PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mark Lajhner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vlad Maskiev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Maskiev has chosen Berzerker as his entrance music. Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the fighters buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Lajhner
vs
Maskiev

180 cm
18
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
21
190 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 St Petersburg, Mark Lajhner!
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, Vlad Maskiev!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Viktor Lagutenko and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Maskiev fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Lajhner, pushing him back against the cage.
Lajhner tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Maskiev smiles and moves away.
Lajhner misses with a double jab.
Maskiev closes the distance and clinches up with Lajhner, looking for a takedown. Maskiev pushes Lajhner against the cage but Lajhner circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Lajhner with a lazy takedown attempt

and Maskiev counters with a shoot takedown. Lajhner fights it but they end up in guard.
Maskiev wants to control from the top but Lajhner keeps moving.
Lajhner trying to control the position here.

Lajhner has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Maskiev off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Lajhner tries to clinch but Maskiev moves away

and Maskiev counters by clinching up.
Maskiev drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Lajhner gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Maskiev is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Maskiev has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Lajhner uses from the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lajhner controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Maskiev is on top in guard.
Maskiev looking to sit in guard and control but Lajhner gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Maskiev is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Lajhner slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Maskiev controls Lajhner momentarily but Lajhner frees himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lajhner trying to control but Maskiev is working from the bottom.
Lajhner won't allow Maskiev to sweep him here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maskiev keeping moving, preventing Lajhner from controlling successfully.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Lajhner fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Maskiev manages to avoid it.
Lajhner shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Maskiev counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Lajhner. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lajhner is breathing heavily.

Maskiev decides to stand up.
Maskiev throws a head kick but Lajhner moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lajhner has his takedown stuffed

and Maskiev counters by clinching up.
Maskiev missing with knees to the body.
Lajhner gets underhooks to prevent Maskiev's takedown attempt.

Maskiev pulls guard.
Lajhner has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Lajhner is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Maskiev is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Maskiev has escaped and now he's on top!
Lajhner on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Lajhner tries to get out of the position.
Lajhner keeping moving, preventing Maskiev from controlling successfully.

Lajhner is looking for a triangle but Maskiev pushes his legs off easily.
Lajhner manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Maskiev manages to get himself to full guard.
Lajhner trying to control the position from guard on top but Maskiev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lajhner has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Maskiev is proving hard to escape from.
Lajhner wants to control from the top but Maskiev keeps moving.
Lajhner won't allow Maskiev to get back to his feet.
Lajhner throwing strikes from guard but Maskiev blocks nicely.

Maskiev had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Lajhner is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Maskiev Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Lajhner's back instead.
Lajhner tries to escape the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
What can Lajhner do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Lajhner tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vlad Maskiev dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Lajhner shoots and misses

so Maskiev counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Lajhner looking to control.

Lajhner has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Maskiev is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Lajhner.

Maskiev is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Lajhner has escaped the position, nice work there.
Maskiev controls the position from side control.
Maskiev is working Lajhner over with some ground and pound from side control.
Vlad Maskiev has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lajhner tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
You can see the frustration on Lajhner's face as Maskiev controls the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maskiev lands a nice forearm strike.
Lajhner gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Maskiev landing shots from mount.
Maskiev controlling from the full mount.
Lajhner is squirming around, avoiding Maskiev's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maskiev with some aggressive grappling here, looking for the finish.
Maskiev prevents Lajhner from getting the reversal.
Maskiev working the ground and pound effectively.
Lajhner tries to reverse the position but Maskiev maintains control.

Maskiev looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Lajhner wants to hold on but Maskiev pushes him away.
Maskiev looking to control and managing it successfully.
A nice elbow there by Maskiev.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lajhner working to try and regain half guard.
Maskiev dominating with strikes here.
Maskiev controlling his opponent.
Lajhner wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Maskiev cracks Lajhner with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Lajhner from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
Maskiev has good solid back control here.
Maskiev is looking to control Lajhner but Lajhner is wriggling around and keeping busy.
Maskiev has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Lajhner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maskiev connects with a big shot to the side of Lajhner's head.
Maskiev is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Maskiev.

Maskiev working for the choke.
Lajhner wants to control his opponent's hands but Maskiev gets his hands free.
Maskiev keeps control of the position as Lajhner tries to break free.
Lajhner breaks Maskiev's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Lajhner wants to pass the guard but Maskiev is keeping the position.
Lajhner looking to sit in guard and control but Maskiev gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Maskiev preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vlad Maskiev showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Lajhner's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Lajhner tries a head kick but it misses.
Some bone on bone action there as Lajhner checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Lajhner looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Lajhner closes the distance looking to clinch

and Maskiev counters with a shoot takedown. Lajhner fights it but they end up in guard.
Lajhner is looking to stand up but Maskiev isn't so interested in that idea.
Maskiev trying to control the position from guard on top but Lajhner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maskiev stops Lajhner from standing up.

Maskiev stands up and waves to Lajhner to follow him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Lajhner gets caught flat footed, as Maskiev shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lajhner is on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maskiev bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lajhner's guard.
Maskiev trying to control the position from guard on top but Lajhner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maskiev looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Maskiev wants to control from the top but Lajhner keeps moving.
Maskiev forces his way into half guard.
Lajhner wants to control but Maskiev is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Maskiev decides to return to a standing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lajhner misses with a takedown

and Maskiev counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Lajhner wants to stand up but Maskiev is controlling him.
Lajhner trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Lajhner is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Maskiev trying to control here.
Lajhner is tying to control. Maskiev wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Maskiev has hold of Lajhner's hands but Lajhner slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Maskiev tries to roll over but Lajhner keeps him under control.

Lajhner is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Maskiev trying to control here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maskiev manages to get to full guard.
Maskiev managing to control the position.
Maskiev looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lajhner is one step ahead there.
Maskiev managing to control the position.
Maskiev trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

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.
Maskiev tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Lajhneris looking to pass into half guard but Maskiev pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Maskiev is in guard.
Maskiev tries to free his leg and advance position but Lajhner is retaining full guard.
Maskiev is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Lajhner keeping moving, preventing Maskiev from controlling successfully.
Maskiev stands and throws Lajhner's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Maskiev grinds an elbow into Lajhner's temple.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Lajhner is trying to get back to half guard.
Lajhner can't do much from the bottom here.
Mark Lajhner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Lajhner wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

And that's the end of the fight!
Vlad Maskiev comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Maskiev winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 27:30
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Vlad Maskiev!