PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Josip Ruzic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ismail Saidov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ruzic comes to the cage accompanied by Kid N Play - Gettin' Funky. Saidov has chosen Shamhan Daldaev - Eto Kavkaz as his entrance music. Josip Ruzic has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ruzic
vs
Saidov

185 cm
44
192 lbs
42 - 19 - 2

188 cm
40
202 lbs
22 - 17 - 1

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

GREEN!160

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 42 - 19 - 2, fighting out of Tokyo, Josip Ruzic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 17 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Ismail Saidov!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yuuki Gou and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ruzic getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Josip Ruzic seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ruzic wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Saidov with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ruzic to score with a decent uppercut.
Saidov takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Saidov takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Ruzic throws a quick inside leg kick.
Saidov tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ruzic paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Saidov forces Ruzic back against the cage and clinches.
Ruzic lands a body punch in the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Ruzic.
Ruzic lands a right hand that snaps the head of Saidov backwards.
Ruzic makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
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!

Ruzic is trying to trip Saidov. He has hold of a leg but Saidov is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Ruzic persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Ruzic tries to free his leg and advance position but Saidov is retaining full guard.
Saidov wants to stand and escape but Ruzic is having none of it.
Ruzic works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Ruzic works his way into full mount!
Ruzic won't let Saidov get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
We've been hearing good reports from Ruzic's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saidov is bucking up trying to escape but Ruzic cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Saidov is trying to stand up.
Ruzic lands with some strikes.

Ruzic has hold of Saidov's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Saidov manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

Ruzic is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Saidov is surviving well by controlling Ruzic's body position as best he can.
Ruzic is landing with some decent strikes but Saidov is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Ruzic swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Saidov is now in Ruzic's guard. A big mistake from Ruzic there, giving up the dominant position!
Saidov preventing the sweep.
Ruzic manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Saidov manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ruzic showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Ruzic advances to half guard.
Ruzic works his foot free and advances to mount.
Ruzic with a couple of short strikes.
Saidov is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Saidov is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Ruzic looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Ruzic looking to control but Saidov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruzic lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Ruzic controlling his opponent.
Saidov is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

Saidov has left one of his arms exposed and Ruzic doesn't need a second invitation. He's isolated it and locked on a tight armbar. Saidov screams and taps out, obviously in a lot of pain. Hopefully there isn't permanent damage to that arm.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:45 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Josip Ruzic!
A victorious Josip Ruzic thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.