PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Russ Rutger (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Tunjic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rutger kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Prince Ital Joe feat. Marky Mark - United. Tunjic is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: More then a Feeling. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Rutger
vs
Tunjic

172 cm
32
175 lbs
22 - 9 - 1

177 cm
28
183 lbs
12 - 7 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Hardcore Nutrition

Convicted Trap House
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 22 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Russ Rutger!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ivan Tunjic!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, James Atkins and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good leg kick by Tunjic there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Tunjic avoids the head kick by Rutger.
Rutger uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Tunjic connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Rutger momentarily.
Tunjic does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Rutger has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Tunjic.
Nice cross by Tunjic.
Rutger throws a leg kick but Tunjic checks it.
Tunjic slips under a jab.
Tunjic's corner calls for a 1-2. Tunjic obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rutger wants to land a leg kick but Tunjic is out of range.
Tunjic thows a body shot but no joy.
Rutger throws a hook to the side of Tunjic's head but Tunjic sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Rutger throws a leg kick that is checked

and Tunjic counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Tunjic is thwarting Rutger's attempts to control the position.
Rutger is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tunjic looks to land a strike but Rutger avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tunjic accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Rutger is pulling down on Tunjic's head. It's preventing any offense from Tunjic, at least for the moment.
Rutger keeping moving, preventing Tunjic from controlling successfully.
Tunjic stopping the sweep attempt from Rutger.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tunjic is working Rutger over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Rutger is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Rutger manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Tunjic manages to get himself to full guard.
Tunjic looking for a sweep. Not yet Tunjic, not yet.
Rutger with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Tunjic throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Rutger is looking to work some ground and pound but Tunjic has wrist control.
Tunjic is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rutger throws a big right hand that misses.
Tunjic is trying to control the position but Rutger postures up.
Tunjic working a defensive guard but Rutger manages to pass into side control anyway.
Tunjic taking a bit of punishment here - Rutger scoring with strikes.
Rutger throws an elbow but Tunjic slips to the side and avoids it well.
Tunjic is looking for a sweep.
Rutger throws a strike aimed at the side of Tunjic's head but Tunjic avoids it well.
Tunjic tries to improve position but can't.
Rutger trying to control the position but Tunjic is working away.
Tunjic is trying to improve his position.
Tunjic gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tunjic is staying active underneath Rutger, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Rutger winds up and cracks Tunjic with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rutger wants to take a breather but Tunjic is having none of it.
The fighters are battling for position here. Tunjic manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Tunjic working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rutger.
Rutger throws an elbow that misses. Tunjic uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rutger's guard. Nice move by Tunjic!
Tunjic looking to pass the guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tunjic postures up.
Tunjic won't allow Rutger to sweep him here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ivan Tunjic will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Tunjic scores with a nice right hand.

Tunjic looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Tunjic looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rutger keeping hold of Tunjic's head, controlling as best he can.
Tunjic prevents Rutger from improving his position.
Tunjic wants to pass the guard but Rutger is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rutger has hold of Tunjic's hands but Tunjic slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Rutger wants to improve his position but Tunjic is controlling well.
Tunjic is pressing down on Rutger's thigh, looking to free his foot. Rutger is holding on for now.
Tunjic has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Tunjic fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rutger tries to hold on but Tunjic pushes him away.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rutger is in all sorts of trouble here.
Tunjic avoids the attempt from Rutger to control.
Rutger is trying desperately to improve position.
Tunjic raining down hammerfists from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tunjic unloads with some shots from mount but Rutger bucks and avoids them well.
Rutger wants to control but Tunjic is having none of it.
Tunjic lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Tunjic cracks Rutger with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Rutger is trying desperately to improve position.
Tunjic throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Rutger because Tunjic loaded up on that one.
Rutger takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
BOOM! Tunjic connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Tunjic working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Tunjic breaks from Rutger's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Rutger takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Rutger is looking to improve his position but Tunjic isn't that keen on the idea.
Rutger wants to control but Tunjic is having none of it.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rutger is trying desperately to improve position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Tunjic showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Tunjic lands a jab to Rutger's midsection.
Tunjic scores with a sloppy right hand. Rutger should have avoided that one.
Rutger throws a head kick that misses.
Rutger avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Tunjic avoids the body shot from Rutger.
Rutger throws a head kick but Tunjic moves out of range.
Tunjic dodges the punch combination from Rutger.
Tunjic cracks a nice hook into Rutger's ribs.
Tunjic has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Rutger rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Tunjic counters with a single leg into guard. Rutger didn't expect that.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rutger preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Tunjic throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tunjic looking to pass the guard.
Rutger is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Tunjic working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rutger looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tunjic accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Tunjic trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Tunjic won't allow Rutger to sweep him here.
Tunjic wants to control from the top but Rutger keeps moving.
Ivan Tunjic has got the better of the ground game so far.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A solid leg kick lands there for Rutger.
Rutger misses with a head kick.
Russ Rutger has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rutger fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Tunjic.
Tunjic checks a low kick from Rutger.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tunjic. Rutger does a little dance to reset his feet.
Rutger throws a head kick that misses.
Rutger swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Rutger pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Tunjic cracks Rutger with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Rutger misses with a low kick.
Tunjic tests Rutger's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Rutger throws a push kick but Tunjic slaps the foot to one side.
Rutger swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A jab lands there for Tunjic.
Tunjic takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rutger throws a sloppy head kick

and Tunjic counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Tunjic stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rutger swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tunjic missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Rutger preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Tunjic is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Tunjic trying to control the position from guard on top but Rutger is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tunjic looking to sit in guard and control but Rutger gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rutger scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Tunjic comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Tunjic 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30

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