PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Pawel Konopacki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Otis Driftwood (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Driftwood has chosen House of 1000 corpses as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Konopacki
vs
Driftwood

179 cm
28
171 lbs
16 - 8 - 0

178 cm
28
175 lbs
16 - 9 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

//buriedALIVE// Fight Gear

Fury Nutrition Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Pawel Konopacki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 1, fighting out of London, Otis Driftwood!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Albert Achterberg and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A lazy body kick from Konopacki
and Driftwood counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Konopacki lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Konopacki on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Driftwood looks to throw the jab but Konopacki is out of range.
Driftwood blocks a head kick by Konopacki.
Driftwood moves away from the strike by Konopacki.
We've been hearing reports that Konopacki has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Konopacki throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

Konopacki gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A short left from Driftwood.
Konopacki has Driftwood pressed against the cage, preventing Driftwood from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Konopacki tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Driftwood's elbow.
Driftwood misses with the head strike.
Konopacki is looking for a takedown.

Konopacki manages to break the clinch.
Driftwood throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Konopacki misses with a low kick.
Konopacki feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Driftwoods jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Driftwood tries to work over Konopacki's front leg with a kick but Konopacki checks it.
Driftwood stuns Konopacki with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Driftwood takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Konopacki throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Driftwood tests Konopacki's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Driftwood slips under a jab.
Konopacki looks to land a left hand but Driftwood moved out of range nicely.
Konopacki misses with a leg kick
and Driftwood counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Konopacki moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Driftwood lands a jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Konopacki thuds his right hand into Driftwood's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Konopacki scoring well with a low kick there.
Driftwood fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Konopacki on the side of the head.

Driftwood gets caught napping as Konopacki dives in and scores a takedown. Driftwood manages to retain guard.
Konopacki postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Konopacki looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Driftwood is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Driftwood keeping moving, preventing Konopacki from controlling successfully.
Konopacki has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Konopacki is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Driftwood looking for a sweep. Not yet Driftwood, not yet.
Konopacki is looking to work some ground and pound but Driftwood has wrist control.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Konopacki accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Driftwood preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Konopacki is looking to slow Driftwood down with leg kicks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Driftwood jabbing away but nothing is landing.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Konopacki crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Driftwood - the referee stops the clock and Konopacki gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Driftwood. Konopacki manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Driftwood throws a leg kick

and Konopacki counters with a nice double leg into side control. Driftwood won't be happy with that.
Driftwood regains half guard.

Konopacki is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Konopacki is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Driftwood is just riding it out for now. Konopacki eventually gives up the hold.

Konopacki is working for a kimura but Driftwood is defending it quite comfortably.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Driftwood looks to land a right hand but Konopacki moved out of range.
Driftwood throws a body shot but no joy.
Driftwood blocks a low kick nicely.
Otis Driftwood seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Driftwood takes a swing at Konopacki's ribcage but misses.
Driftwood moves out of range as Konopacki strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Driftwood tries a head kick but it misses.
Driftwood lands a leg kick that knocks Konopacki off balance momentarily.
Konopacki lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Konopacki pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Konopacki looks to land a body kick but Driftwood moved away.
Driftwood thumps Konopacki with a low kick.
Driftwood ducks right into an uppercut from Konopacki.
Konopacki throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Konopacki misses with an uppercut

and Driftwood counters with a takedown into side control.
Driftwood works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Konopacki is looking to regain half guard here but Driftwood keeps moving and retains side control.
Driftwood throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Konopacki tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Driftwood wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
You can see the frustration on Konopacki's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Driftwood throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Konopacki parries the strikes from Driftwood easily there. Driftwood is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Konopacki to escape.
Driftwood wants to control but Konopacki is keeping him busy.
Konopacki tries to improve position but can't.
Konopacki is working hard here to advance position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Konopacki avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Driftwood.
Driftwood connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Konopacki some visible discomfort.
Konopacki dodges the ground and pound from Driftwood.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Driftwood working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Driftwood misses with the ground and pound.
Driftwood sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Konopacki is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Driftwood postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
The strikes coming from Driftwood are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Konopacki is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A head kick misses from Konopacki.
A jab from Konopacki misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konopacki goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Driftwood's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Driftwood duly obliges.
Driftwood jabs at Konopacki's body.
Driftwood uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Konopacki.
Nice takedown defense from Driftwood. No joy for Konopacki on that attempt.
Konopacki is looking to clinch but Driftwood is avoiding it.
Driftwood fails with the takedown.
Driftwood looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Konopacki thumps Driftwood with a low kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Konopacki connects with an inside leg kick.
Konopacki throws a low kick but it's checked well by Driftwood.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Otis Driftwood showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A head kick by Driftwood misses

and Konopacki counters with a takedown into side control.
Driftwood has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
An elbow from Konopacki crashes against the mat.
I wouldn't like to be where Driftwood is right now.
Driftwood manages to get back to half guard.
Driftwood is looking to control Konopacki's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Driftwood avoid being mounted?
Pawel Konopacki overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Konopacki looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Konopacki trying to control the action but Driftwood is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Driftwood manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Konopacki wants to control from the top but Driftwood keeps moving.
Konopacki throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Konopacki working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Driftwood wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

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.
Konopacki moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Driftwood throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Driftwood misses with a hook.
Driftwood blocks a jab.
Driftwood thumps Konopacki with a low kick.
Konopacki on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Driftwood fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Driftwood just misses with a punch to the body.
Driftwood cracks the inside of Konopacki's front leg.
A left lands for Driftwood.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Konopacki checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Konopacki throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Driftwood shoots in for a double leg but Konopacki sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Konopacki thows a leg kick but Driftwood checks it
and Driftwood counters with a slapping leg kick.
Driftwood displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Konopacki throws out the jab.
Driftwood displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Konopacki throws out the jab.
Driftwood staying out of range there.
Konopacki goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Driftwood staying out of range there.
Driftwood takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Driftwood blocks a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konopacki scores with a nice right hand.
Konopacki jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Konopacki throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Konopacki misses with a low kick as Driftwood jumps back.
Konopacki throws a low kick, looking for Driftwood's leg but Driftwood calmly moves out of range.
Driftwood slips a jab and a cross from Konopacki.
Driftwood tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Konopacki was well out of range. Poor timing from Driftwood.
Konopacki throws a head kick but Driftwood moves out of range.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Driftwood takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Driftwood jabs Konopacki right on the nose. Konopacki blinks but takes it well.
Konopacki misses with a low kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Pawel Konopacki showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Konopacki has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Pawel Konopacki!