PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Alex Thrace (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ruslan Amagov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Thrace
vs
Amagov

176 cm
21
158 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
20
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight 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, Alex Thrace!
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, Ruslan Amagov!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Konstantin Menshow and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Amagov closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Thrace struggling a bit here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Amagov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thrace keeps working.
Thrace tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Thrace is desperately trying to improve his position but Amagov has a good base and remains in mount.

Amagov wants to finish this one by submission but Thrace is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Amagov.
The referee warns Thrace that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

Amagov is working for a guillotine from mount but Thrace frees his head quite easily.
Thrace wants to hold on but Amagov pushes him away.
Amagov cracks Thrace with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Amagov content just to control the position here.
Amagov raining down shots from the mount!
Thrace on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Thrace tries to get out of the position.
Amagov putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Thrace is squirming around, avoiding Amagov's attempts to control the action.
Amagov with good strikes from the mount here!
Thrace really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Amagov lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrace wants to control but Amagov is having none of it.
Thrace is in all sorts of trouble here.
Amagov with the ground and pound from mount.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Amagov landing strikes, looking to finish!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Amagov scoring with strikes but Thrace is staying in there.
Amagov is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Amagov has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Thrace's face.
Amagov landing strikes from the mount.
Amagov has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Thrace is trying desperately to improve position.
Amagov dominating with strikes here.
Thrace wants to hold on but Amagov pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Amagov with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Thrace swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Thrace tries to hold on but Amagov pushes him away.
Amagov unloading with bombs!
Amagov lands a heavy elbow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Amagov pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Thrace might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Amagov wants to control the pace but Thrace is squirming around nicely.

Amagov working for a submission but Thrace is keeping him at bay.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Amagov scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Thrace?
Thrace is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Thrace tries to hold on but Amagov pushes him away.
Thrace working to try and regain half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Amagov scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Amagov has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Thrace's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ruslan Amagov dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Thrace lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
A jab from Thrace does it's job there.
Amagov shoots in looking for a takedown but Thrace manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Amagov's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Amagov is looking to clinch but Thrace is avoiding it.
Thrace tries to clinch there but Amagov circles away.
A nice leg kick lands there from Thrace.
Alex Thrace is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Thrace fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Thrace misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Amagov tries to clinch but Thrace moves out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Thrace is defended easily by Amagov.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Thrace. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Amagov closes this distance looking for a takedown but Thrace circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thrace avoids the head kick by Amagov.
Amagov avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Thrace shoots in looking for a takedown but Amagov manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Thrace's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Amagov swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Amagov dives in and grabs Thrace's left leg, looking for a takedown. Thrace pushes down on Amagov's head and hops out.
Amagov is breathing heavily.
A thudding body kick lands there by Thrace!
Thrace shoots in looking for a takedown. Amagov tries to sprawl out of it but Thrace keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Amagov manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Thrace tries to clinch up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrace circles away from the clinch attempt.
Thrace wants to clinch.
Thrace tries to close the distance and clinch but Amagov swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Thrace on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
No luck for Thrace with that takedown attempt.
Thrace shoots in and drives through. Amagov sprawls well.
Thrace misses with a takedown

and Amagov moves into the clinch.
Amagov stops a takedown attempt from Thrace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Amagov tightens his grip and picks Thrace up, before dumping him to the ground. Thrace manages to land in guard.
Amagov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Amagov trying to control the position from guard on top but Thrace is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Amagov stands up and waves to Thrace to follow him.
Amagov tries for a takedown but Thrace sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Amagov shoots in and drives through. Thrace sprawls well.
Thrace looks for a takedown but Amagov sprawls well.
Thrace scores with a sloppy right hand. Amagov should have avoided that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thrace lands a high kick!
Thrace fails to land the takedown.
Amagov avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Amagov fails with the takedown.
Thrace thows a body kick. Amagov tries to catch it but that hurt him.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thrace shoots in but no luck this time.
Amagov misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Thrace drives through with a takedown into Amagov's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Thrace dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

A lazy left from Thrace finds it's target.
Thrace throws a head kick that half lands.
Amagov throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Thrace's waist but Thrace gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Amagov off to one side.
Thrace fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Thrace fails with a takedown attempt.
Thrace throws a head kick but Amagov moves out of range.
Thrace cracks Amagov with a right hand to the side of the head.
Amagov shoots in for a double leg but Thrace sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Thrace keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Alex Thrace has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ruslan Amagov.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Thrace scores with a one two! Amagov had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thrace misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Thrace shoots in looking for a takedown. Amagov tries to sprawl out of it but Thrace keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Amagov manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Amagov looks for a takedown but Thrace sprawls well.
Amagov changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Thrace tries to avoid it but Amagov manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Thrace to the ground. Thrace escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Amagov.
Thrace shoots in but no luck this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrace will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Amagov defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Thrace.
Thrace closes this distance looking for a takedown but Amagov circles away.
Thrace stuffs the takedown attempt from Amagov. Amagov gets slowly back to his feet.
Thrace lands a nice looking body kick.
A nice inside leg kick there by Thrace. That's going to slow Amagov down.
Amagov closes the distance and clinches up with Thrace, looking for a takedown. Amagov pushes Thrace against the cage but Thrace circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Thrace shoots for a takedown but Amagov saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Amagov looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Thrace is fending him off so far but Amagov persists. Nope, Thrace circles away and we're back to standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thrace misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Amagov circles away from the clinch attempt.

Thrace clinches up against the cage.
Amagov tries to pull guard but Thrace won't allow it.
Amagov drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Thrace is trying to pull guard but Amagov has him pressed against the cage.

Thrace manages to break the clinch.
Amagov changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Thrace tries to avoid it but Amagov manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Thrace to the ground. Thrace escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thrace shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Amagov as he avoids it easily.

Thrace rushes Amagov and presses him up against the cage.

Thrace pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Thrace will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Amagov tries to clinch but Thrace moves out of range.
Thrace scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Amagov fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Amagov circles away from the clinch attempt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Amagov dives in and grabs Thrace's left leg, looking for a takedown. Thrace pushes down on Amagov's head and hops out.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Thrace showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Thrace 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 Sergei Dronov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Thrace!
An out of breath Alex Thrace thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.