PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Henry Torres (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Svyatoslav Vakarchuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Torres comes into the arena with No Control-You will crawl blaring out of the sound system. This should be a great matchup!

Torres
vs
Vakarchuk

182 cm
24
235 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

190 cm
21
250 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Good gas tank

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Henry Torres!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Saam Ante and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Torres lands with a good body shot.
Torres bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

It looks like Svyatoslav Vakarchuk has been cut.
Vakarchuk circles away from the clinch attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Vakarchuk.
Torres fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Vakarchuk manages to avoid it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Torres. Vakarchuk does a little dance to reset his feet.
Torres connects with a crisp jab.
Torres tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Torres is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Vakarchuk doesn't succeed with the takedown
enabling Torres to counter with a crisp jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Torres. Vakarchuk does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vakarchuk is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Torres lands a glancing blow to the side of Vakarchuk's head.
Torres wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Sloppy strikes from Torres. Those never looked like landing.
Vakarchuk slips a straight right by Torres.
Vakarchuk walks into a left hand.
Vakarchuk on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Vakarchuk shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

Vakarchuk is rocked!
Vakarchuk displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Torres throws out the jab.
Torres tries to clinch up.
Torres doesn't manage to clinch there - Vakarchuk circles away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Vakarchuk.
Vakarchuk keeps control of Torres as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Torres is pushing Vakarchuk up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
I was talking to Torres's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Vakarchuk is trying to pull guard but Torres turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Henry Torres has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.

Vakarchuk breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Torres misses with a wild body shot.
Vakarchuk avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Vakarchuk uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Torres.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Torres missing with a left hand there. Vakarchuk was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A little jabbing left from Vakarchuk on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Vakarchuk keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Vakarchuk shoots in for a takedown but Torres shows good takedown defense.
Vakarchuk fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Vakarchuk steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Torres.
Vakarchuk tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Torres scores with a body shot.
Nice takedown defense from Torres. No joy for Vakarchuk on that attempt.

Vakarchuk darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Vakarchuk is trying to work for a kimura but Torres is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Vakarchuk lands a nice short elbow.
Torres slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Torres is trying to control the position but Vakarchuk postures up.
Torres preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Vakarchuk with a flurry of punches that miss.
Vakarchuk landing with the ground and pound.
Torres looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Torres is trying to keep Vakarchuk in close.
Torres tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Torres looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Henry Torres dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Vakarchuk tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Torres swivels and escapes.
Henry Torres seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Torres tries to clinch up but Vakarchuk circles away and keeps his distance.
Torres tries to close the distance and clinch but Vakarchuk swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Torres misses with an uppercut. Vakarchuk saw that one coming.
A little jabbing left from Vakarchuk on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.

Torres closes the distance and clinches.
Torres tries a body shot but Vakarchuk blocks it.
Torres taking a breather.
Torres is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vakarchuk can do to turn this around?
Vakarchuk tries to pull guard but Torres holds him up against the cage and eventually Vakarchuk drops back down to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vakarchuk tries for a takedown but Torres manages to get underhooks.
Henry Torres has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.

Torres breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Vakarchuk shoots in looking for a takedown but Torres manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Vakarchuk's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Torres moves in looking to clinch but Vakarchuk pushes him off.
A looping hook to the body misses from Torres. Vakarchuk does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vakarchuk fails with a takedown attempt.

Vakarchuk shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Torres has momentary wrist control but Vakarchuk slips an elbow through the middle.
Torres preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Vakarchuk preventing the sweep.
Vakarchuk trying to control but Torres is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Torres avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Vakarchuk throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Torres works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Torres is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Vakarchuk pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Torres is keeping the position for now.
Vakarchuk postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Vakarchuk scoring with punches to the head and body.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Vakarchuk's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Vakarchuk stands up over Torres, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Vakarchuk stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Torres swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Vakarchuk landing with the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Torres wants to sweep here but Vakarchuk controlling him for the moment.
Vakarchuk has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vakarchuk trying to control but Torres is working from the bottom.
Vakarchuk throws an elbow that misses. Torres uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Vakarchuk's guard. Nice move by Torres!

Torres throws a big right hand that misses.
Vakarchuk is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Torres passes into half guard.
Torres is nestled in close to Vakarchuk, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Vakarchuk looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Vakarchuk is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vakarchuk wants to control but Torres is keeping busy.
Vakarchuk wants to get back to full guard.
Vakarchuk manages to get to full guard.
Torres scoring with punches to the head and body.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Vakarchuk working for a triangle but Torres defends it easily.
Torres pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Vakarchuk is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Svyatoslav Vakarchuk will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Torres cracks Vakarchuk with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Torres looks to score with a jab to the body but Vakarchuk is just out of range.
Torres uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Vakarchuk changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Torres tries to avoid it but Vakarchuk manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Torres to the ground. Torres escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Torres misses with a left hand
and Vakarchuk counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Torres tries to clinch up but Vakarchuk circles away and keeps his distance.
Torres just misses with a punch to the body.
Vakarchuk tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Torres tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Vakarchuk was well out of range. Poor timing from Torres.
A nice side step and Vakarchuk releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Torres lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Vakarchuk walks into a jab.
Henry Torres is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vakarchuk slips a straight right by Torres.
Torres punishes Vakarchuk's body with a nice straight punch.
Torres throws a jab when Vakarchuk was well out of range.
Vakarchuk ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Torres tries to clinch up.
Torres throws a big shot that misses.
Torres throws out a loose jab but Vakarchuk uses good head movement to avoid it.
Torres wants to clinch.
Torres misses with a wild combination.
Vakarchuk changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Torres looks to land a right hand but Vakarchuk moved out of range.
Vakarchuk drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Torres defends it well.
Torres fails with an attempt to clinch.
Vakarchuk drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Torres defends it well.
Torres swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Torres takes a swing at Vakarchuk's ribcage but misses.
Vakarchuk with the counter takedown but Torres avoids it easily.
Vakarchuk has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Torres finds it's way round the side to connect with Vakarchuk's head.
Torres's jab looks to have found its range, popping Vakarchuk under the eye.
Torres lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Torres throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Vakarchuk shoots in but no luck this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vakarchuk fails with a takedown attempt.
Henry Torres has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.
Torres throws a hook but Vakarchuk blocks it.
Vakarchuk avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Vakarchuk changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Vakarchuk fails with the takedown.
Torres misses the jab.
Torres jabs Vakarchuk to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Torres defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Vakarchuk.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vakarchuk moves away from the strike by Torres.
Vakarchuk lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

Torres pushes Vakarchuk up against the cage in a clinch.
Vakarchuk prevents a body shot from Torres.
Torres misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A short right from Torres.
Vakarchuk jumps guard but Torres stands there with Vakarchuk around his waist. Vakarchuk gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Torres is trying to stall.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Vakarchuk prevents a body shot from Torres.

Vakarchuk breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Henry Torres showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Torres 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 30:27
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Henry Torres!
In his post fight interview, Henry Torres gave a big smile as he said 'Haleb "El Manta" Sukayev!! Im coming for you! Last time time runned out..That aint happening again.'.