PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Vanapa Animai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francois Faber (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Animai comes to the cage accompanied by Here comes the hotstepper. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Animai
vs
Faber

186 cm
26
212 lbs
9 - 3 - 0

182 cm
28
215 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

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 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Vanapa Animai!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Francois Faber!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Viktor Lagutenko and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Faber keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Animai has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Faber.
Faber moves into range and connects with a jab.
Faber fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Animai.
Vanapa Animai seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Animai takes a kick to the side of the head.

Faber closes the distance and clinches.
Faber lands a nice uppercut.
Animai is trying to push Faber away but Faber has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Animai on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Animai is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Faber to keep the fight standing.
Faber misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Animai.
Faber lands a left hand.
Animai tries to break the clinch but Faber is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Faber swings wildly with an uppercut but Animai uses good head movement to avoid it.
Animai jumps guard but Faber turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Vanapa Animai. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Animai dodges an elbow strike from Faber.
Faber putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Animai in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Faber misses with an elbow over the top.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Animai jumps guard but Faber turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Faber throws an elbow that misses.
Faber misses with an elbow strike.
Animai blocks the elbow strike.
Animai is trying to pull guard but Faber turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.
A short right from Faber on the inside.
Faber throws an elbow that misses.
Animai fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Animai fails to pull guard.
Faber misses with a body punch.
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!
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Animai jumps guard but Faber stands there with Animai around his waist. Animai gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Animai avoids a wild elbow strike from Faber.
Faber lands a right hand.
Faber misses with an elbow strike.
Animai is trying to pull guard but Faber turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Animai jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Faber walks away with a smile on his face. Animai gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Animai is trying hard to land a takedown here. Faber sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Animai moves out of range as Faber strikes.
Animai throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Faber's waist but Faber gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Animai off to one side.
Faber clobbers Animai with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Animai gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Faber.
Faber stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Faber wants it to stay on the feet.
Francois Faber is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Animai will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Faber moves into the clinch.
Animai tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Faber just stands there and leans against the cage.
Animai avoids the elbow strike from Faber, against the cage.
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Faber creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Animai's defenses.
Animai fails to pull the fight into his guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Faber lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Animai jumps guard but Faber turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Animai dodges an elbow strike from Faber.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Faber scores a nice knee to the body.
Faber pushes Animai back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Faber misses with a punch to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Francois Faber dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Animai fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Animai fails with a takedown attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Animai.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Vanapa Animai. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Animai shoots for a double leg takedown but Faber sprawls well. He's pushed Animai's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Vanapa Animai is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A nice inside leg kick there by Faber. That's going to slow Animai down.
Faber defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Animai.
Animai has his takedown stuffed
and Faber counters with a slapping leg kick.

Faber takes the fight into the clinch.
Faber pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Animai avoids the elbow strike from Faber, against the cage.
Faber is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Animai is defending well for now.
Faber missing with knees to the body.
Animai avoids the elbow strike from Faber, against the cage.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber misses with an elbow over the top.
Animai avoids a wild elbow strike from Faber.
Faber throws an elbow but it misses.
A short uppercut from Faber.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Faber.
Animai tries to break the clinch but Faber is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Faber lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Faber lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Animai blocks the elbow strike.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber misses with an elbow over the top.
Faber lands a left hand that snaps the head of Animai backwards.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber blocks an uppercut.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Animai is looking to break free of the clinch but Faber has double underhooks.
Animai is trying to break the clinch but Faber is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Faber pushes off an throws an elbow but Animai leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Faber throws an elbow but misses.
Animai is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Faber to keep the fight standing.
Faber unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Faber lands a knee to the body.
Animai is trying to push Faber away but Faber has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Faber lands an uppercut.
Animai managing to block the knees to the body from Faber.
Faber unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Animai avoids a wild elbow strike from Faber.
Faber misses with an elbow strike.
Faber looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Animai fails to pull guard.
Animai avoids a wild elbow strike from Faber.
Animai jumps guard but Faber stands there with Animai around his waist. Animai gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Faber lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like Vanapa Animai has been cut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Faber blocks a body shot from Animai.
Faber pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Faber lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Faber pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Faber throws an elbow that misses.
Faber misses with an elbow strike.
Animai managing to block the knees to the body from Faber.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Francois Faber showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Vanapa Animai's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Animai.
Faber lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Faber stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Faber wants it to stay on the feet.
No luck for Animai with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Vanapa Animai. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Animai dives in and grabs Faber's left leg, looking for a takedown. Faber pushes down on Animai's head and hops out.
Animai fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Horrible takedown by Animai or perhaps it was just good defense by Faber which made him look bad.

Faber forces Animai back against the cage and clinches.
Animai avoids the elbow strike from Faber, against the cage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Faber pushes off an throws an elbow but Animai leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right from Faber on the inside.
Animai jumps guard but Faber stands there with Animai around his waist. Animai gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Faber lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Animai dodges an elbow strike from Faber.
Animai dodges an elbow strike from Faber.
Animai struggles to land a body shot inside as Faber controls his hands.
Animai jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Faber walks away with a smile on his face. Animai gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Faber turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Animai.
Faber fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Animai with a poor takedown
and Faber counters with a nice kick to the body.
Animai takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Faber takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

Faber moves into the clinch.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Faber pushes off an throws an elbow but Animai leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Faber lands with a right to the head.
Animai blocks an elbow strike.
Animai jumps guard but Faber stands there with Animai around his waist. Animai gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Animai is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Faber to keep the fight standing.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Faber just misses with a elbow thrown towards Animai's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Faber obliges.
Faber throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Faber is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Animai is defending well for now.
With the fighters up against the cage, Faber throws an elbow but misses.
Francois Faber seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Animai wants to break the clinch but can't.
Faber tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Animai's elbow.
Faber is working Animai over against the cage.
Faber misses with an elbow over the top.
Faber utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Animai on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Faber creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Faber misses with an elbow over the top.
Faber pushes off an throws an elbow but Animai leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
A short left from Faber.
Animai wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Faber has him pressed against the cage.
Faber misses with an elbow strike.
Animai blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Faber scores with a shoulder strike.
Faber lands a nice knee to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Animai blocks an elbow strike from Faber.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Faber tries to land knees in the clinch but Animai avoids the damage to the body.
Vanapa Animai has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Francois Faber is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Faber working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Francois Faber comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Faber 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 27:30
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Francois Faber!