PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Vladimir Zerynchuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hugo Tate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Zerynchuk
vs
Tate

170 cm
22
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
19
166 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Vladimir Zerynchuk!
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, Hugo Tate!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Sergei Dronov and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Zerynchuk shoots in and bounces Tate off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Zerynchuk passes Tate's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Zerynchuk decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Tate closes the distance and clinches.
Zerynchuk tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Zerynchuk is looking to break free of the clinch but Tate has double underhooks.
Tate keeps control of Zerynchuk as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Zerynchuk tries to break the clinch but Tate is controlling the position.
Tate lands a knee to the body.
Zerynchuk could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Zerynchuk tries to land knees in the clinch but Tate avoids the damage to the body.
Tate landing some nice looking knees to the body.

Tate gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Tate controlling the action here.
Tate has decided to stand back up but his arm is trapped. Whilst he's worrying about his arm, Zerynchuk works to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tate wants to get up but he can't break Zerynchuk's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Zerynchuk looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tate throws a strike but Zerynchuk rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Zerynchuk pushing down on Tate's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Tate is trying to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zerynchuk is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Tate trying to control from the bottom.
Tate really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zerynchuk. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

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.
Tate throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Tate is trying to control but can't.
Tate is trying to get back to full guard.
Zerynchuk looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Tate is pressing down on Zerynchuk's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Zerynchuk is breathing heavily.
Tate is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Zerynchuk with a nice head shot there.
Tate wants to get back to his feet but Zerynchuk is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate controls Zerynchuk momentarily but Zerynchuk frees himself.
Zerynchuk passes easily into side control. Nice work.

Zerynchuk has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Tate with a lazy takedown attempt

and Zerynchuk counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Zerynchuk.
Zerynchuk is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Tate looking to control.
Tate looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Zerynchuk content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Tate manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tate avoids the attempt from Zerynchuk to control.
Tate thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Zerynchuk keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
A nice elbow there by Tate.

Tate moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Zerynchuk has worked his arm free - good work by Zerynchuk!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Zerynchuk tries to buck Tate off but Tate is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Zerynchuk closes the distance looking to clinch

and Tate counters with a single leg into guard. Zerynchuk didn't expect that.
Tate in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zerynchuk wants to get back to his feet but Tate is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Vladimir Zerynchuk overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Zerynchuk has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Tate postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Tate looking to sit in guard and control but Zerynchuk gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Tate keeping moving, preventing Zerynchuk from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zerynchuk throwing strikes but missing.
Tate tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Tate is trying to keep Zerynchuk in close.
Zerynchuk is pushing down on Tate's leg trying to pass to half guard. Tate is fighting to maintain full guard but Zerynchuk has managed to sneak the leg through.
Tate is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Tate is looking to control Zerynchuk's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Tate avoid being mounted?
Tate is breathing heavily.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Tate shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Tate was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zerynchuk tries to hold on but Tate postures up.
Tate trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Tate looking to ground and pound but Zerynchuk is blocking nicely.
Zerynchuk slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Zerynchuk wants to improve his position but Tate is controlling well.
Tate is looking to stall here but Zerynchuk recovers full guard.
Zerynchuk might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zerynchuk looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Tate trying to control the position from guard on top but Zerynchuk is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Zerynchuk working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Tate doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Tate manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Tate is fighting to break Zerynchuk's control of his arms but Zerynchuk is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zerynchuk bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Tate's guard.
Zerynchuk pushing down on Tate's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Zerynchuk lands with a punch from half guard.
Zerynchuk is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Zerynchuk tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Tate trying to control but Zerynchuk postures up.
Tate is looking for a sweep. Zerynchuk is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Tate is trying to stand.
Zerynchuk stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Vladimir Zerynchuk will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Tate fails with the takedown

and Zerynchuk decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Tate's guard.
Tate looking for a sweep. Not yet Tate, not yet.

Zerynchuk avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Tate is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Zerynchuk is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Tate kicks Zerynchuk off and gets to his feet.

Zerynchuk shoots in and bounces Tate off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Tate is trying to keep Zerynchuk in close.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zerynchuk controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Zerynchuk looking to sit in guard and control but Tate gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Tate sitting in guard here, content to control.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Zerynchuk is on top in guard.
Zerynchuk works over Tate with some ground and pound from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zerynchuk slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Zerynchuk taking a breather here.

Zerynchuk stands up.
Zerynchuk tries to clinch up

and Tate decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Zerynchuk's guard.
Zerynchuk working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tate.
Zerynchuk manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Zerynchuk prevents Tate from getting the reversal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Tate is desperately trying to improve his position but Zerynchuk has a good base and remains in mount.
Zerynchuk postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Tate looks a forlorn figure.
Tate tries to hold on but Zerynchuk postures up.
Zerynchuk landing strikes from the mount.
Zerynchuk content just to control the position here.
Tate looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Will Zerynchuk go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Tate trying to control the position but Zerynchuk manages to sink in the hooks.
Tate is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Zerynchuk.
Tate trying to control but not successfully.
Zerynchuk has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Tate's body.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Tate is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Zerynchuk gets his way!
Hugo Tate has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Zerynchuk is throwing strikes by Tate counters by rolling into a better position. After a scramble, Tate regains half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vladimir Zerynchuk showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Zerynchuk, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Vladimir Zerynchuk!