PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Al Borlin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Raith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Al Borlin has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Borlin
vs
Raith

169 cm
22
179 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
175 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Beast Body

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Al Borlin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Thomas Raith!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Illya Tyunina and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Borlin stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Borlin wants it to stay on the feet.
Raith is trying hard to land a takedown here. Borlin sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Borlin keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Al Borlin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Thomas Raith.
Borlin stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Raith slips a jab and a cross from Borlin.
Raith tries for a takedown but Borlin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Raith slips a jab and a cross from Borlin.
Raith slips under a jab from Borlin.
Borlin fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Borlin lands a jab-cross combination.

Raith is rocked!

It looks like Thomas Raith has been cut.
Raith fails to land the takedown.
Borlin throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Raith.
Borlin ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Borlin could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Raith tries to close the distance and clinch up but Borlin swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Thomas Raith seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Raith fails with a takedown attempt.
Borlin stuffs the takedown attempt from Raith. Raith gets slowly back to his feet.
Raith takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Borlin takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Al Borlin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Horrible takedown by Raith or perhaps it was just good defense by Borlin which made him look bad.
Raith looks gassed!
Raith tries to move into range but Borlin moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Borlin scores with the left hand. Raith knows he should have avoided that one.
Raith with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Borlin to score with a decent uppercut.
Raith is still on wobbly legs! Can Borlin finish him?
Jab, jab by Borlin - just one landing.
Borlin lands a right hook to the body.
Borlin connects with a jab.
Borlin scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Borlin lands an overhand right.
A combination from Borlin does no damage.
Borlin throws a series of punches but Raith avoids them all with ease.
Raith seems to have recovered his senses.
Raith fails with the takedown.
Raith on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Borlin works Raith's body with a nice hook.
Borlin scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Borlin comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Raith on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Raith has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Borlin fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Raith on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Borlin stalks Raith and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Raith's face. Raith staggers backwards, shaken.
Borlin moves into range and connects with a jab.
Nice shot lands for Borlin.

Borlin drops Raith with a nice combination! Borlin dives into Raith's guard, looking to finish!

Raith isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Borlin stacks Raith on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Borlin!
Raith sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Borlin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Raith on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Borlin tries to stand and escape but Raith is controlling the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Raith pushes Borlin off looking to stand but Borlin dives back in and keeps control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Raith makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Raith.

Raith has his feet on Borlin's thighs here. He's pushed Borlin off and worked for a very quick armbar from the bottom! He's flipped onto his stomach and he's cranking hard on the arm! Borlin screams in pain and taps out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5:03 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Thomas Raith!