vestuvich's hands but Vestuvich slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba won't allow Vestuvich to pass to mount.
Sakuraba trying to control from the bottom.
Vestuvich is pressing down on Sakuraba's thigh, looking to free his foot. Sakuraba is holding on for now.
Vestuvich will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Vestuvich stands up and beckons Sakuraba to join him on the feet.
Sakuraba tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Sakuraba goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Vestuvich avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Vestuvich 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.
Vestuvich is looking to work some ground and pound but Sakuraba has wrist control.
Sakuraba controls Vestuvich momentarily but Vestuvich frees himself.
Vestuvich 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Vestuvich stands up and waves to Sakuraba to follow him.

Vestuvich looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Sakuraba!
Vestuvich dominating with strikes here.
Vestuvich sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Vestuvich cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Vestuvich looking to control and managing it successfully.
Sakuraba tries to hold on but Vestuvich pushes him away.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Vestuvich cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
You get the feeling that Sakuraba really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Vestuvich dominating with strikes here.
Vestuvich lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Vestuvich tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Vestuvich dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Vestuvich tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Sakuraba tries for a takedown but Vestuvich circles away easily

and Vestuvich counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Vestuvich controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Vestuvich with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Vestuvich drops back looking for a leg! Sakuraba is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Sakuraba manages to kick Vestuvich off! Vestuvich jumps back into Sakuraba's guard.
Vestuvich seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Sakuraba throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vestuvich controls from within his opponent's guard.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Alexei Vestuvich just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Sakuraba gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Vestuvich to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Vestuvich stays in close to Sakuraba's body and controls the position.
Vestuvich postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vestuvich is pushing down on Sakuraba's leg trying to pass to half guard. Sakuraba is fighting to maintain full guard but Vestuvich has managed to sneak the leg through.
Sakuraba striking from the bottom.
Vestuvich tries to pass to full mount but Sakuraba defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Vestuvich perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Vestuvich works his way into full mount!
Sakuraba is breathing heavily.
Vestuvich controlling his opponent.
Sakuraba is in a horrible position here. Vestuvich smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba is working to get back to half guard.
Vestuvich lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Vestuvich stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.
Vestuvich throws a sloppy head kick and Sakuraba moves out of range easily.
Sakuraba tries to clinch

so Vestuvich counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Vestuvich decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Sakuraba, up you get!
Vestuvich misses with a few strikes there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vestuvich doesn't manage to clinch there - Sakuraba circles away.
Vestuvich doesn't manage to clinch there - Sakuraba circles away.
Sakuraba tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Vestuvich tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Sakuraba was well out of range. Poor timing from Vestuvich.

Vestuvich drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Vestuvich passes Sakuraba's left leg - he's now in half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Vestuvich is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Sakuraba defends it well.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Vestuvich dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Vestuvich scores a takedown into full mount!
Sakuraba is trying to escape the mount.
Sakuraba is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Vestuvich breaks from Sakuraba's wrist control and lands an elbow.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Vestuvich is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Sakuraba can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

Vestuvich is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Sakuraba can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Sakuraba tries to hold on but Vestuvich pushes him away.
Sakuraba takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vestuvich takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Alexei Vestuvich overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Vestuvich's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

Vestuvich is controlling this nicely and is looking to make no mistakes. Sakuraba is trying to wiggle out of this horrible position. Sakuraba flips to his side and attempts to get a leg in for half guard. Vestuvich anticipates the leg and manages to get behind Sakuraba and secures both hooks! This could be bad! Vestuvich slips an arm under Sakuraba chin and tries to position for a rear naked choke. Vestuvich has worked the choke in now and it looks tight. Vestuvich is squeezing on Sakuraba like an anaconda would it's prey. Sakuraba fails to tap and has fallen unconscious! We've got ourselves a winner by way of a rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:01 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Alexei Vestuvich!