PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Charlie Ray (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Richie Besi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Richie Besi has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ray
vs
Besi

164 cm
24
215 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

188 cm
25
221 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
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 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Charlie Ray!
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, Richie Besi!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Aleksandr Martynov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ray throws a nice looking combination but Besi bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ray tries for a takedown but Besi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ray shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Besi but Besi pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Ray clinches with his opponent.

Besi jumps guard.
Ray throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ray with a flurry of punches that miss.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ray accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Besi utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ray could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Besi looking to control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Besi might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Ray haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ray accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Ray postures up.
Besi is wriggling around but Ray manages to pass to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Besi is looking for a sweep. Ray is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Besi wants to get back to full guard but Ray has mounted him!
Besi is working to get back to half guard.
Ray landing strikes from the mount and Besi is in trouble!
Besi wants to control but Ray is having none of it.
Besi is looking to get to half guard.
Ray thowing shots but they're missing.
Ray raining down hammerfists from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ray throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Besi gets back to half guard.
Besi punching from the bottom.
Besi looks like he's trying to stand up.

Ray is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Besi doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Ray.
Ray 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.

Ray is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Ray is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Besi pushes Ray off looking to stand but Ray dives back in and keeps control.
Ray thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Besi's head.
Ray thows a huge punch but Besi dodges it nicely.
Besi is looking for a sweep. Ray is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Besi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Besi is looking for a sweep. Ray is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Ray decides to stand up.
Ray misses with a head kick.
Ray takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Besi lands with an overhand left.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Besi's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Besi duly obliges.

It looks like Charlie Ray has been cut.
Ray darts in looking for a takedown but Besi gets double underhooks and turns Ray into the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Charlie Ray. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Besi is trying to push Ray away but Ray has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Besi successfully pulls guard.

Besi is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ray is aware though and is defending well.

Ray gets to his feet. Besi looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Ray fails with a takedown attempt.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Besi tries to clinch up but Ray circles away and keeps his distance.
Besi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Besi tries to land a front kick but Ray steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charlie Ray dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Charlie Ray'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.

Besi tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ray manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Besi wants to clinch up but Ray keeps it at a distance.
Ray tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Besi paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ray fails with the takedown.

Besi fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Ray, pushing him back against the cage.

Ray escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Besi is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Besi throws a body punch but Ray moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ray keeps the fight on the outside.
Besi scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Ray shoots in but Besi avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Charlie Ray is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Good standup being displayed there by Besi as he connects with a hook.

Ray is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A punch combination from Besi misses.
Besi throws a low kick but Ray moves out of range easily.
A combination from Besi does no damage.
Ray shoots for a takedown but Besi saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Charlie Ray. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Besi tries to clinch but Ray is having none of it.
Besi with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Besi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Besi in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Charlie Ray overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The ground and pound from Besi seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Besi trying to control the action but Ray is working from the bottom.
A lull in the action here.
Besi has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Besi wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Ray, who protects the arm well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sloppy strikes there by Besi.
Ray avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Besi.

Besi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Besi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Besi in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ray is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Besi sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ray defending well though.
Ray might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Besi postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Ray to stand up.

Ray looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Besi trying to control the position.

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

Besi had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Ray defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Besi trying to keep a closed guard but Ray is proving a slippery customer.
Ray throws a big elbow that misses.
Ray preventing the sweep.
Ray in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Besi wants to get back to his feet but Ray is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ray shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

Besi looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Ray!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Richie Besi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Charlie Ray's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Besi decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Ray gets full guard.
Ray is pulling down on Besi's head to control his posture.
Besi must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Besi's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Ray is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Besi is aware though and is defending well.
Besi looking to sit in guard and control but Ray gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Besi is trying to control the position but Ray postures up.
Besi wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Besi is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ray is aware though and is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ray won't allow Besi to sweep him here.
Besi is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Besi trying to control the action but Ray is working from the bottom.
Ray trying to hold on to Besi's head to control him but Besi postures up.
Ray is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Ray keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Besi throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Besi throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Besi winds up and cracks Ray with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Ray moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Ray has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Besi can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Besi wants to stand but Ray is controlling his posture from full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Besi misses with a wild combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Besi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Ray counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Besi scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Decent striking displayed by Besi there.
Besi looks to score with a jab to the body but Ray is just out of range.
Besi thuds his right hand into Ray's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Besi swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ray showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Besi.
Besi thumps Ray with a low kick.
Ray shoots for a takedown but Besi saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Besi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Besi tries to move to mount but Ray blocks the move with his legs.

Besi is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Ray knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Ray struggling a bit here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Besi taking a breather here.

Besi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Besi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

And that's the end of the fight!
Richie Besi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Besi has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Richie Besi!
Richie Besi seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.