PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cody Grant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Axel Drago (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Grant might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Countless Backs of Sad Losers by The Jesus Lizard. 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.

Grant
vs
Drago

192 cm
27
248 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

199 cm
23
270 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight 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, Cody Grant!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Axel Drago!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Konstantin Menshow and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Grant throws a sloppy head kick and Drago moves out of range easily.
Drago throws the left hand but Grant avoids the punch easily.
A slow jab from Drago misses its intended target.
Drago misses with a straight left.
Grant looks to land a combination but Drago avoids it well.
Grant shoots in but Drago avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Grant throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Drago blocks a head kick by Grant.
Grant looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Grant misses with a head kick.
Grant turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Drago throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Grant sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Good exchange - Drago coming out on top.
Grant doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drago swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Grant throws a low kick but it's checked well by Drago.
Drago blocks a head kick by Grant.
Grant scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Drago closes the distance but Grant moves to the side
and Grant makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Drago throws a series of punches but Grant moves out of range.
Drago wants to clinch but Grant slips to the side
and Grant counters with a good, hard body kick but Drago shrugs it off.
Grant throws a body punch but Drago moves out of range.
Grant ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Drago avoids the head kick by Grant.
Drago throws an overhand right that lands on Grant's shoulder, as Grant tries to avoid the shot.
Drago scores with the left hand. Grant knows he should have avoided that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Grant lands a nice looking body kick.
Grant displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Drago's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Drago duly obliges.
Grant lands with an uppercut that bounces Drago off the cage and back into range.

Grant closes the distance and pushes Drago back into the cage.
Drago taking a breather.
Grant lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Drago backwards.
Grant lands a good knee to the midsection. Drago won't want to take too many of those.
Drago looks gassed!
Grant is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Drago gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Grant is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Drago is defending well for now.
Grant throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Drago blocks it with crossed arms.

Drago's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago just misses with a punch to the body.
Cody Grant seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Drago tries to clinch up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Grant looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Grant misses with a wild body shot.
Grant slips under a jab.
Jab from Grant.
Grant displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Drago throws out the jab.
Grant misses with a leg kick.
Drago misses with a looping left.
Grant lands with a thumping leg kick.
Drago misses with the combination.
Grant tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Drago paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Grant. That's going to slow Drago down.
Some bone on bone action there as Drago checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.

Grant clinches up with Drago and pushes him back against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Grant pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Drago manages to break the clinch.
Axel Drago is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Grant connects with a jab.

Drago instigates a clinch.
Drago managing to block the knees to the body from Grant.
Grant lands an elbow inside.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Grant with a knee to the head.
Grant looking to throw knees to the head but Drago is blocking nicely.
Grant goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Drago jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Drago avoids a kick to the body.
Grant shoots in but Drago avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Grant throws a front kick aimed at Drago's knee but Drago avoids it well.
Grant lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Grant swings for the body but Drago moves out of range.
Grant is looking to clinch.
Drago tries to clinch but Grant moves out of range.
Grant slips under a jab from Drago.
Grant tries to clinch but Drago moves out of range.
Drago loads up on a big right hand but Grant slips the punch.
Grant thumps Drago with a low kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drago connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Grant's hands.
Good work by Drago as he checks the leg kick.
Cody Grant is winning the standup battle so far.
Drago is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Drago lands a jab to Grant's midsection.
Cody Grant is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A leg kick checked by Drago.
Drago keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Drago throws a shot from downtown. Grant moves away and avoids it.
Grant misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Drago stuffs the takedown.
Drago looks to land a right hand but Grant moved out of range.
Grant slips a jab from Drago.

Grant closes the distance and pushes Drago back into the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Grant is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Grant struggles to land a body shot inside as Drago controls his hands.
Grant tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Grant lands an elbow that stopped Drago in his tracks for a moment.
Grant blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Grant pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Grant tries to score a body lock takedown but Drago shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cody Grant. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Drago tries to break free but Grant pushes him back against the cage.
Grant tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Grant tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Grant misses with an elbow strike.
Drago lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grant misses with an elbow strike.
Drago is looking to break free of the clinch but Grant has double underhooks.
Grant tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Drago avoids it.
Grant tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Drago avoids it.
Grant tries a knee to the head but Drago blocks it.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Drago takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Grant tries to work over Drago's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Grant tries to land knees in the clinch but Drago avoids the damage to the body.
Drago is trying to push Grant away but Grant has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Grant pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Grant misses with an elbow over the top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Grant tries a knee to the head but Drago blocks it.
Grant lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Drago blocks an elbow strike from Grant.
Grant putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Drago in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Drago is breathing heavily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Knees in the clinch landing for Grant.
Grant throws an elbow that misses.
Grant landing knees to the head.
Grant lands a hook that snaps the head of Drago backwards.
A short left from Grant.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Grant obliges.
Grant lands a nice elbow.
Drago takes an elbow to the forehead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cody Grant dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Grant tries to close the distance and clinch but Drago swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Drago checks a leg kick.
Drago thows a left - swing and a miss!
Grant misses with a hook
and Drago connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Grant looks to land a body kick but Drago moved away.
Grant fails with an attempt to clinch.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Grant here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Grant looks to land a left hand but Drago moved out of range nicely.
Drago scores with a three punch combo!
Drago throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Grant on the side of the head.
Grant misses with a hook to the body
and Drago counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Drago might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Grant thumps Drago with a low kick.
Drago avoids the head kick by Grant.
Grant is looking to clinch but Drago is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Drago looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Grant tried to score with a low kick but Drago checks it.
Drago on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Grant. Grant obviously looking to wear him down.
Grant misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Grant ducks under a wild hook from Drago.
Grant is looking to wear down Drago with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Grant with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Drago takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Grant throws a half hearted mid kick.
Grant throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Grant dives in and grabs Drago's left leg, looking for a takedown. Drago pushes down on Grant's head and hops out.
Drago throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Grant shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Drago but Drago pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Grant has Drago up against the cage in a clinch.
Drago tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Grant's elbow.
Cody Grant has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Grant prevents Drago from breaking the clinch.

Drago pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Drago jabs Grant to the body, keeping him at a distance.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Drago keeps the fight on the outside.
Grant pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Drago avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Drago jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago blocks the body kick.

Drago clinches up with Grant and pushes him back against the cage.
Grant trying to land knees to the body.
Grant working aggressively here.
Drago has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Grant tries to land knees in the clinch but Drago avoids the damage to the body.
Grant unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Drago on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Drago blocks an elbow strike.
Grant scores a nice knee to the body.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Grant lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Grant pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Grant trying to land knees to the body.
Grant cracks Drago with a nice body shot.
Grant landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
A shot in the inside from Grant.
Grant creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Drago's defenses.
Grant missing with knees to the body.
A short right from Grant.
Cody Grant is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Grant misses with a knee strike.
Axel Drago has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Drago takes an elbow to the forehead.
Drago tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Grant's elbow.
Drago is defending well against a takedown attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cody Grant showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Grant has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cody Grant!
After the fight, Cody Grant was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.