PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Nikolai Sawler (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Zack Young (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Young has chosen you ain;t a killa - BigPun as his entrance music. The key to victory for Nikolai Sawler has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Sawler
vs
Young

175 cm
21
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

169 cm
18
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Nikolai Sawler!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Zack Young!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Robert Douchet and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sawler fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sawler misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sawler throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Sawler swinging wildly here.
Sawler fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Young dodges the punch combination from Sawler.

Young looking to score a takedown here. Sawler is defending well but Young drives through and ends up in Sawler's guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Young passes into half guard.
Sawler tries to roll over but Young keeps him under control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Young slows the pace down in half guard.
Young wants to pass to mount but Sawler is defending the position.
Sawler is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Pitbull MMA, so we'll see if he gets out of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Young passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Sawler!
Young is landing with some decent strikes but Sawler is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Sawler stops Young from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Sawler wants to hold on but Young pushes him away.
Sawler taking shots to the head.
Young avoids the attempt from Sawler to control.
Young controlling the position easily from mount.
Sawler is desperately trying to improve his position but Young has a good base and remains in mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young controlling from mount.
Sawler sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Sawler is trying to get back to full guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sawler is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Young's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Young's back!
Young trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.

Sawler looking for the choke from the back.

Young preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Sawler.
Young rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Sawler stops Young from getting back to his feet.
Young trying to hold on to Sawler's head to control him but Sawler postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Young is defending against the submission attempts here by Sawler.
Sawler is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Young!
Young stops Sawler from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.

Sawler has control of Young's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Young regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Sawler is working for a guillotine from mount but Young frees his head quite easily.
Young tries to hold on but Sawler postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sawler jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Young manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Sawler thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Sawler in the domination position with Young hanging on.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Sawler tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Sawler has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Young is trying to control Sawler's posture but Sawler avoids it.
Young really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sawler. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Sawler is looking to take a break and control but Young is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Young sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolai Sawler dominated that round.
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.

Sawler misses with a jab, cross combination.

Young darts in and clinches Sawler up against the cage.
Sawler has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Young avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

Young breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A left and a right from Sawler both land. Nice combination.
Young looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Young has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Sawler looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Young is fending him off so far but Sawler persists. Nope, Young circles away and we're back to standing.

Young moves into the clinch.

Young's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Some wild striking there from Young.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sawler throws a right and a left that both miss.
Sawler misses with the combination.
Sawler shoots for a takedown but Young saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nikolai Sawler. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No joy there for Sawler, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Young moves into range and clinches up with Sawler.

Young gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Young is looking to advance position but Sawler won't allow it.
Young wants to take a breather but Sawler is having none of it.
Nikolai Sawler overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

Sawler looking for submissions off his back.

Young is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Young is breathing heavily.
Sawler trying to hold on to Young's head to control him but Young postures up.
Young trying to pass the guard but Sawler defending well.
Sawler is pressing down on Young's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Young trying to control the position from guard on top but Sawler is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Sawler looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sawler is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Sawler trying to control the position.

Sawler throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Sawler has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Young can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Young accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Young pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sawler is keeping the position for now.
Sawler trying to keep a closed guard but Young is proving a slippery customer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Young looking to pass the guard.
Young wants to control from the top but Sawler keeps moving.

Sawler looking for a guillotine here but Young defends easily.

Sawler is looking for a triangle but Young pushes his legs off easily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Young wants to control from the top but Sawler keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolai Sawler dominated that second round.
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!

Sawler lands a jab.
Sawler blocks the body kick.
Sawler digs a good body shot into Young's ribs.
Sawler throws a right and a left that Young avoids nicely.
Young dodges the punch combination from Sawler.
Sawler blocks the body kick.
Young has a takedown stuffed.
Sawler misses with the combination.

Young closes the distance and pushes Sawler back into the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sawler tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Young smiles and moves away.
Young throws a head kick but Sawler moves out of range.
Sawler's jab looks to have found its range, popping Young under the eye.
Young is trying hard to land a takedown here. Sawler sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Sawler lands with a right hand.
Young shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Sawler sprawls well. Sawler wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Young gets slowly back to his feet.
Nikolai Sawler has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Zack Young.
Young takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sawler throws a series of punches but Young avoids them all with ease.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sawler fails with the takedown.
Young fails with an attempt to clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Sawler. Those never looked like landing.
Sawler dodges the punch combination from Young.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Young.
Sawler fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Sawler shoots in for a double leg but Young sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Sawler misses with a wild combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Sawler does no damage.
Sawler closes the distance and clinches up with Young, looking for a takedown. Sawler pushes Young against the cage but Young circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Nikolai Sawler is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Young scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Young is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Sawler doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Young.
Young prevents Sawler from improving his position.

Sawler looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Young is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Sawler sees it coming and defends easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sawler gets back to full guard.
Young must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Young wants to control from the top but Sawler keeps moving.
Sawler tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Sawler looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sawler is trying to control the position but Young postures up.

Sawler throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Young working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Zack Young has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Nikolai Sawler is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Young stops Sawler from standing up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nikolai Sawler showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sawler, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nikolai Sawler!