PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jami Balkan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Coco Cobb (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Balkan
vs
Cobb

177 cm
23
152 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

181 cm
21
158 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Perkele!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jami Balkan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Coco Cobb!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Fedor Mirinova and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cobb fails with an attempt to clinch.
Balkan avoids the head kick by Cobb.
Cobb moves in looking to clinch but Balkan pushes him off.
Balkan connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Cobb momentarily.
Balkan cracks Cobb with an open hand slap.
Balkan fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Balkan blocks a head kick by Cobb.
A clash of legs there as Balkan blocks the low kick.
Balkan thuds a left hand into Cobb's body.
Cobb is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Balkan.
Balkan stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Cobb.
A head kick misses from Cobb.
Cobb lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Balkan throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Cobb on the side of the head.
Balkan fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Cobb tries to close the distance and clinch but Balkan swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Good work by Cobb as he checks the leg kick.
Balkan takes a kick to the side of the head.
Cobb throws a lazy body kick
and Balkan counters with a slapping leg kick.
Balkan moves out of range of the body kick from Cobb.
Balkan lands a right hook to the body.
Balkan blocks a head kick by Cobb.
Balkan scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A clash of legs there as Cobb blocks the low kick.
Balkan connects with a solid leg kick.
Cobb on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Cobb fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Cobb tries to clinch up.
Balkan avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Balkan lands a jab to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cobb lands a leg kick that knocks Balkan off balance momentarily.
Cobb motions for Balkan to come forward. Cobb throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Cobb motions for Balkan to come forward. Cobb throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Cobb throws a front kick aimed at Balkan's knee but Balkan avoids it well.
Cobb blocks a low kick nicely.
Nice straight punches there by Balkan. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Balkan.
Cobb is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Cobb pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Balkan jabs at Cobb's body.
Balkan throws a low kick but Cobb avoids it.
Cobb plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

It looks like Jami Balkan has been cut.
Cobb motions for Balkan to come forward. Cobb throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Cobb pivots, looking for a leg kick but Balkan is out of range and Cobb settles back down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balkan checks a leg kick.
Balkan takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Balkan misses the shot to the body.
Decent striking displayed by Balkan there.
Balkan fakes the leg kick and cracks Cobb in the body.
Balkan throws out a leg kick but Cobb moves out of range and Balkan only half commits.
That kick from Cobb tenderised Balkan's leg. Balkan is trying to keep his angry face on.
Cobb keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cobb is looking to score with low kicks.
Cobb wants to clinch.
Balkan lands with a hook. Cobb tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balkan attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Balkan tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cobb was well out of range. Poor timing from Balkan.
Balkan is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Cobb tries to land a front kick but Balkan steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
A good leg kick by Cobb.

Cobb has Balkan up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cobb tries to land knees in the clinch but Balkan avoids the damage to the body.
Balkan is trying to force a seperation but Cobb has the dominant position.
Balkan lands a nice shot to the body.
Balkan lands a left hand that snaps the head of Cobb backwards.
Balkan is trying to force a seperation but Cobb has the dominant position.
Cobb blocks a body shot from Balkan.
Balkan lands with a light punch inside.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cobb throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Balkan blocks it with crossed arms.
Cobb tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Cobb blocks a body shot from Balkan.
Balkan lands a body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jami Balkan dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jami Balkan's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Cobb throws a low kick but Balkan moves out of range easily.
Cobb misses with a head kick.
Cobb throws a leg kick which misses Balkan's front leg but catches the back leg as Balkan tries to avoid it.
Cobb looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Cobb tries a head kick but it misses.
Cobb slips under a jab from Balkan.
Cobb throws a low kick but Balkan avoids it.
Balkan checks the leg kick nicely there.
Balkan lands a jab to the nose.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Cobb.
Cobb throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Cobb misses with a low kick.
Some bone on bone action there as Balkan checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
A leg kick checked by Balkan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cobb misses with a body kick.

Cobb has managed to clinch.
Balkan doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Cobb throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Balkan blocks it with crossed arms.
Cobb tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Balkan avoids it.
Balkan can't find room to land a body shot as Cobb controls the action.
Cobb tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Balkan avoids it.
Balkan lands with a light punch inside.
Cobb misses with a knee strike.

