PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rufus Shepherd (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Livijo Corba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shepherd comes to the ring accompanied by Alter Bridge - Addicted to pain . Livijo Corba looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Shepherd
vs
Corba

180 cm
20
161 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

160 cm
22
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Self confident

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Very confident

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rufus Shepherd!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Livijo Corba!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Shepherd looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Corba!
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Shepherd wants to stand but Corba has his arm trapped.
Corba manages to get back to half guard.
Shepherd knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Corba on the ground.
Shepherd trying to control from Corba's half guard. Corba has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Shepherd is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Shepherd wants to stand and escape but instead Corba has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepherd pulls Corba in close to prevent any damage.

We're going to have a standup here because Rufus Shepherd wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

That's two 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.
Shepherd stalling.
I was talking to Shepherd's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Shepherd lands a nice knee to the body.

Shepherd escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.

Shepherd pushes Corba up against the ropes in a clinch.
Shepherd with a knee to the head.
Shepherd tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Corba is looking for a takedown.
Corba changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Shepherd fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Corba looks winded!

Shepherd manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Corba on his heels. He'll look to pass Corba's guard now, I'm sure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shepherd content to stall in guard here.
Shepherd has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

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

Corba tries to keep at a distance but Shepherd has taken the fight into the clinch.

Shepherd has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Corba is trying to keep an underhook but Shepherd manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Shepherd wants to get back to his feet.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rufus Shepherd dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Shepherd moves into range and clinches up with Corba.

Shepherd is trying to trip Corba. He has hold of a leg but Corba is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Shepherd persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Corba has a closed guard, preventing Shepherd from standing up.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Shepherd stopping the sweep attempt from Corba.
Shepherd pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Corba is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepherd looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Rufus Shepherd has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Shepherd closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Corba quickly recovers to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shepherd seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Shepherd will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Shepherd thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Corba's head.
Shepherd wants to take a breather but Corba is having none of it.
Shepherd stalling away here and it's allowed Corba to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

Corba had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Shepherd defends it easily.
Corba is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Corba looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Shepherd looking to sit in guard and control but Corba gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Corba advances to half guard.
Rufus Shepherd overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shepherd wants to get back to his feet.

Corba wants to work for an arm triangle but Shepherd is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Corba is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Shepherd defends it well.
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 Rufus Shepherd will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

A momentary lapse in concentration from Corba enables Shepherd to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Corba manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

Corba is looking for a triangle here but Shepherd uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Corba should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Corba parries the strikes from Shepherd easily there. Shepherd is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Corba to escape.
Corba takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepherd throwing strikes but Corba manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Shepherd tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Shepherd wants to control but Corba postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Rufus Shepherd just wasn't active enough.

Shepherd clinches with his opponent.
Shepherd utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Shepherd connects with a knee to the head.
Shepherd lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Shepherd controlling the action here for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shepherd lands a nice elbow.

Shepherd pulls guard effortlessly.
Corba preventing the sweep.
Corba is fighting to break Shepherd's control of his arms but Shepherd is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Rufus Shepherd wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Shepherd pushes Corba up against the ropes in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Shepherd jumps guard.
Shepherd is adopting a defensive guard.
Rufus Shepherd is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Rufus Shepherd just wasn't active enough.

Shepherd closes the distance and pushes Corba back into the ropes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rufus Shepherd showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Shepherd has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rufus Shepherd!
After winning the bout, Rufus Shepherd thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.