PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between BJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Balunk Salim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Penn might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Awesome. Both these guys are coming into the fight with injuries so let's see if that has a bearing on the fight. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Penn
vs
Salim

185 cm
28
190 lbs
7 - 10 - 0

181 cm
28
193 lbs
5 - 2 - 1

BJJ White Belt
World class boxer
Very strong

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, BJ Penn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Balunk Salim!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Ivan Kurochkin and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Penn swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Penn is breathing heavily.
Salim misses with an uppercut.
Salim tries to move into range but Penn moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
No joy there for Penn, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Penn misses with a two punch combination.
Salim looks to score with a jab to the body but Penn is just out of range.
Penn throws out a powerful jab.
Salim is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Penn.
No joy there for Penn, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Salim misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Penn.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn slips a straight right by Salim.
BJ Penn seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Salim swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Decent striking displayed by Penn there.
Salim rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Penn counters with a series of strikes. Salim will be more careful next time no doubt.
Salim takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Penn swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Salim.
Salim lands a jab to the nose.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Salim ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Penn moves away.
Penn connects with a crisp jab.
Penn misses with a jab, cross combination.
Penn misses with a wild combination.
Some wild striking there from Penn.
Salim waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Penn.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salim slips a jab and a cross from Penn.
Sloppy strikes from Salim. Those never looked like landing.
A cross from Penn lands.
Penn lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Penn.
Salim throws a lazy right hand but Penn sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Penn throws a series of punches but Salim moves out of range.
Salim ducks under a wild hook from Penn.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Salim.
Penn lands with a straight right. Salim didn't see that one coming.
Penn throws a series of punches but Salim moves out of range.
Salim misses with a looping left.
Salim throws a body punch but Penn moves out of range.
A decent looking cross lands there for Penn.
Penn scores with a jab. Salim acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
A big left from Salim misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

BJ Penn dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Salim gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Penn paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Penn scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Salim thows a body shot but no joy.
Penn is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Penn throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Salim.
Salim with a jab.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Salim throws a jab but it's blocked by Penn.
Salim throws a jab but it's blocked by Penn.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn throws a series of strikes that have Salim backpedaling.
Salim missing with a left hand there. Penn was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Salim throws a shot from downtown. Penn moves away and avoids it.
Salim just misses with a punch to the body.
Salim has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Salim scores with a hook.
A jab from Penn does it's job there.
Penn lands a nice shot that snaps Salim's head back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salim misses with a looping right.
Salim is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Penn works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Nice shot by Penn.
Penn cracks Salim with a right hand to the side of the head.
Salim jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Penn misses with a two punch combination.
Nice uppercut there from Penn.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Penn misses with a wild combination.
Penn throws a series of strikes that have Salim backpedaling.
Penn throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Salim.
A telegraphed right hand from Salim misses the target.
Penn throws a right and a left that Salim avoids nicely.
Penn throws a right and a left that both miss.
Salim gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Penn.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn connects with a crisp jab.

Penn instigates a clinch.

Salim pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
BJ Penn is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Penn lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Salim backs up against the cage.
Salim drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Salim throws an overhand right that lands on Penn's shoulder, as Penn tries to avoid the shot.
Salim closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Penn looks to land a combination but Salim avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

BJ Penn dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. 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.

Penn connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Salim has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Penn feints a jab promting Salim to slip. Penn then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Salim slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Salim connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Penn momentarily.
Some wild striking there from Penn.
Salim misses with a hook. Penn ducked under it nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Penn wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salim takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Penn misses with a straight right.
Salim shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Penn slips under a jab from Salim.
Penn misses the shot to the body.
Salim dodges the punch combination from Penn.
Balunk Salim has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Penn looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Penn moves out of range of the strikes.
Salim throws a right hand that misses
and Penn connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Penn darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Salim uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Penn has time to react.
Penn scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salim takes one to the side of the head.
Penn rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Salim moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Penn lands a really nice looking cross but Salim seems unphased.
Penn lands a lovely overhand right.
Salim misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Penn counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Penn lands a lovely overhand right.
Nice defenses there by Penn.
Left hook, right uppercut from Penn.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn tries to bum rush Salim with a series of wild strikes but Salim uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Penn dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Penn scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Penn works over Salim's head and body with a nice combination.
BJ Penn is winning the standup battle so far.
Salim throws a poor cross that misses
and Penn counters with a left and a right that stings Salim.
Penn moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Penn throws a series of punches but Salim avoids them all with ease.

And that's the end of the fight!
BJ Penn showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Penn 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... BJ Penn!
After the fight, BJ Penn 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.