PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Brady Baird (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frankie Evans (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring eachother down here, as Frankie Evans enters the cage!

Baird
vs
Evans

175 cm
23
177 lbs
7 - 9 - 0

185 cm
18
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

Blitzkrieg Formula 5000
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 7 - 9 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Brady Baird!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Frankie Evans!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jab by Evans.
Baird shoots in looking for a takedown. Evans tries to sprawl out of it but Baird keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Evans manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Evans misses with a few strikes there.
Evans is looking to clinch.
Baird needs to keep his hands up - Evans had a free shot at his head there.

Baird shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Evans manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Evans throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Evans is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Baird is controlling him.

Evans is working an open guard so Baird takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Baird misses with a takedown attempt - Evans sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Baird is breathing heavily.
Baird avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Baird shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Evans as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brady Baird. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Evans shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Poor strikes thrown by Evans there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Evans throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Evans landing strikes, looking to finish!
Evans landing strikes from the mount and Baird is in trouble!
Evans breaks from Baird's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Evans thowing shots but they're missing.
Baird really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Evans throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Evans throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Baird because Evans loaded up on that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Evans sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Evans throwing strikes here but Baird is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Evans thowing shots but they're missing.
Baird is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Baird is trying to stand up.
Evans trying to control but Baird is having none of it.
Poor strikes thrown by Evans there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans throwing strikes but Baird uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Evans wants to pass the guard but Baird is defending well.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Baird scores with a takedown into Evans's guard.
Evans trying to keep a closed guard but Baird is proving a slippery customer.
Baird trying to control but Evans is working from the bottom.
Baird won't allow Evans to get back to his feet.
Baird passes into half guard.
Evans wants to get back to his feet.
Baird tries to pass to full mount but Evans defends it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Evans pushes Baird off looking to stand but Baird dives back in and keeps control.
Evans won't allow Baird to pass to mount.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Baird displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Evans.
Evans throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Baird with a poor takedown
and Evans counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Evans dives in and grabs Baird's left leg, looking for a takedown. Baird pushes down on Evans's head and hops out.
Baird avoids a punch combination nicely.
Baird shoots and misses

and Evans counters with a single leg into guard. Baird didn't expect that.
Evans wants to get up but he can't break Baird's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Baird tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Baird controls Evans momentarily but Evans frees himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frankie Evans dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Baird avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Evans shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Baird as he jumps to the side.
Evans with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Baird displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Evans.
Brady Baird seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Evans fails in his attempt to clinch.
Baird doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Evans counters with a lovely shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Evans drives through and clinches with Baird against the cage.
Evans stops a takedown attempt from Baird.
Baird tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brady Baird. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Baird blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Evans wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Baird jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Evans walks away with a smile on his face. Baird gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A right-left combo lands from Evans.
Evans scores with a one two! Baird had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Evans tries to clinch there but Baird circles away.
Evans throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Baird with a lazy takedown attempt
and Evans counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
A left and a right from Evans both land. Nice combination.
Evans connects with a body shot.
Baird drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Evans moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Good shot there by Evans.
Baird misses with a takedown attempt
and Evans counters with a series of strikes. Baird will be more careful next time no doubt.
Evans is looking to clinch.
Evans wants to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Evans goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Baird drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Evans pushes Baird away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Baird gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

Baird is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Evans is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Baird prevents Evans from escaping the position.

Baird is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Evans knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Evans sneaks out the side door and pushes Baird away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans tries to close the distance and clinch up but Baird swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Baird shoots and misses
enabling Evans to counter with a crisp jab.
Evans throws a push kick but Baird slaps the foot to one side.
Baird shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Evans counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Baird doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Evans counters with a lovely shot to the body.
A shot to de liver by Evans. Beautiful body shot.
Baird shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Evans cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Evans pulls out of a head kick attempt.

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.
Evans tries to close the distance and clinch but Baird swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Baird misses with a takedown attempt
and Evans connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Evans shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Baird's guard.
Evans tries to stand but Baird is controlling from the bottom.

Evans drops back, looking for a kneebar! Baird looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Baird looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Baird!
Baird lands an elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frankie Evans showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Evans throws a nice looking combination but Baird bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Baird misses with a takedown attempt

and Evans counters with a single leg into guard. Baird didn't expect that.
Evans would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Frankie Evans has got the better of the ground game so far.
Baird keeping moving, preventing Evans from controlling successfully.
Baird has a closed guard, preventing Evans from standing up.
Evans trying to move into half guard but instead Baird has managed to sweep!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Baird thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Evans pushes Baird off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evans scores with a three punch combo!
Baird tries for a takedown but Evans circles away easily
and Evans counters with a two punch combo.

Evans closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Baird drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brady Baird. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Baird blocks an uppercut.
Evans wants to stall.
Evans pushes Baird back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Evans prevents a takedown attempt there.
Evans swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Evans is looking to break free of the clinch but Baird has double underhooks.
Evans looking to stall.
Evans misses with the head strike.

Baird works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baird looking to pass the guard.
Baird throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Evans works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Baird won't allow Evans to get back to his feet.
Evans trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Evans is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Baird passes Evans's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Baird works his way into side control.
Evans pushes Baird away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Baird gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baird controls the position.

Baird tries for a kimura but Evans is defending well.

Baird is trying to get an arm triangle but Evans is defending well.
Baird tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Evans is trying to get back to half guard.
Brady Baird has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Baird decides to stand back up. Baird steps back and let's Evans get back to his feet.
Baird shoots and misses
and Evans counters with a series of strikes. Baird will be more careful next time no doubt.
Donk. Evans catches Baird right on the button with a cross.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Evans plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Baird fails with the takedown

and Evans counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Evans.
Evans looking to slow down the pace here.
Evans tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Baird's elbow.
Baird landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Evans is trying to break the clinch but Baird has him pressed against the cage.
Evans is trying to break free.

Baird wants the takedown. Evans is fighting it off but Baird persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Evans's guard against the cage.
Baird throws a big right hand that misses.
Baird postures up in Evans's guard and throws a big left but Evans blocks it.
Baird throwing strikes from guard but Evans blocks nicely.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Baird loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Frankie Evans is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Baird won't allow Evans to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brady Baird showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Evans 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 28:29
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frankie Evans!