Balkan escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cobb tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Balkan manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Nice uppercut there from Balkan.
Balkan throws a low kick but it's checked well by Cobb.
Cobb takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Balkan fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Balkan dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cobb fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Balkan has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Balkan tests Cobb's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Balkan lands the left hand.
Cobb tries to clinch up.

Cobb shoots in and bounces Balkan off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Balkan is adopting a defensive guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balkan is trying to control the position but Cobb postures up.
Cobb trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Cobb passes Balkan's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Balkan is doing well to control the position and prevent Cobb from advancing to side control.
Balkan wants to control but Cobb is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Cobb seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Balkan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Jami Balkan just wasn't active enough.
Balkan misses with a low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Good leg kick by Cobb there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Cobb misses with an attempted mid kick.
Balkan throws the left hand but Cobb avoids the punch easily.
Balkan throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Cobb stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
A jab from Balkan does it's job there.
Balkan misses with a wild combination.
Jami Balkan is winning the standup battle so far.
Balkan misses with a looping right.
Cobb checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Balkan just misses with a punch to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cobb ducks under a wild hook from Balkan.
Balkan throws a hook but Cobb blocks it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Balkan swats away the attempt to clinch by Cobb.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jami Balkan dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jami Balkan's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Balkan with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Balkan ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cobb moves away.
Balkan pivots, looking for a leg kick but Cobb is out of range and Balkan settles back down.
Balkan throws a leg kick but Cobb checks it.
A low kick from Cobb is predictable there
and Balkan counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Cobb takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Cobb tries to close the distance and clinch up but Balkan swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Balkan tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Cobb throws a head kick that misses.
Cobb tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Balkan is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Balkan throws a looping overhand right but Cobb ducks down to avoid it.
Balkan cracks Cobb with a good jab.
Cobb throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cobb thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Balkan if he has to take too many more of those.
A nice inside leg kick there by Balkan. That's going to slow Cobb down.
Balkan with a hook.
Balkan misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Cobb wants to clinch up but Balkan keeps it at a distance.
A slapping leg kick lands for Cobb.
Cobb gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Balkan.
Cobb takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Cobb misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Balkan.
Cobb tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Balkan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A low kick from Cobb is predictable there
and Balkan connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cobb will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Coco Cobb has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Balkan connects with a leg kick. Cobb looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Balkan cracks the inside of Cobb's front leg.
Balkan connects with a jab.
A leg kick checked by Balkan.
Balkan lands a right hook to the body.
Balkan just misses with a punch to the body.
Cobb avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Balkan jabs at Cobb's body.
Cobb throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Balkan blocks the body kick.
Cobb throws a nice outside leg kick.
Balkan misses with an uppercut. Cobb saw that one coming.
Cobb goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Cobb has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balkan throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Balkan throws an overhand right that lands on Cobb's shoulder, as Cobb tries to avoid the shot.
Cobb throws a body kick that misses.
Cobb on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Balkan throws a leg kick which misses Cobb's front leg but catches the back leg as Cobb tries to avoid it.
Balkan avoids the head kick by Cobb.
Balkan throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Cobb on the side of the head.
An inside leg kick lands from Balkan.
Cobb moves in looking to clinch but Balkan pushes him off.
Jami Balkan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
A nice inside leg kick there by Balkan. That's going to slow Cobb down.
Balkan lands with a right hand.
Balkan lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Balkan misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Cobb.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balkan looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Cobb throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A nice inside leg kick there by Balkan. That's going to slow Cobb down.
Cobb throws a leg kick that misses.
Cobb wants to clinch
and Balkan counters with a slapping leg kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Balkan lands a nice leg kick that just misses Cobb's sensitive parts.
Balkan scores with the left hand. Cobb knows he should have avoided that one.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Cobb.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A slapping leg kick lands for Balkan.
Cobb throws a front kick aimed at Balkan's knee but Balkan avoids it well.
A jab lands there for Balkan.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jami Balkan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Balkan, 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jami Balkan!
A victorious Jami Balkan thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.