PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Lars Larsen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roman Petkovic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Larsen kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Ennio Morricone - A Fistful Of Dollars. Petkovic is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: BvC Crew - KOSOVO. Lars Larsen has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Larsen
vs
Petkovic

195 cm
34
277 lbs
15 - 4 - 0

210 cm
33
285 lbs
15 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Insanely flexible

BJJ Red Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Lars Larsen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Roman Petkovic!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Ian Loll and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Larsen tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Larsen moves out of range of the leg kick from Petkovic.
Petkovic just misses with a punch to the body.
A slow jab from Petkovic misses its intended target.
Larsen checks a leg kick nicely.
Petkovic fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Roman Petkovic seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Larsen moves out of range of the strikes.
Larsen moves out of range of the leg kick from Petkovic.
Petkovic throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Petkovic has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Larsen is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Larsen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Petkovic throws out the jab.
Petkovic misses with a body kick.
Petkovic lands with a right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petkovic lands with a good body shot.
Petkovic will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Lars Larsen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Petkovic throws a push kick but Larsen slaps the foot to one side.
Larsen checks a leg kick.
Larsen checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Petkovic misses with a low kick as Larsen jumps back.
Petkovic lands a high kick!

It looks like Lars Larsen has been cut.
A leg kick checked by Larsen.
Petkovic is looking to land body kicks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Petkovic chopping away at his opponent's legs.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Petkovic throws an overhand right that lands on Larsen's shoulder, as Larsen tries to avoid the shot.
Petkovic throws a body kick that misses.
Petkovic thows a leg kick but Larsen checks it

and Larsen counters by clinching up.
Petkovic dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Still in the clinch, Petkovic scores with a nice short uppercut.
Petkovic blocks an elbow strike from Larsen.
Larsen throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Petkovic blocks an elbow strike from Larsen.
Larsen letting Petkovic take a breather here.

Petkovic breaks from the clinch.
A big left from Petkovic misses.
Larsen moves out of range as Petkovic strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Larsen blocks the body kick.
Petkovic throws a leg kick that misses.
Petkovic throws a right and a left that Larsen avoids nicely.
A lazy body kick from Petkovic

and Larsen counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Petkovic has Larsen pressed against the cage.
Petkovic swings wildly with an uppercut but Larsen uses good head movement to avoid it.

Petkovic jumps guard and drags Larsen to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Petkovic is trying to keep Larsen in close.
Petkovic might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Larsen haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Petkovic is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Larsen defends well.
Petkovic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Larsen is one step ahead there.

Petkovic working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Larsen doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Larsen manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Petkovic dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Lars Larsen's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Petkovic scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Petkovic throws a body punch but Larsen moves out of range.
Petkovic bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Larsen's head backwards.
Petkovic misses with a body shot.
Larsen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Petkovic.
Petkovic misses with a right hand

and Larsen holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Larsen tries to land knees in the clinch but Petkovic avoids the damage to the body.
Larsen throws an elbow that misses.
Petkovic misses with a hook to the ribs.
Petkovic lands with a short punch from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Petkovic.
Petkovic leaning his opponent against the cage.
Petkovic tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
I was talking to Larsen's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Petkovic wants to stall.
Petkovic stalling in the clinch.
Petkovic scores with a shot to the side of Larsen's head.
Petkovic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Petkovic misses with some punches.
Larsen landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Petkovic takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Roman Petkovic has been cut.
Larsen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Petkovic blocks it with crossed arms.
Petkovic throws a punch but it's blocked by Larsen.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Larsen.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Larsen throws a knee to the head but misses.
Petkovic slows down the pace here.
With the fighters up against the cage, Larsen throws an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Larsen looking to throw knees to the head but Petkovic is blocking nicely.
Petkovic tries to pull guard but Larsen won't allow it.
Larsen throws an elbow that misses.

Petkovic drags the fight down to the ground.
Larsen is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Petkovic is looking for a triangle here but Larsen uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Petkovic is looking to reverse the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Petkovic sneaks back into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Petkovic has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Larsen is working away from the top position though.
Petkovic is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Petkovic looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Petkovic trying to control but Larsen postures up.
Larsen trying to control the action but Petkovic is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Petkovic is trying to maintain the position but Larsen is very close to passing his half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Petkovic showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

A looping hook to the body misses from Petkovic. Larsen does a little dance to reset his feet.
Petkovic throws a hook to the side of Larsen's head but Larsen sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Petkovic throws a body punch but Larsen moves out of range.
Larsen displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Petkovic.
Petkovic missing with a left hand there. Larsen was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Petkovic throws a low kick but it's checked well by Larsen.

Petkovic closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Larsen quickly recovers to half guard.
Petkovic is trying to control the action in half guard but Larsen is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Larsen is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Larsen trying to control from the bottom.
Larsen is staying active underneath Petkovic, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Larsen makes his way to full guard, as Petkovic worked for a kimura.
Petkovic working some strikes from top position.
Lars Larsen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Larsen keeping moving, preventing Petkovic from controlling successfully.
Petkovic throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Larsen wants to sweep here but Petkovic controlling him for the moment.
Petkovic trying to control the position from guard on top but Larsen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Petkovic landing with the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petkovic wants to control from the top but Larsen keeps moving.
Larsen lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Petkovic!
Petkovic is trying desperately to improve position.
Roman Petkovic is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Larsen tries to control but Petkovic wriggling away.
Petkovic sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Larsen is thwarting Petkovic's attempts to control the position.

Petkovic looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Petkovic avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Larsen.

And that's the end of the fight!
Roman Petkovic comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Petkovic winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 27:30
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Roman Petkovic!
During a confident post fight interview, Roman Petkovic thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.