PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Steve Dela Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gevorg Tahmazyan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tahmazyan is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by The King. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Dela Cruz
vs
Tahmazyan

190 cm
25
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
18
202 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight 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, Steve Dela Cruz!
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, Gevorg Tahmazyan!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Ivan Kurochkin and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Dela Cruz clinches.

Dela Cruz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Tahmazyan misses with a two punch combination.
Tahmazyan misses with a double jab.
Tahmazyan is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Dela Cruz.
Tahmazyan lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Tahmazyan lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Tahmazyan wants to clinch but Dela Cruz slips to the side

and Dela Cruz counters with a takedown into side control.
Dela Cruz will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Dela Cruz lands some shots froms side control.
Tahmazyan is looking for a sweep.
Tahmazyan is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Dela Cruz in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Dela Cruz taking a breather here.
Dela Cruz landing a few strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dela Cruz controls the position from side control.

Dela Cruz decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Dela Cruz closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Tahmazyan quickly recovers to half guard.
Tahmazyan is pressing down on Dela Cruz's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Tahmazyan had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Dela Cruz defends it easily.

Tahmazyan looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Dela Cruz showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Dela Cruz wants to control from the top but Tahmazyan keeps moving.

We're going to have a standup here because Steve Dela Cruz wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Nice defenses there by Tahmazyan.
Dela Cruz takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tahmazyan.
Gevorg Tahmazyan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dela Cruz changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.

Tahmazyan gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Tahmazyan lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Dela Cruz!
Tahmazyan tries to control but Dela Cruz wriggling away.

Tahmazyan is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Dela Cruz to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Dela Cruz shrugs it off.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Tahmazyan jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Dela Cruz is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Dela Cruz and Tahmazyan has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Dela Cruz gets back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Dela Cruz 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.

Dela Cruz tries to clinch up but Tahmazyan circles away and keeps his distance.
Tahmazyan's corner calls for a 1-2. Tahmazyan obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

Dela Cruz closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Tahmazyan to the mat! Tahmazyan manages to get full guard.
Dela Cruz pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Tahmazyan is keeping the position for now.
Tahmazyan looking to control.
Dela Cruz stays in close to Tahmazyan's body and controls the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Steve Dela Cruz wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Tahmazyan's corner calls for a 1-2. Tahmazyan obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tahmazyan connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Dela Cruz momentarily.
Dela Cruz fails with an attempt to clinch.
Tahmazyan lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

Tahmazyan tries to sprawl but Dela Cruz drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Dela Cruz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Tahmazyan sees it coming and defends easily.

Dela Cruz escapes and gets back to his feet.
Tahmazyan fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tahmazyan lands with an uppercut that bounces Dela Cruz off the cage and back into range.
Tahmazyan tries to work over Dela Cruz's front leg with a kick but Dela Cruz checks it.
Dela Cruz moves out of range of the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Some bone on bone action there as Dela Cruz checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Dela Cruz avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Gevorg Tahmazyan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Tahmazyan connects with a single shot there.

Dela Cruz has taken the fight to the clinch.

Dela Cruz escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Dela Cruz throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A head kick misses from Dela Cruz.
Steve Dela Cruz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Dela Cruz is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Tahmazyan.
Tahmazyan lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

Tahmazyan gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Tahmazyan utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tahmazyan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Dela Cruz avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Tahmazyan trying to keep a closed guard but Dela Cruz is proving a slippery customer.

Tahmazyan throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Dela Cruz escapes and throws Tahmazyan's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Dela Cruz moves into full mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tahmazyan is squirming around, avoiding Dela Cruz's attempts to control the action.
Tahmazyan regains half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tahmazyan is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Gevorg Tahmazyan will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Dela Cruz shoots in and gets a takedown into Tahmazyan's guard.
Tahmazyan wants to sweep but no luck.
Dela Cruz throwing strikes from guard but Tahmazyan blocks nicely.

Dela Cruz gets to his feet. Tahmazyan looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Dela Cruz tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Dela Cruz clinches up with Tahmazyan and pushes him back against the cage.

Dela Cruz breaks from the clinch.
Tahmazyan lands a nice shot to the body.
A combination from Tahmazyan does no damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dela Cruz needs to keep his hands up - Tahmazyan had a free shot at his head there.

Dela Cruz shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Dela Cruz showed some decent athleticism there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Dela Cruz is looking to stall here but Tahmazyan recovers full guard.
Dela Cruz passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The referee asks Dela Cruz politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Dela Cruz prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tahmazyan can't do much from the bottom here.
Dela Cruz moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Dela Cruz is working Tahmazyan over with some ground and pound from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tahmazyan regains half guard.
Dela Cruz controlling the pace.
Dela Cruz not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Dela Cruz is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Tahmazyan gets full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz tries to free his leg and advance position but Tahmazyan is retaining full guard.
Tahmazyan keeping moving, preventing Dela Cruz from controlling successfully.
Tahmazyan is trying to keep Dela Cruz in close.
Dela Cruz not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Dela Cruz's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Dela Cruz showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Dela Cruz has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:28
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Dela Cruz!