PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joseph Baird (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricky Wraith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Wraith has chosen MESHUGGAH - Bleed as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Baird
vs
Wraith

163 cm
18
214 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

198 cm
18
210 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joseph Baird!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ricky Wraith!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Igor Prikhodko and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wraith shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Wraith was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Wraith tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Wraith remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Wraith misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Baird could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Wraith wants to stand but Baird is controlling his arm.

Wraith swings around for an armbar but Baird sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Wraith's guard.
Wraith is looking to stand up but Baird isn't so interested in that idea.
Wraith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Baird. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baird lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Wraith keeping moving, preventing Baird from controlling successfully.

Baird drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Baird jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Wraith is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Baird postures up.
Baird wants to control from the top but Wraith keeps moving.
Baird postures up and lands a big shot to Wraith's brow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wraith looking to control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Wraith can do anything to dispel that myth.

Baird thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Baird with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Wraith is looking to stand back up but Baird counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Wraith.
Wraith is doing well to control the position and prevent Baird from advancing to side control.
Baird thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Wraith's head.
Baird sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Wraith defending well though.
Baird throwing shots but Wraith is blocking nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baird is pressing down on Wraith's thigh, looking to free his foot. Wraith is holding on for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wraith wants to improve his position but Baird is controlling well.
Baird 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.
Wraith is controlling Baird's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Baird working over Wraith with some ground and pound. Wraith looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Baird is trying to control the action in half guard but Wraith is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wraith controlling the position for now.
Wraith trying to hold on to Baird's head to control him but Baird postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wraith avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Baird.
Baird trying to control from half guard but Wraith is working away.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Baird takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

It looks like Joseph Baird has been cut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Wraith throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Wraith connects with a jab.
Baird takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Baird on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Wraith. Wraith obviously looking to wear him down.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Wraith is looking to land body kicks.
Wraith goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Wraith keeps Baird at a distance using the push kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricky Wraith dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Joseph Baird's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Wraith scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Wraith throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Wraith throws a low kick but it's checked well by Baird.
Ricky Wraith seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A head kick misses from Wraith.
Nice body kick from Wraith.

Baird shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Wraith controls Baird momentarily but Baird frees himself.

Baird drops back looking for a leg! Wraith is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Wraith manages to kick Baird off! Baird jumps back into Wraith's guard.
Wraith wants to stand and escape but Baird is having none of it.
Wraith controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wraith thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Wraith is looking to stand up but Baird isn't so interested in that idea.
Baird won't allow Wraith to sweep him here.
Wraith wants to control but Baird passes easily into half guard.
Baird landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Baird is trying to control the action in half guard but Wraith is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Wraith is defending against the submission attempts here by Baird.
Wraith is trying to stand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Wraith is pushing off trying to get to his feet. Baird has hold of the leg though and he's dropped back for a heel hook… has he got it?? YES! Wraith is tapping! This fight is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Heel Hook). Joseph Baird!