PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Antonovich (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sandro Poletto (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.

Antonovich
vs
Poletto

210 cm
25
265 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
25
260 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ivan Antonovich!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sandro Poletto!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Mauricio Rocha and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Antonovich forces Poletto back against the ropes and clinches.
Poletto is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Poletto is trying to maintain a safe position but Antonovich gets an underhook and turns Poletto into the ropes.
Antonovich takes a knee right on the jaw!

It looks like Ivan Antonovich has been cut.
Poletto stalling in the clinch but Antonovich improves position.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.

Antonovich moves into range and clinches up with Poletto.
Antonovich wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Poletto has him pressed against the ropes.
Poletto stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Poletto looking to slow down the pace here.
Antonovich is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Poletto stalling in the clinch.
Poletto looking to stall.
Poletto displaying some good clinch control by pressing Antonovich up against the ropes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Poletto tries to close the distance and clinch but Antonovich swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Antonovich fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Poletto looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Poletto moves in looking to clinch but Antonovich pushes him off.

Antonovich gets a clinch.
Poletto will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Antonovich up against the ropes.
Poletto tries to stall but Antonovich uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Poletto prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Antonovich. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Antonovich as Poletto tries to tie him up.
Poletto stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
An inside leg kick from Antonovich misses.
Poletto tries to close the distance and clinch but Antonovich swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Poletto tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Antonovich paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Antonovich throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Poletto on the side of the head.

Poletto instigates a clinch.
Poletto avoiding damage.
Poletto is trying to maintain a safe position but Antonovich gets an underhook and turns Poletto into the ropes.
Poletto displaying some good clinch control by pressing Antonovich up against the ropes.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Poletto leaves Antonovich with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Antonovich shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Poletto but Poletto pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Sandro Poletto is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Poletto is looking to clinch.
Antonovich looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Antonovich has taken the fight to the clinch.

Poletto has the Thai clinch. He lands a big knee to the head and Antonovich goes down! Poletto dives on top of him - Antonovich manages to get guard.
Antonovich is breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Antonovich is looking for a triangle here but Poletto uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Poletto wants to stand but Antonovich has his arm trapped.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Poletto is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Antonovich is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Poletto asserts his dominance and retains side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sandro Poletto dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Antonovich's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Poletto closes the distance and pushes Antonovich back into the ropes.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Antonovich wants to take the fight to the mat but Poletto manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Poletto is pushing Antonovich up against the ropes, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Poletto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Antonovich lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Poletto with a knee to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Poletto has Antonovich pressed against the ropes.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The crowd are getting on Poletto's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Poletto moves in looking to clinch but Antonovich pushes him off.
Poletto fails with an attempt to clinch.

Antonovich tries to keep at a distance but Poletto has taken the fight into the clinch.
Poletto taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Poletto looking to stall.
Sandro Poletto seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Poletto is stalling here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Antonovich circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Poletto moves in looking to clinch but Antonovich pushes him off.
Poletto tries to clinch up.
Poletto is looking to clinch but Antonovich is avoiding it.
Antonovich swats away the attempt to clinch by Poletto.
Antonovich throws a lazy head kick
and Poletto counters with a nice kick to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Poletto tries to close the distance and clinch but Antonovich swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Poletto closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Poletto is struggling to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Poletto.
Poletto is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Poletto fails in his attempt to clinch.
Poletto tries to clinch up.
Antonovich swats away the attempt to clinch by Poletto.
Antonovich swats away the attempt to clinch by Poletto.

Antonovich has Poletto up against the ropes in a clinch.
Poletto stalling in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Poletto receives a warning from the referee for stalling.

Poletto has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Antonovich uses from the top position.
Antonovich has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Poletto wants to stand but Antonovich is controlling the position.
Poletto has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Antonovich drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Poletto manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Antonovich has Poletto in his guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Poletto has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Antonovich is proving hard to escape from.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sandro Poletto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ivan Antonovich's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Poletto pushes Antonovich up against the ropes in a clinch.
Poletto is trying to stall.
Poletto has Antonovich pushed against the ropes.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.
Poletto throws a low kick but Antonovich avoids it.
Poletto is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Antonovich is defended easily by Poletto.
Poletto tries to clinch but Antonovich is having none of it.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Antonovich.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Poletto in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Poletto doesn't manage to clinch there - Antonovich circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Poletto throws a right and a left that both miss.
The fight stays on the outside here - Poletto looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Poletto clinches.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Poletto takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Antonovich jumps guard but Poletto stands there with Antonovich around his waist. Antonovich gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Antonovich. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Poletto.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Sandro Poletto.

Antonovich has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Poletto pressing his opponent against the ropes.
Antonovich is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the ropes enables Poletto to keep the fight standing.

Poletto jumps into guard, dragging Antonovich to the mat.
Poletto keeping moving, preventing Antonovich from controlling successfully.
Poletto wants to stand up but Antonovich is controlling him.
Antonovich looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Antonovich stops Poletto from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Ivan Antonovich.

Antonovich moves into the clinch.
Poletto has Antonovich pressed against the ropes.

Poletto drags the fight down to the ground.
Antonovich stops Poletto from standing up.
Antonovich with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Antonovich stops Poletto from standing up.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Antonovich gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Poletto finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.

Poletto closes the distance and pushes Antonovich back into the ropes.
Poletto trying to stall but Antonovich improves his position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Poletto avoiding damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Poletto wants to stall.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sandro Poletto comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Poletto has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 26:30
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 26:30
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sandro Poletto!