PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Didier Drogba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gugo Ograni (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Drogba comes to the cage accompanied by Dirty house. The crowd seem to be enjoying Ograni's choice of entrance music: Ameno - Era . Didier Drogba had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 187.4lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Drogba
vs
Ograni

190 cm
25
205 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

183 cm
28
195 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

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 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Didier Drogba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Gugo Ograni!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Vladimir Khabensky and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drogba slips a jab from Ograni.
Drogba pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Ograni catches Drogba with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Drogba wants to land a leg kick but Ograni is out of range.
Drogba walks into a stiff left hand from Ograni.
Ograni misses the shot to the body.
Ograni shoots in but no luck this time.
Drogba takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Drogba just misses with a punch to the body.
Ograni is trying hard to land a takedown here. Drogba sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Drogba fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Ograni checks it well.
Ograni misses with a two punch combination.
Drogba uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ograni.
Gugo Ograni seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Drogba cracks the inside of Ograni's front leg.
Drogba displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Ograni throws out the jab.
Ograni misses with an uppercut.
Drogba throws a quick inside leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ograni throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Drogba tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Ograni is in Drogba's guard.
Ograni showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Ograni trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ograni sitting in guard here, content to control.

Drogba has his foot on Ograni's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ograni works his way back into a safe position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ograni controls from within his opponent's guard.
Ograni scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Ograni missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Ograni is stalling in the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Gugo Ograni.
Ograni misses with a hook.
Ograni throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ograni fails with the takedown.
Didier Drogba has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gugo Ograni.

Ograni feints and as Drogba raises his hands in defense, Ograni changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ograni throwing strikes but missing.

Ograni is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Ograni wants to control from the top but Drogba keeps moving.
Ograni must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ograni is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Drogba has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Ograni has passed into side control.
Ograni content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Let's hope that Ograni has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Drogba managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Ograni.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gugo Ograni dominated that round.
That's time! Drogba's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Ograni waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Drogba.
Drogba ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Ograni throws a good cross that connects.

Ograni shoots in and gets a takedown into Drogba's guard.
Ograni thows a big elbow that misses.
Ograni is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Ograni trying to control the position from guard on top but Drogba is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ograni trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ograni looking to sit in guard and control but Drogba gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Ograni manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ograni controlling his opponent.
Gugo Ograni has got the better of the ground game so far.
Drogba is in all sorts of trouble here.
Ograni controlling the position easily from mount.
Drogba tries to reverse the position but Ograni maintains control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drogba tries to hold on but Ograni postures up.
BOOM! Ograni connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Ograni controlling the pace for now.
Drogba takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Ograni with good strikes from the mount here!
Ograni scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Drogba?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ograni looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ograni's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Ograni lands a heavy elbow.
Ograni controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gugo Ograni showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Ograni tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Drogba swivels and escapes.
Ograni throws a jab when Drogba was well out of range.
Drogba chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Ograni getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Ograni moves out of range as Drogba throws a body kick.

Ograni closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Drogba quickly recovers to half guard.
Ograni works his way into full mount!
Ograni is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Drogba can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Ograni working the ground and pound effectively.
Ograni controlling his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drogba is in a horrible position here. Ograni smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Ograni avoids the attempt from Drogba to control.
Drogba is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ograni content just to control the position here.
Ograni in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Ograni sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ograni avoids the attempt from Drogba to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ograni controlling from mount.
Ograni looking to finish Drogba with some ground and pound. This is bad for Drogba!
Ograni lands a heavy elbow.

Drogba is rocked!
Ograni controlling from the full mount.
Oh Drogba is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Didier Drogba has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Drogba seems to have got his legs back now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ograni scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Drogba?
Ograni connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Gugo Ograni is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Drogba tries to reverse the position but Ograni maintains control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ograni looking to control and managing it successfully.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gugo Ograni comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Ograni has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gugo Ograni!