PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Andrey Selinger (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Ruiz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ruiz has chosen Rage Against The Machine - Testify as his entrance music. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Selinger
vs
Ruiz

190 cm
21
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

179 cm
25
141 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

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 London, Andrey Selinger!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Brandon Ruiz!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Paul Tew and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Selinger swings for the body but Ruiz moves out of range.

Selinger closes the distance and pushes Ruiz back into the cage.
Selinger is pushing Ruiz up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Ruiz lands a hook to the side of the head.

Selinger breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Ruiz moves in looking to clinch but Selinger pushes him off.

Selinger moves into the clinch.
Selinger leaning his opponent against the cage.
Ruiz tries to land a knee to the head but Selinger blocks with his arms.
Ruiz trying to land knees to the body.
Ruiz wants to get back to striking at distance but Selinger won't allow it.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Ruiz obliges.
Ruiz is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Selinger is defending well for now.
Ruiz lands a good knee to the midsection. Selinger won't want to take too many of those.

Selinger pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Selinger instigates a clinch.
Selinger drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Ruiz managing to block the knees to the body from Selinger.
Ruiz throws a head punch that misses.
Selinger has Ruiz pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Ruiz manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Ruiz throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ruiz being controlled against the cage.
Ruiz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Ruiz using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Selinger has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

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

Ruiz closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Ruiz gets underhooks to prevent Selinger's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Andrey Selinger. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz is trying to break the clinch but Selinger is controlling him.
Ruiz tries to pull guard but Selinger forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Ruiz slowing the pace effectively.
Ruiz tries to pull guard but Selinger won't allow it.
Ruiz throws a knee to the head but misses.

Selinger jumps guard and drags Ruiz to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Selinger controlling Ruiz's posture.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Ruiz got a little sloppy there for a moment and Selinger has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Ruiz has managed to get both his arms back between Selinger's legs - danger averted.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Selinger working a defensive guard here.
Ruiz must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz controlling from the top position.
Selinger is pulling down on Ruiz's head. It's preventing any offense from Ruiz, at least for the moment.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Ruiz tries to clinch but Selinger moves out of range.
Ruiz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Selinger shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Ruiz tries to hold on but Selinger pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Selinger moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Ruiz has worked his arm free - good work by Ruiz!
Ruiz wants to control but Selinger postures up.
Selinger tries to score with some ground and pound. Ruiz controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Ruiz is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Selinger is controlling him well.
Selinger throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Selinger taking a breather here.
Selinger fails to land a wild elbow strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andrey Selinger dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Selinger stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Selinger wants it to stay on the feet.
Ruiz tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Selinger paws at him with a jab and circles away.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ruiz looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Selinger tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Ruiz swivels and escapes.
Selinger shoots in but Ruiz avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Ruiz rushes Selinger and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Selinger really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
A frustrated look appears on Ruiz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A right handed body shot lands from Selinger.
Selinger is working for takedown but Ruiz is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Andrey Selinger. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ruiz prevents a takedown attempt there.
Ruiz using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Selinger has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Selinger lands with a short shot to the head.
Ruiz stalling.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruiz misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Selinger.
Ruiz tries to pull guard but Selinger holds him up against the cage and eventually Ruiz drops back down to his feet.
Ruiz trying to stall but Selinger improves his position.
Selinger stalling in the clinch but Ruiz improves position.
Ruiz looking to throw knees to the head but Selinger is blocking nicely.
Ruiz jumps guard but Selinger turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Ruiz tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Selinger keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ruiz's efforts to push away.
Ruiz pressing his opponent against the cage.
Ruiz stops a takedown attempt from Selinger.
Ruiz tries to land a knee to the head but Selinger blocks with his arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Selinger avoiding damage as Ruiz throws knees to the body.
Ruiz is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

Selinger manages to break the clinch.
Selinger will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Selinger lands a front kick.
Ruiz throws a leg kick
and Selinger counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Ruiz is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Selinger closes the distance and clinches up with Ruiz, looking for a takedown. Selinger pushes Ruiz against the cage but Ruiz circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ruiz throws a sloppy head kick and Selinger moves out of range easily.
Ruiz keeps the fight on the outside.
Ruiz is looking to clinch but Selinger is avoiding it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Selinger keeps Ruiz at a distance using the push kick.
A head kick misses from Ruiz.
Brandon Ruiz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz avoids the body shot from Selinger.
Ruiz throws a sloppy head kick

and Selinger counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Selinger pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Andrey Selinger is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Selinger dives in and grabs Ruiz's left leg, looking for a takedown. Ruiz pushes down on Selinger's head and hops out.

Ruiz gets tackled into the cage by Selinger. Selinger maintains the clinch.
Ruiz tries to pull guard but Selinger holds him up against the cage and eventually Ruiz drops back down to his feet.
Ruiz controlling the action here for a moment.
Selinger tries to pull guard but Ruiz holds him up against the cage and eventually Selinger drops back down to his feet.
Ruiz looking to throw knees to the head but Selinger is blocking nicely.
Selinger looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz stalling in the clinch but Selinger improves position.
Ruiz scores with a nice hook to the head.

Selinger breaks from the clinch.
Selinger circles away from the clinch attempt.
No joy there for Selinger, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Ruiz moves in looking to clinch but Selinger pushes him off.
Ruiz tries to clinch but Selinger is having none of it.
Ruiz closes the distance looking to clinch

and Selinger counters by moving into the clinch.
Brandon Ruiz seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ruiz just leaning against Selinger, taking a breather.
Selinger is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Ruiz is keeping busy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Selinger avoids a wild elbow strike from Ruiz.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Brandon Ruiz will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nice takedown defense from Selinger. No joy for Ruiz on that attempt.

Ruiz looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Selinger!
Ruiz wants to control the pace but Selinger is squirming around nicely.
Selinger is desperately trying to improve his position but Ruiz has a good base and remains in mount.
Ruiz looking to control but Selinger is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Selinger is desperately trying to improve his position but Ruiz has a good base and remains in mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruiz tries to control but Selinger wriggling away.
Ruiz looking to control and managing it successfully.
Selinger tries to hold on but Ruiz pushes him away.
Selinger is looking to get to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Selinger tries to lock up and control but Ruiz gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Selinger is trying to escape the mount.
Ruiz avoids the attempt from Selinger to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Selinger is desperately trying to improve his position but Ruiz has a good base and remains in mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Ruiz content just to control the position here.
Selinger can't escape the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ruiz looking to control but Selinger is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Selinger can't escape the position.
Ruiz controlling from the full mount.
Selinger bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Ruiz wants to stand and escape but Selinger is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Brandon Ruiz.
I think Ruiz 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 William Gold scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 29:29
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a draw!