PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Yuri Nate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gareth McCall (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). McCall is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Bobby Darin - Mack The Knife. Gareth McCall told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Nate
vs
McCall

184 cm
24
193 lbs
16 - 4 - 0

185 cm
25
195 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Great elbows
Granite chin

Perkele!

Conquer

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Yuri Nate!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gareth McCall!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McCall swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Nate fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. McCall looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
McCall stuffs the takedown attempt from Nate. Nate gets slowly back to his feet.
Gareth McCall seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McCall swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Nate looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? McCall is fending him off so far but Nate persists. Nope, McCall circles away and we're back to standing.

Nate rushes McCall and presses him up against the cage.
Nate swings away with an uppercut that misses.
McCall creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Nate avoids the elbow strike from McCall, against the cage.
Still in the clinch, McCall scores with a nice short uppercut.
Nate managing to block the knees to the body from McCall.
Nate misses with an elbow strike.
Nate throws a punch but it's blocked by McCall.
McCall tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Nate avoids it.
A short right hand to the side of the head by McCall.
Nate lands a right hand that snaps the head of McCall backwards.
Nate takes an elbow to the forehead.
McCall trying to land knees to the body.
McCall displaying some good clinch control by pressing Nate up against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nate lands a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCall misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Nate.

Nate breaks from the clinch.
Nate moves in looking to clinch but McCall pushes him off.
Nate throws out a powerful jab.
A slow jab from McCall misses its intended target.
McCall thows a left - swing and a miss!
McCall slaps away a takedown attempt from Nate, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yuri Nate. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCall throws a leg kick but Nate checks it.

Nate closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
McCall on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Nate lands a decent elbow from side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nate lands some shots froms side control.
Nate throwing shots but missing, from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nate tries to advance to mount but McCall denies him.
McCall is trying to control Nate's posture but Nate avoids it.
Nate working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Nate connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused McCall some visible discomfort.
McCall tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nate looks up at the clock and then as McCall takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Nate smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Nate tries to advance to mount but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McCall takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
You can see the frustration on McCall's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Nate creates some space and throws a big elbow, but McCall sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Nate working the ground and pound but McCall is defending the strikes.
Nate in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Nate grinds an elbow into McCall's temple.
You can see the frustration on McCall's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Nate is working McCall over with some ground and pound from side control.
Nate has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
McCall taking punishment in the form of punches.
Nate scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at McCall to see if he's OK.
Nate lands a decent elbow from side control.
Nate looking to punish the body of his opponent here but McCall is avoiding damage well.
McCall takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Nate is trying to ground and pound but McCall uses the momentary lack of control by Nate to regain half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McCall wants to improve his position but Nate is controlling well.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
McCall regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Nate.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Nate dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Nate connects with a crisp jab.
Nate uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from McCall.
McCall throws a jab when Nate was well out of range.
Nice takedown defense from McCall. No joy for Nate on that attempt.
McCall jabbing away but nothing is landing.
McCall connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
McCall waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Nate.
Nate uses good head movement to avoid the hook from McCall.
McCall cracks Nate with an open hand slap.
Nice uppercut lands for Nate. That snapped McCall's head back.
McCall looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nate tries to clinch up but McCall circles away and keeps his distance.
Nate looks to land a right hand but McCall moved out of range.
Nate shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts McCall as he jumps to the side.
McCall bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Nate's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nate tries to clinch up
and McCall cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
McCall scores with a jab to the body.

McCall gets tackled into the cage by Nate. Nate maintains the clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
McCall creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Nate wants a takedown but no success here.
I was talking to Nate's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yuri Nate. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCall on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short right from Nate on the inside.
Nate blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
McCall misses with the head strike.
McCall lands an elbow that stopped Nate in his tracks for a moment.
McCall gets through Nate's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
McCall blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nate on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McCall missing with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McCall working some nice short punches in the clinch.
McCall tries to land a knee to the head but Nate blocks with his arms.
A short right from Nate on the inside.
Nate is trying to work for a single leg takedown but McCall pulls him back up using the underhooks.
A short right from Nate on the inside.
Nate blocks the elbow strike.
Good body shot from Nate.
Nate lands with a right to the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Nate.
Nate blocks an elbow strike from McCall.
McCall lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
McCall misses with some punches.
Nate lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down McCall.
McCall is breathing heavily.
Nate drops to a knee looking for a takedown but McCall gets the underhooks and prevents it.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Nate.

Nate pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Nate shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in McCall's guard.
Nate pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. McCall is keeping the position for now.
Yuri Nate overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nate lands a couple of digs.
McCall managing to control the position.
Nate throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as McCall works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Nate is looking to work some ground and pound but McCall has wrist control.
Nate with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Nate connects with a couple of short punches.
Nate postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nate throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Nate postures up in McCall's guard and throws a big left but McCall blocks it.
Nate working some strikes from top position.
Nate trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
McCall looking for a sweep. Not yet McCall, not yet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nate wants to control from the top but McCall keeps moving.
Nate throws a big elbow that misses.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Nate connects with a couple of short punches.
Nate chips away with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Nate dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Nate showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from McCall.
A looping hook to the body misses from McCall. Nate does a little dance to reset his feet.
Decent striking displayed by Nate there.
Nate takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Nate misses with a wild body shot.
Nate shoots in and drives through. McCall sprawls well.
Nate tries to close the distance and clinch up but McCall swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Nate wants to clinch.
McCall takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Yuri Nate is winning the standup battle so far.
Nate lands a slapping body shot.
McCall looks to score with a jab to the body but Nate is just out of range.
Nate takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
McCall misses with a low kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCall swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
McCall with a jab.
McCall misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nate.
The fight stays on the outside here - McCall looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nate tries to move into range but McCall moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Nate tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but McCall paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Nate shoots in looking for a takedown. McCall tries to sprawl out of it but Nate keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. McCall manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
McCall stuffs the takedown attempt from Nate. Nate gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yuri Nate. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCall looks to score with a jab to the body but Nate is just out of range.
McCall fails with an attempt to clinch.
McCall throws a head kick but Nate moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nate thows a body shot but no joy.
Nate shoots in for a double leg but McCall sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
McCall lands a really nice looking cross but Nate seems unphased.
McCall stuffs the takedown attempt from Nate. Nate gets slowly back to his feet.
McCall has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
McCall throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nate tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but McCall defends well and Nate ends up having to push McCall into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Nate has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but McCall regains guard immediately.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nate advances to half guard.
McCall is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Nate uses his free foot to push down on McCall's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for McCall.
Gareth McCall has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nate lands a big elbow.
Nate tries to control but McCall wriggling away.
Nate landing strikes, looking to finish!
Nate landing strikes, looking to finish!
The referee warns McCall that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nate looking to control but McCall is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Nate scoring with strikes but McCall is staying in there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nate lands with some strikes.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Nate cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
McCall taking shots to the head.

McCall is rocked!
McCall in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
McCall is still in real trouble! Can Nate finish him?
Nate loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have McCall scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Nate land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Nate stands and salutes the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:48 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Yuri Nate!
Post fight, Yuri Nate stared into the camera and said 'Que, I won? Yuri Nate for everyone! Taste the sweet lemonade!'.