PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aleksander Tolstoy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stefan Borsch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tolstoy comes to the cage accompanied by Russian National Anthem. Borsch is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Vikingarna - Leende Guldbruna Ögon. This should be a great matchup!

Tolstoy
vs
Borsch

183 cm
22
205 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

189 cm
21
215 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Aleksander Tolstoy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Stefan Borsch!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Vladimir Khabensky and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Borsch swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Tolstoy scores a takedown into full mount!
Tolstoy raining down shots from the mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tolstoy misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Tolstoy throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Borsch is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Borsch is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Borsch blocking the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tolstoy throws some wild stikes that Borsch manages to avoid easily.

Tolstoy wants to finish this one by submission but Borsch is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Tolstoy.
Tolstoy working away from the top, dropping strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tolstoy thowing shots but they're missing.
A nice elbow there by Tolstoy.
Tolstoy looking to control but Borsch is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Tolstoy controlling from mount.

Tolstoy jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Borsch manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Tolstoy tries for a kimura but Borsch is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Borsch is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Sloppy strikes there by Tolstoy.
Borsch is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

Tolstoy swings around for an armbar but Borsch sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Tolstoy's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tolstoy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Borsch is one step ahead there.
Tolstoy is breathing heavily.
Borsch wants to stand but Tolstoy is controlling his posture from full guard.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Borsch misses with a wild combination.
Borsch throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Borsch fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Tolstoy fails with an attempt to clinch.
Borsch plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Borsch misses with a few strikes there.
Borsch works Tolstoy's body with a nice hook.
Borsch misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Borsch scores with a three punch combo!
Borsch misses with a series of wild punches.
Tolstoy takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Tolstoy ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Tolstoy no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Borsch wants to get up but he can't break Tolstoy's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Aleksander Tolstoy will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Borsch is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Tolstoy tries to clinch but Borsch moves out of range.

Tolstoy clinches up with Borsch and pushes him back against the cage.

Tolstoy jumps guard.
Tolstoy trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

Tolstoy is looking for a triangle but Borsch pushes his legs off easily.
Tolstoy trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

Tolstoy pushes Borsch off and gets back to his feet.
Horrible takedown by Tolstoy or perhaps it was just good defense by Borsch which made him look bad.
Tolstoy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The crowd cheers as Borsch lands an impressive looking overhand right. Tolstoy doesn't seem phased though.
Borsch throws a right hand that Tolstoy ducks under and follows up with a left that Tolstoy also avoids with ease.
Tolstoy gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Tolstoy takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Tolstoy takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Borsch misses with the combination.
Stefan Borsch seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Borsch throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Borsch throws a nice looking combination but Tolstoy bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Borsch misses with a series of wild punches.
Borsch connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tolstoy closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Borsch tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Borsch misses with a head kick.
Borsch misses with a jab, cross combination.
Borsch thows a left - swing and a miss!

Tolstoy shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Tolstoy was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Tolstoy cracks Borsch with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Tolstoy scoring with strikes but Borsch is staying in there.
Tolstoy thowing shots but they're missing.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Borsch can do anything to dispel that myth.
Tolstoy wants to control the pace but Borsch is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tolstoy won't let Borsch get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.

Tolstoy looking for a guillotine from mount but Borsch is having none of it.

Borsch bucks Tolstoy off and manages to get back to his feet!
Borsch misses with a series of wild punches.

Tolstoy closes the distance and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Borsch is looking to break free of the clinch but Tolstoy has double underhooks.
Borsch prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aleksander Tolstoy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Tolstoy tries to pull guard but Borsch holds him up against the cage and eventually Tolstoy drops back down to his feet.
Tolstoy misses with the head strike.
Tolstoy tries to score a body lock takedown but Borsch shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Borsch breaks the clinch.
Tolstoy changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Borsch throws out a loose jab but Tolstoy uses good head movement to avoid it.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Tolstoy.
Tolstoy working the ground and pound.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tolstoy in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Tolstoy has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Borsch!
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 Aleksander Tolstoy will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Borsch misses with a series of wild punches.

Tolstoy feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Borsch keeping moving, preventing Tolstoy from controlling successfully.
Borsch avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Tolstoy chips away with some ground and pound.
Tolstoy landing with the ground and pound.
Tolstoy throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tolstoy 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.
Tolstoy stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Borsch swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Borsch takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Tolstoy missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Borsch really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Tolstoy. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tolstoy tries to free his leg and advance position but Borsch is retaining full guard.
Borsch is looking to stand up but Tolstoy isn't so interested in that idea.
Tolstoy stands and throws Borsch's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Tolstoy tries to advance to mount but can't.
Tolstoy prevents Borsch from escaping the position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Borsch misses with a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Tolstoy scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Stefan Borsch has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Tolstoy looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Tolstoy is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Tolstoy thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Borsch's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Borsch on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Tolstoy stops Borsch from getting back to his feet.
Borsch avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Tolstoy.
Borsch is refusing to be controlled, as Tolstoy sits in half guard.
Aleksander Tolstoy overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Borsch misses with a head kick.
Tolstoy tries to clinch but Borsch moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Borsch misses with a few strikes there.
Tolstoy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Tolstoy defending well as Borsch loads up on a big left hand.
A jab from Borsch does it's job there.
Tolstoy uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Borsch.
Tolstoy shoots in but Borsch avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Some wild striking there from Borsch.

Tolstoy shoots in and bounces Borsch off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tolstoy throwing strikes but missing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aleksander Tolstoy showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Tolstoy, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 30:28
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aleksander Tolstoy!