PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Vinny Russo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Shanks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Russo comes to the cage accompanied by Volbeat - The Human Instrument. Shanks comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Dethklok - The Cyborg Slayers kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Russo
vs
Shanks

181 cm
31
186 lbs
26 - 10 - 2

190 cm
26
180 lbs
14 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Convicted Trap House
Conviction

Black Hand Fight Gear & Laundry

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 26 - 10 - 2, fighting out of Amsterdam, Vinny Russo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Michael Shanks!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Russo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Shanks tries to avoid it but Russo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Shanks to the ground. Shanks escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Shanks misses with a hook. Russo ducked under it nicely.
Shanks looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Shanks wants to clinch.
Russo looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Shanks avoids the body shot from Russo.
Russo shoots in looking for a takedown but Shanks manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Russo's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Shanks tries to clinch but Russo is having none of it.
Russo with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Shanks to score with a decent uppercut.

It looks like Vinny Russo has been cut.
Shanks slaps away a takedown attempt from Russo, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Vinny Russo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Russo fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Shanks avoids it really well and circles away.
The fight stays on the outside here - Shanks looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shanks wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

Shanks has Russo up against the cage in a clinch.
Shanks misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Shanks is pressed up against the cage. Russo has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Shanks down to the mat. Shanks avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Shanks scores with a jab to the jaw.
Russo on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Russo swings away with a body shot that misses
and Shanks cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Michael Shanks is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shanks scores with a nice strike.

Russo gets the takedown into side control.
The strikes coming from Russo are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Russo lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shanks sneaks back into half guard.
Shanks desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Shanks keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Russo sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Shanks defending well though.
Shanks is looking to escape.
Shanks avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Russo.
Russo trying to control the action but Shanks is working from the bottom.
Shanks is looking to control Russo's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Shanks avoid being mounted?
Shanks desperately trying to maintain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo trying to pass the guard but Shanks defending well.
Shanks is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Russo's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Russo's back!
Russo tries to escape the position.
Shanks doesn't have the hooks in and Russo manages to turn into his guard.
Russo stopping the sweep attempt from Shanks.
Russo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Shanks is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Russo working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Shanks utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Shanks wants to sweep but no luck.
Shanks wants to stand and escape but Russo is having none of it.
Russo throws a strike but Shanks rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Shanks's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Russo wants to sweep here but Shanks controlling him for the moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Russo is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Russo is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Shanks is aware though and is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Shanks dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Vinny Russo's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Shanks stuffs the takedown attempt from Russo. Russo gets slowly back to his feet.
Shanks swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Shanks connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Russo lands a nice looking body shot.
Russo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Shanks tries to avoid it but Russo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Shanks to the ground. Shanks escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Russo just misses with a punch to the body.

Russo throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Shanks was covering up waiting for the punch and Russo finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Vinny Russo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Shanks preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Shanks is pulling down on Russo's head to control his posture.
Shanks controls Russo momentarily but Russo frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shanks has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Shanks lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Russo!
Russo is wriggling around trying to escape.
Russo holds on to Shanks as tight as he can, avoiding damage.
Russo is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Russo wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Shanks has the hooks in. Russo is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Shanks trying to control momentarily.
Russo tries to break free.
Shanks biding his time, controlling Russo.
Russo tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Shanks content just to control the position here.
Russo is looking to improve his position but Shanks isn't that keen on the idea.
Russo has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Shanks takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Russo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Russo manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Russo manages to get to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Russo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Shanks doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Shanks manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Shanks wants to pass the guard but Russo is keeping the position.
Russo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Russo is working hard here to advance position.
Shanks wants to control from the top but Russo keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Vinny Russo will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Vinny Russo's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! 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.

Russo shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Shanks defends it nicely.
Shanks scores with the left hand. Russo knows he should have avoided that one.
Russo displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Shanks throws out the jab.
Russo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Shanks connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
A nice combination there by Shanks.
Russo cracks Shanks with a right hand to the side of the head.

Shanks moves into the clinch successfully.
Shanks pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Russo lands with a short shot to the head.
Shanks working aggressively here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Russo.
Shanks tries a body shot but Russo blocks it.
Russo has Shanks pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Shanks manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Russo blocks an elbow strike from Shanks.
Russo tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Russo is trying to maintain a safe position but Shanks gets an underhook and turns Russo into the cage.
Shanks misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Shanks misses with some punches.
Russo goes for a takedown attempt but Shanks pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Vinny Russo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Russo moves away from the strike by Shanks.
Michael Shanks seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shanks ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Russo gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Shanks counters with a nice body shot.
Russo closes the distance and clinches up with Shanks, looking for a takedown. Russo pushes Shanks against the cage but Shanks circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Shanks throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Russo on the side of the head.
Russo's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Shanks connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Russo scrambles back to his feet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Russo misses with a looping right.
A big left from Russo misses.

Russo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Shanks manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Russo can't escape the position.
Russo tries to hold on but Shanks pushes him away.
Shanks sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo working to try and regain half guard.
Shanks controlling the pace for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Shanks prevents Russo from getting the reversal.
Shanks can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Russo is looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Russo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Russo manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Russo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Michael Shanks wasn't active enough on the ground.
Russo shoots for a double leg takedown but Shanks sprawls well. He's pushed Russo's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Shanks comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Shanks has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Shanks!
Michael Shanks took to the microphone after his victory and thanked his sponsors, Hell's Balls Recovery (160) for their support in the buildup to the fight.