PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Fridman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Ivanov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ivanov has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Alex Ivanov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Fridman
vs
Ivanov

190 cm
20
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
22
217 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alex Fridman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alex Ivanov!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Fedor Mirinova and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fighters circle momentarily. Fridman darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Ivanov looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!

Fridman moves into the clinch successfully.
Fridman wants to get back to striking at distance but Ivanov won't allow it.
Ivanov keeps control of Fridman as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Ivanov tries a knee to the head but Fridman blocks it.
Ivanov tries to land knees in the clinch but Fridman avoids the damage to the body.

Fridman breaks the clinch.
Fridman lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Ivanov backs up against the cage.
Alex Fridman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Fridman lands a slapping body shot.
Fridman swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Ivanov.

Fridman looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Fridman controls from within his opponent's guard.
Fridman has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fridman stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Ivanov throws a lazy right hand but Fridman sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Fridman scores with a jab.
Fridman throws a right and a left that Ivanov avoids nicely.
Fridman avoids the body shot from Ivanov.
Fridman scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Ivanov doesn't seem bothered though.

Fridman gets the takedown into side control.
Fridman controlling the position from side mount.

Fridman decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fridman takes the fight into the clinch.
Fridman is trying to break free.
Ivanov landing knees to the body.
Fridman lands a nice elbow.

Fridman drags the fight down to the ground.
Ivanov looking to sit in guard and control but Fridman gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Ivanov throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Ivanov wants to stand but Fridman is controlling the position.
Ivanov doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fridman gets to his feet - Ivanov follows without any prompting.
Ivanov misses the body punch
and Fridman counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ivanov looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Fridman shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Ivanov's guard.
Fridman postures up.
Ivanov looking to hit a scissor sweep but Fridman is one step ahead there.
Ivanov looking to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Fridman gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Fridman lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
A thudding body kick lands there by Fridman!

Ivanov gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Fridman stands up from Ivanov's guard - Fridman perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fridman scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

Fridman looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Ivanov!
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Fridman controlling from the full mount.
Ivanov wants to control but Fridman is having none of it.
Fridman controlling his opponent.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Fridman dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Fridman misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Fridman lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
A thudding body kick lands there by Fridman!

Fridman gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Fridman wants to break free but Ivanov has control.

Fridman breaks the clinch.
Fridman swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Ivanov.
Good standup being displayed there by Fridman as he connects with a hook.

Fridman looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Fridman stands and steps away. Ivanov gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Ivanov takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Fridman scores with a nice head shot.
Fridman lands a nice leg kick that just misses Ivanov's sensitive parts.
Fridman throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Ivanov.
Ivanov is breathing heavily.
Fridman cracks Ivanov with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

Fridman looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Fridman controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov is trying to stand.
Ivanov wants to sweep but Fridman has passed to side control!
Ivanov trying to control but Fridman flips him over like a cheap hooker and has his back!
Fridman just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Ivanov trying to control the action but Fridman just sinks the hooks in.
Ivanov is really stuck here.

That's two 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.
Ivanov controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
Ivanov is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Fridman tries to get the hooks in deep but Ivanov pushed the leg off.
You can see the frustration on Ivanov's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Fridman lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
Fridman just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fridman has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Ivanov.
Ivanov is covering up but some of the strikes from Fridman are getting through and doing damage.
Fridman slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Ivanov can't escape the position.
Fridman is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
Ivanov can't escape the position.
Fridman controlling from the back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fridman'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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Alex Fridman just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Fridman - that will leave a mark!
Fridman explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Fridman throws a head kick that Ivanov semi-blocks.

Ivanov gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Ivanov wants to stand but Fridman is controlling the position.
Fridman controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Ivanov wants to sweep here but Fridman controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Fridman dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Ivanov takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Fridman looks to throw the jab but Ivanov is out of range.
Alex Ivanov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Fridman scores with a crisp jab that stopped Ivanov in his tracks.
Ivanov swats away the attempt to clinch by Fridman.
A jab from Fridman finds it's way through Ivanov's defenses.
Ivanov takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Fridman swinging wilding here.
Nice cross by Fridman.
Ivanov has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Ivanov there as he acknowledges the shot.
Ivanov misses with a body kick.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Fridman.
Ivanov gets back to half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fridman content to control rather than advance.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ivanov trying to control but Fridman postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Fridman seems content to control.
Ivanov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Fridman takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Ivanov makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Fridman lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Fridman misses with a two punch combination.
Ivanov on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Ivanov bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Ivanov throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Fridman's head.
Fridman will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Fridman scores with a kick to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fridman drives through with a takedown into guard.
Fridman controlling from the top position.
Fridman preventing the sweep.
Ivanov being controlled here, momentarily.
Ivanov is looking to stand up but Fridman isn't so interested in that idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fridman stands up and waves to Ivanov to follow him.
Fridman throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Fridman throws a sloppy head kick
and Ivanov counters with a right hand to the body.
Fridman clobbers Ivanov with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Fridman works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Fridman.

Fridman drives through with a takedown into guard.
Fridman is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ivanov can do to turn this around?

Fridman stands up from Ivanov's guard - Fridman perhaps looking for a knockout.
Ivanov takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.

Fridman takes the fight into the clinch.
Ivanov lands a knee to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov drops down looking for an ankle pick but Fridman pulls his leg out and moves away.

Fridman shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Ivanov throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Fridman content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Fridman decides to stand and escape the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Fridman showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Fridman has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 30:25
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:25
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Fridman!