PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Farooq Al Jawad (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shock Zhou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Al Jawad comes to the cage accompanied by Syrian National Anthem. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Al Jawad
vs
Zhou

181 cm
25
178 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

177 cm
21
178 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Enjoys gardening

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 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Farooq Al Jawad!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Shock Zhou!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Valeri Chadov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Al Jawad takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Zhou throws a right and a left that Al Jawad avoids nicely.

Al Jawad looking to score a takedown here. Zhou is defending well but Al Jawad drives through and ends up in Zhou's guard.
Zhou preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Al Jawad throws a big right hand that misses.
Zhou looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Al Jawad accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Zhou is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Al Jawad wants to get up but he can't break Zhou's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zhou wants to stand up but Al Jawad is controlling him.
Zhou avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Al Jawad lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhou looking to hit a scissor sweep but Al Jawad is one step ahead there.
Al Jawad in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Al Jawad throwing strikes but missing.
Zhou is looking to stand up but Al Jawad isn't so interested in that idea.
Al Jawad is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Al Jawad tries to stand but Zhou is controlling from the bottom.
Al Jawad looking to pass the guard.
Zhou has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zhou keeping moving, preventing Al Jawad from controlling successfully.
Al Jawad would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Zhou keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Al Jawad shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Zhou as he jumps to the side.
Nice jab there from Zhou.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zhou misses with a series of wild punches.
Good shot there by Zhou.
Al Jawad tries for a takedown but Zhou sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Farooq Al Jawad. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Al Jawad is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhou lands with an uppercut that bounces Al Jawad off the cage and back into range.

Zhou gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Zhou scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Zhou connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Al Jawad's hands.
Al Jawad tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Al Jawad lands a jab-cross combination.
Zhou looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Al Jawad is fending him off so far but Zhou persists. Nope, Al Jawad circles away and we're back to standing.
A decent looking cross lands there for Zhou.
Zhou lands a nice shot that snaps Al Jawad's head back.

Al Jawad is rocked!
Al Jawad stuffs the takedown.
Oh Al Jawad is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Al Jawad gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Al Jawad seems to have got his legs back now.

Zhou pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Al Jawad misses with a takedown attempt - Zhou sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Al Jawad checks a low kick from Zhou.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zhou drops Al Jawad with a beautiful combination! Al Jawad stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Zhou is looking for the KO!
Al Jawad keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Zhou swats away the attempt to clinch by Al Jawad.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
The fight stays on the outside here - Zhou looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Al Jawad takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Zhou lands a lovely overhand right.
We've been told by Al Jawad's head coaches at Ivan's house of pain [200$] that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Zhou connects with a superb combination that knocks Al Jawad out cold! The referee charges across the mat and tackles Zhou before he can land any more shots to the unconscious Al Jawad!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Shock Zhou!