PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Igor Pawel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Gruunch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steve Gruunch looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Pawel
vs
Gruunch

177 cm
18
131 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

193 cm
18
135 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Inexperienced

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Igor Pawel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steve Gruunch!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Gwen Towbar and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pawel clinches up against the cage.
Gruunch looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Nice body punch from Gruunch - that landed with a thud.
Stalling in the clinch from Pawel.

Pawel pulls guard successfully.
Pawel bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gruunch's guard.

Pawel stands up and waves to Gruunch to follow him.
Gruunch wants to clinch up but Pawel keeps it at a distance.

Pawel moves into the clinch successfully.
Pawel on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Gruunch is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Pawel throws an elbow that misses.
Pawel tries to break free but Gruunch pushes him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Pawel looking for a guillotine here but Gruunch defends easily.
Pawel is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Pawel is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Pawel keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Pawel decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Pawel closes the distance and clinches up with Gruunch, looking for a takedown. Pawel pushes Gruunch against the cage but Gruunch circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Pawel fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Igor Pawel. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pawel swats away the attempt to clinch by Gruunch.

Pawel fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Gruunch, pushing him back against the cage.

Pawel jumps into guard, dragging Gruunch to the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Pawel kicks Gruunch off and gets to his feet.
No luck for Pawel with that takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pawel shoots for a takedown but Gruunch saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Pawel has managed to clinch.
Pawel misses with a punch to the body.
Gruunch gets underhooks to prevent Pawel's takedown attempt.
Pawel works on Gruunch's body with a couple of short punches.
Gruunch connects with a knee to the head.
Gruunch throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Pawel blocks it with crossed arms.

Pawel pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Pawel shoots in for a takedown but Gruunch shows good takedown defense.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch closes the distance looking to clinch
and Pawel counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Gruunch blocks the body kick.
Gruunch shoots in for a double leg but Pawel sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Pawel shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Pawel is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Igor Pawel dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Pawel forces Gruunch back against the cage and clinches.

Pawel has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Gruunch uses from the top position.
Gruunch wants to stand but Pawel is controlling his posture from full guard.

Pawel has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Gruunch off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Pawel misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Pawel fails with the takedown.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Pawel is defended easily by Gruunch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Igor Pawel. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pawel looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Gruunch is fending him off so far but Pawel persists. Nope, Gruunch circles away and we're back to standing.
Pawel avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Pawel closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Gruunch looking to throw knees to the head but Pawel is blocking nicely.
Pawel lands a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch misses with an elbow over the top.
Pawel is trying to pull guard but Gruunch turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Gruunch gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Pawel.
Gruunch misses with a knee strike.
Pawel tries to break the clinch but Gruunch is controlling the position.
Gruunch keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Pawel's efforts to push away.

Pawel jumps guard.

Gruunch drops back, looking for a kneebar! Pawel looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Pawel looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Pawel!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pawel works to advance to full mount. Gruunch defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Pawel throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
A nice elbow there by Pawel.
Pawel takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
You get the feeling that Gruunch really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Pawel working for a submission but Gruunch is keeping him at bay.
Pawel sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pawel looking to finish with strikes here!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Pawel sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Igor Pawel dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Pawel shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Gruunch sprawls well. Gruunch wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Pawel gets slowly back to his feet.
Gruunch shoots in for a takedown but Pawel shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Igor Pawel is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pawel looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Gruunch is fending him off so far but Pawel persists. Nope, Gruunch circles away and we're back to standing.

Pawel has closed the distance and engaged Gruunch in a clinch.
Gruunch takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Pawel's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Gruunch tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Pawel avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pawel ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Pawel no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Pawel tries to strike from the bottom.
Pawel has control of Gruunch's left arm, preventing Gruunch from doing any damage.

Pawel pushes Gruunch off and scrambles back to his feet.

Pawel rushes Gruunch and presses him up against the cage.
Pawel gets through Gruunch's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Pawel successfully pulls guard.
Gruunch wants to get up but he can't break Pawel's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gruunch is fighting to break Pawel's control of his arms but Pawel is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Gruunch must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Igor Pawel.

Pawel gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Pawel is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Gruunch to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Igor Pawel. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pawel is looking to break free of the clinch but Gruunch has double underhooks.
Pawel is stalling here.
Gruunch tries to land a knee to the head but Pawel blocks with his arms.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Pawel.
Pawel is looking for a takedown.

Pawel breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Pawel pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Gruunch moves in looking to clinch but Pawel pushes him off.
Pawel shoots in looking for a takedown. Gruunch tries to sprawl out of it but Pawel keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Gruunch manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gruunch fails to land the takedown.
Nice takedown defense from Gruunch. No joy for Pawel on that attempt.
Pawel really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Pawel pushes Gruunch up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Gruunch lands a knee to the head.
Steve Gruunch has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Igor Pawel is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

And that's the end of the fight!
Igor Pawel showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Pawel 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Igor Pawel!