PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Pavel Kavabalanga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Gilchrist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kavabalanga comes to the cage accompanied by Ozzy Osborne - Crazy Train. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kavabalanga
vs
Gilchrist

175 cm
20
215 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

201 cm
21
210 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite 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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Pavel Kavabalanga!
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, Michael Gilchrist!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Aleksandr Martynov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gilchrist has managed to clinch.
Gilchrist throws a knee to the head but misses.

Kavabalanga escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gilchrist keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Gilchrist throws the kick towards the body but Kavabalanga avoids it.
Kavabalanga seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Kavabalanga has a takedown stuffed.
Kavabalanga tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Gilchrist manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Kavabalanga fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Gilchrist keeps the fight on the outside.
Kavabalanga tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Kavabalanga takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Kavabalanga really is a fat lump.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gilchrist tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Gilchrist is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Kavabalanga.

Gilchrist looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kavabalanga tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Gilchrist missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kavabalanga knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gilchrist on the ground.
Gilchrist content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Kavabalanga might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Gilchrist is pressing down on Kavabalanga's thigh, looking to free his foot. Kavabalanga is holding on for now.
Kavabalanga is trying to get back to full guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gilchrist slows the pace down in half guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kavabalanga staying out of range there.
Kavabalanga shoots for a takedown but Gilchrist saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Gilchrist fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Kavabalanga sprawls well initially but Gilchrist persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Kavabalanga tries to kick Gilchrist off but Gilchrist keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Kavabalanga wants to get back to full guard.
Gilchrist sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Kavabalanga defending well though.
Gilchrist content to control rather than advance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kavabalanga wants to improve his position but Gilchrist is controlling well.
Gilchrist uses his free foot to push down on Kavabalanga's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Kavabalanga.
Gilchrist controlling the position easily from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Let's hope that Gilchrist has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Kavabalanga has given up his back. Will we see Gilchrist going for some submissions?

Gilchrist tightening his grip on Kavabalanga, looking for the choke.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kavabalanga just trying to survive but Gilchrist is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Gilchrist dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Gilchrist avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kavabalanga is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Gilchrist dives in and scores a takedown into Kavabalanga's guard.
Gilchrist content to stall in guard here.
Kavabalanga keeping moving, preventing Gilchrist from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kavabalanga 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gilchrist wants to control from the top but Kavabalanga keeps moving.
Gilchrist pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kavabalanga is keeping the position for now.
Gilchrist slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Gilchrist trying to control the position from guard on top but Kavabalanga is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kavabalanga misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's two 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.
A combination from Gilchrist does no damage.
A head kick misses from Kavabalanga.
Kavabalanga is looking to clinch.

Gilchrist gets a double leg takedown into Kavabalanga's guard.
Gilchrist controlling from the top position.
Gilchrist works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Gilchrist throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Michael Gilchrist has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gilchrist is keen to just control but Kavabalanga is a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Gilchrist in particular looking to stall.
Gilchrist passes into side control, despite Kavabalanga's attempt to control the position.
Kavabalanga tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Gilchrist sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Kavabalanga is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Gilchrist raining down shots from the mount!
Gilchrist looking to control but Kavabalanga is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Gilchrist lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gilchrist working the ground and pound effectively.
Gilchrist controlling his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Gilchrist showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Kavabalanga's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Gilchrist throws a series of punches but Kavabalanga moves out of range.
Kavabalanga misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Kavabalanga keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Gilchrist closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Kavabalanga pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Pavel Kavabalanga is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Kavabalanga shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Gilchrist sprawls well. Gilchrist wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Kavabalanga gets slowly back to his feet.
Gilchrist misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gilchrist shoots in and bounces Kavabalanga off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Kavabalanga is looking to sweep but instead, Gilchrist has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kavabalanga is trying to control but Gilchrist passes into side control!
Kavabalanga tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kavabalanga is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Gilchrist tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Gilchrist trying to control but Kavabalanga is having none of it.
Gilchrist with a couple of short strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gilchrist connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Gilchrist trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Gilchrist content just to control the position here.

Gilchrist jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Kavabalanga manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Gilchrist content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gilchrist lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Kavabalanga down.
Gilchrist gets to mount! Kavabalanga was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Gilchrist tries to control but Kavabalanga wriggling away.
Gilchrist prevents Kavabalanga from getting the reversal.

That's four 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.
Gilchrist looking to control and managing it successfully.
Gilchrist wants to control the pace but Kavabalanga is squirming around nicely.
Gilchrist lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Kavabalanga hang on?
Kavabalanga is trying to escape the mount.
Gilchrist won't let Kavabalanga get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gilchrist controlling from mount.
Pavel Kavabalanga has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Michael Gilchrist is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Gilchrist.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Gilchrist comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Gilchrist 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 26:30
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 25:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Gilchrist!