PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Heath Slater (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Weichanthal (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.

Slater
vs
Weichanthal

188 cm
18
193 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
192 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Hell's Balls Fightwear

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Heath Slater!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, John Weichanthal!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Illya Tyunina and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Weichanthal clinches with his opponent.

Slater is trying to trip Weichanthal. He has hold of a leg but Weichanthal is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Slater persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Slater seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Slater trying to control but Weichanthal is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Weichanthal pushes Slater off and gets back to his feet.
Slater rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Weichanthal moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Weichanthal keeps the fight on the outside.

Weichanthal gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Slater on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Weichanthal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
Slater avoiding damage as Weichanthal throws knees to the body.
Slater tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Weichanthal tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Slater smiles and moves away.
Slater misses with a series of wild punches.
Slater misses with a two punch combination.
Slater throws a series of punches but Weichanthal moves out of range.
Weichanthal circles away from the clinch attempt.
Weichanthal tries to clinch up but Slater circles away and keeps his distance.
Weichanthal doesn't manage to clinch there - Slater circles away.
Slater tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weichanthal is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Weichanthal moves out of range as Slater strikes.
Slater throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Weichanthal closes the distance and clinches.
Slater avoiding damage as Weichanthal throws knees to the body.
Weichanthal misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Slater.
Weichanthal tries to score a body lock takedown but Slater shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Slater tries to score a body lock takedown but Weichanthal shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Weichanthal scores with a knee to the head.
Weichanthal tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Heath Slater has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Weichanthal.
Weichanthal trying to stall but Slater improves his position.
Slater managing to block the knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Slater managing to block the knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Weichanthal throws a knee to the head but misses.
Weichanthal landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Slater is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Weichanthal stalls.
Weichanthal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Slater managing to block the knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Slater prevents a body shot from Weichanthal.
Weichanthal trying to land knees to the body.
Slater on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Weichanthal avoids the elbow strike from Slater, against the ropes.

Weichanthal escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Slater tries a head kick but it misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Weichanthal looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A combination from Slater does no damage.
Weichanthal uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Slater.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Weichanthal dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Slater throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

Weichanthal rushes Slater and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Slater avoiding damage as Weichanthal throws knees to the body.
Weichanthal tries to land knees in the clinch but Slater avoids the damage to the body.
Slater tries to break the clinch but Weichanthal is controlling the position.
Weichanthal working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Weichanthal breaks from the clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Weichanthal looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Slater tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Weichanthal counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Slater rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Weichanthal moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Slater misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Slater tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Weichanthal counters with a slapping leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Slater tries to keep at a distance but Weichanthal has taken the fight into the clinch.
Weichanthal with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Weichanthal crunches a lovely knee into Slater's ribcage.
Weichanthal trying to land knees to the body.
Slater looking to slow down the pace here.
Weichanthal tries to land knees in the clinch but Slater avoids the damage to the body.
Slater blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Weichanthal trying to land knees to the body.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Weichanthal.
Slater managing to block the knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Weichanthal scores a nice knee to the body.
Weichanthal misses with a knee to the head.

Weichanthal escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Slater tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Weichanthal counters with an inside leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Slater fails to land with a series of punches.
Weichanthal wants to clinch.
Slater misses with a wild combination.
Slater takes a swing at Weichanthal's ribcage but misses.

Weichanthal gets a clinch.
Weichanthal using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Weichanthal looking to throw knees to the head but Slater is blocking nicely.
Weichanthal unloads a knee to the mid-section. Slater lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Weichanthal lands a knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weichanthal landing knees to the head.

Weichanthal breaks from the clinch.
Weichanthal buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Slater scores with a shot to the body.
Slater scores with a jab. Weichanthal acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Weichanthal closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Weichanthal landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Weichanthal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Weichanthal trying to land knees to the body.
Weichanthal with a knee to the head.
Slater is looking to break free of the clinch but Weichanthal has double underhooks.
Weichanthal using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Slater has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Slater has clasped his hands together around Weichanthal's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Slater works to advance to full mount. Weichanthal defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Weichanthal is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Slater content just to control the position here.
Slater can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Weichanthal is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Weichanthal showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

No joy there for Slater, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Heath Slater is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Slater cracks Weichanthal with a right hand to the side of the head.
Slater keeps the fight on the outside.
Slater misses with a few strikes there.
Slater rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Weichanthal moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Weichanthal has Slater up against the ropes in a clinch.
A short right from Slater.
Knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Slater blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Knees to the body from Weichanthal.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Weichanthal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Weichanthal lands a knee to the body.
Slater on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Weichanthal tries to land knees in the clinch but Slater avoids the damage to the body.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
Weichanthal crunches a lovely knee into Slater's ribcage.
Weichanthal connects with a nasty looking knee right to Slater's face.
Weichanthal with a knee to the head.
Slater wants to stall.
Weichanthal lands a knee to the body.
Slater is trying to maintain a safe position but Weichanthal gets an underhook and turns Slater into the ropes.
Weichanthal landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Slater wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Weichanthal has him pressed against the ropes.

Weichanthal has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Slater uses from the top position.
Weichanthal keeping moving, preventing Slater from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Slater is really struggling to control Weichanthal but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Weichanthal is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Slater seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Slater trying to control the position from guard on top but Weichanthal is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Slater wants to get up but he can't break Weichanthal's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
John Weichanthal is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Slater stops Weichanthal from standing up.
Weichanthal trying to keep a closed guard but Slater is proving a slippery customer.
Heath Slater has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Slater falls off balance throwing a combination
and Weichanthal counters with an inside leg kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Weichanthal comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Weichanthal 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Weichanthal!