PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ipu Fokislav (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Carter Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fokislav kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Links 2-3-4 - Rammstein. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Fokislav
vs
Hardy

180 cm
27
196 lbs
9 - 12 - 0

182 cm
24
190 lbs
10 - 11 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
Powerful

CageFrog

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 9 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ipu Fokislav!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Carter Hardy!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Steve Smith and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Fokislav rushes Hardy and presses him up against the cage.
A right hook to the body lands for Fokislav.
Fokislav crunches a lovely knee into Hardy's ribcage.
Fokislav wants a takedown but no success here.

Fokislav pulls guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hardy accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hardy trying to control the position from guard on top but Fokislav is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fokislav managing to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Fokislav scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Hardy ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Fokislav tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Hardy counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Fokislav closes the distance but Hardy moves to the side

and Hardy decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Fokislav's guard.
Hardy trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Hardy drops back looking for a leg! Fokislav is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Fokislav manages to kick Hardy off! Hardy jumps back into Fokislav's guard.
Fokislav looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hardy is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fokislav keeping full guard, as Hardy tries to pass.
Hardy loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Fokislav controlling the position.
Hardy slips nicely into half guard.
Hardy is trying to control. Fokislav wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Hardy has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Fokislav is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hardy's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hardy's back!
Fokislav really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Hardy.

Fokislav working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Hardy tries to break free.
Fokislav is trying to stick to Hardy's back but Hardy is turning into Fokislav. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Fokislav's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Hardy.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Hardy wants to control from the top but Fokislav keeps moving.
Hardy is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fokislav striking off his back but it's not causing Hardy any problems.
Fokislav not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Carter Hardy.

Fokislav tries to sprawl but Hardy drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Hardy wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fokislav keeps working.
Fokislav tries to get to full guard but Hardy has control of the leg.

Hardy is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Fokislav defends it well.

Hardy is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Hardy looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fokislav tries to roll over but Hardy keeps him under control.

Fokislav pushes Hardy off and gets back to his feet.
Fokislav defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Hardy.
Hardy misses with a body shot.

Fokislav clinches.
Fokislav has Hardy pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Hardy manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hardy tries for a takedown. No joy.

Fokislav breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Fokislav tries to clinch but fails miserably

so Hardy counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hardy throws a big right hand that misses.
Hardy postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carter Hardy 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.

Fokislav moves in looking to clinch but Hardy pushes him off.
Fokislav is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Hardy dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Fokislav scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

It looks like Carter Hardy has been cut.
Fokislav closes the distance but Hardy moves to the side

and Hardy decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Fokislav's guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Hardy won't allow Fokislav to get back to his feet.
Hardy with a nice head shot there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hardy won't allow Fokislav to sweep him here.
Hardy tries to free his leg and advance position but Fokislav is retaining full guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Hardy drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Hardy jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Hardy wants to control from the top but Fokislav keeps moving.
Hardy thows a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hardy drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Hardy jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Hardy drops back, looking for a kneebar! Fokislav looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Fokislav looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Fokislav!
Carter Hardy has got the better of the ground game so far.
Hardy is looking for a sweep.
Fokislav takes a little break here. Hardy wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

Fokislav thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Hardy sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fokislav slows the pace down in half guard.
Hardy is looking for a sweep. Fokislav is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Fokislav stalling away here and it's allowed Hardy to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Fokislav tries to free his leg and advance position but Hardy is retaining full guard.
Fokislav trying to control the position from guard on top but Hardy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy looking for a sweep. Not yet Hardy, not yet.
Hardy working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Fokislav.
Fokislav controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Fokislav stopping the sweep attempt from Hardy.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Ipu Fokislav just wasn't active enough.
Fokislav closes the distance but Hardy moves to the side

and Hardy counters with a single leg into guard. Fokislav didn't expect that.
Fokislav looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Fokislav controls Hardy momentarily but Hardy frees himself.
Hardy pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Fokislav is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hardy thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Fokislav is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Hardy working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Fokislav's head.
Hardy looking to pass the guard.
Hardy passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hardy trying to control the position but Fokislav is working away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Fokislav looks to move to half guard but instead Hardy has passed into mount! Damn!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carter Hardy showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Carter Hardy's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

The fight stays on the outside here - Fokislav looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Fokislav closes the distance but Hardy moves to the side

and Hardy counters with a single leg into guard. Fokislav didn't expect that.
Fokislav seems keen to control Hardy's posture.

Fokislav looking for a guillotine here but Hardy defends easily.
Fokislav manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hardy manages to get himself to full guard.
Hardy pulls Fokislav in close to prevent any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hardy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fokislav wants to control from the top but Hardy keeps moving.
Hardy wants to sweep here but Fokislav controlling him for the moment.
Fokislav trying to control the position from guard on top but Hardy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hardy is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

We're going to have a standup here because Ipu Fokislav wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Hardy lands a body shot.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Fokislav.
Fokislav closes the distance but Hardy moves to the side

and Hardy counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Hardy works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hardy is working for a submission of some sort.

Hardy wants to work for an arm triangle but Fokislav is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Hardy lands with a punch from half guard.

Hardy is looking for a kimura but Fokislav is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Hardy to get the leverage.
Hardy is looking to advance position but Fokislav won't allow it.
Fokislav is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hardy's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hardy's back!
Fokislav controlling well, preventing Hardy from escaping the position.
Hardy rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Fokislav passes to full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fokislav jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Hardy is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Hardy and Fokislav has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Hardy tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Fokislav wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Hardy can't do much from the bottom here.

Fokislav wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Hardy, who protects the arm well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Hardy struggling a bit here.
Ipu Fokislav has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Carter Hardy is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Fokislav is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Hardy knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Hardy is in a bad spot here and he knows it... just holding on for now.
Fokislav working the ground and pound but Hardy is defending the strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Carter Hardy comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Hardy 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Carter Hardy!