PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tripas De Fora (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Burak Mihalev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

De Fora
vs
Mihalev

195 cm
25
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
23
256 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Inexperienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tripas De Fora!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Burak Mihalev!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De Fora rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Mihalev moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
De Fora moves in looking to clinch but Mihalev pushes him off.
De Fora tries to close the distance and clinch but Mihalev swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Mihalev misses with a kick to the body.

Mihalev changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. De Fora looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
De Fora wants to control but Mihalev postures up.
De Fora is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Mihalev's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
De Fora wants to stand back up but Mihalev manages to pass into side control.

Mihalev tries for a kimura but De Fora is defending well.
De Fora is looking for a sweep.
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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mihalev wants to stand but De Fora has his arm trapped.
Mihalev controls the position.
Mihalev is looking to take a break and control but De Fora is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Mihalev tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
De Fora looks to move to half guard but instead Mihalev has passed into mount! Damn!
Mihalev working the ground and pound effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Fora keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Mihalev landing strikes from the mount and De Fora is in trouble!
Mihalev looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Mihalev controlling the position easily from mount.
Mihalev trying to control but he's not successful this time.
De Fora can't escape the position.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
De Fora is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Mihalev tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fora can't escape the position.
De Fora is working hard here to advance position.
A nice elbow there by Mihalev.
Mihalev landing punches.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Mihalev cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
De Fora tries to hold on but Mihalev pushes him away.
Mihalev controlling the position easily from mount.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
De Fora wants to hold on but Mihalev pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mihalev trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Mihalev has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Mihalev content just to control the position here.
Mihalev with good strikes from the mount here!
Mihalev connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Mihalev lands with some vicious ground and pound - can De Fora hang on?

Mihalev working for a submission but De Fora is keeping him at bay.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
De Fora wants to hold on but Mihalev pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Mihalev rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and De Fora counters with a thumping low kick.
Mihalev shoots in for a double leg but De Fora sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
De Fora tries to clinch up but Mihalev circles away and keeps his distance.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Mihalev.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
De Fora tries to buck Mihalev off but Mihalev is having none of it.
De Fora is trying to control Mihalev's posture but Mihalev avoids it.

Mihalev wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by De Fora, who protects the arm well.
Mihalev gets to mount! De Fora was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Fora working to try and regain half guard.
Mihalev controlling the position easily from mount.
Mihalev looking to control but De Fora is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
De Fora can't escape the position.
Mihalev pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
De Fora is bucking up trying to escape but Mihalev cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Mihalev landing punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Fora taking shots to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
De Fora really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Mihalev tries to control but De Fora wriggling away.
De Fora is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
De Fora is trying to escape the mount.
Mihalev controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mihalev is dominating on the ground here - he's now on his opponent's back, looking to sink in the hooks. De Fora is in real trouble.
De Fora tries to escape but Mihalev has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

De Fora is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Mihalev is trying to stick to De Fora's back but De Fora is turning into Mihalev. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Mihalev's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by De Fora.

Mihalev looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
De Fora prevents Mihalev from getting back to his feet.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Mihalev can do anything to dispel that myth.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
De Fora looking to pass the guard.
Mihalev looking to hit a scissor sweep but De Fora is one step ahead there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Burak Mihalev showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

De Fora defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Mihalev.
De Fora tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Mihalev defends well and De Fora ends up having to push Mihalev into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Mihalev wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but De Fora has him pressed against the cage.
De Fora throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Mihalev tries to pull guard but De Fora forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Mihalev has De Fora pressed against the cage.
De Fora fails to pull guard.

Mihalev ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Mihalev no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
De Fora passes Mihalev's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Fora missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Mihalev is trying to control but De Fora manages to pass to mount!
De Fora tries to control but Mihalev wriggling away.
Mihalev is in all sorts of trouble here.

De Fora working for a guillotine from mount but Mihalev is in no mood to give up.
De Fora trying to control but Mihalev is having none of it.
Mihalev manages to regain half guard. Good work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Fora wants to take a breather but Mihalev is having none of it.
Mihalev keeps control of the position for the meantime.
De Fora trying to pass the guard but Mihalev defending well.
De Fora wants to control but Mihalev is keeping him busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
De Fora is thwarting Mihalev's attempts to control the position.
De Fora seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Mihalev does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

We're going to have a standup here because Tripas De Fora wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
De Fora doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Mihalev counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tripas De Fora. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mihalev tries to stand but De Fora is controlling from the bottom.
Mihalev is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Mihalev prevents De Fora from getting back to his feet.
De Fora throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mihalev is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Mihalev scoring with punches to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
De Fora tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Mihalev controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Mihalev wants to get up but he can't break De Fora's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Burak Mihalev.
Mihalev shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as De Fora sprawls well. De Fora wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Mihalev gets slowly back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
De Fora tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Mihalev manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Burak Mihalev comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Mihalev 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for Burak Mihalev!
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight for Burak Mihalev!
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight for Burak Mihalev!

Burak Mihalev wins by unanimous decision!