PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sergiusz Ataman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan Ross (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Ataman
vs
Ross

195 cm
23
215 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

189 cm
24
216 lbs
5 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sergiusz Ataman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dan Ross!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Anthony Taglia and Chad Campbell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ataman drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Ataman fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

Ataman throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ross was covering up waiting for the punch and Ataman finishes the takedown easily into guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

Ataman decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Ross goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Ross misses with a leg kick.
Ataman has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Ataman there as he acknowledges the shot.
Ross connects with a good right hand that stumbles Ataman. Ataman circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ross throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ataman throws a hook but Ross blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ataman misses with a series of wild punches.
Ross throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Ross cracks Ataman with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Nice shot by Ataman.
Ross swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ataman lands the left hand.
Ataman looks to land a combination but Ross avoids it well.
Ross throws a hook but Ataman blocks it.
Ross misses with a straight left.
Ataman throws a big counter combination but Ross scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Ross throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
It looked like Ataman wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ataman uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Ross.
Ataman appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Ross scores with the left hand. Ataman knows he should have avoided that one.
Ross throws a shot from downtown. Ataman moves away and avoids it.
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!
Ross moves out of range as Ataman throws a body kick.
Ross wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Ross dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Ross throws a one two combo.
Ataman misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ross.
Ataman swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ataman slips under a jab from Ross.
Ross misses with an attempted mid kick.
Ross scores with a spinning back kick!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ataman falls off balance throwing a combination
and Ross counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Ross throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Ross throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Ataman sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A little feinted left hand from Ataman on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Ataman lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Ross has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Ross and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Ataman.
Ross works Ataman's body with a nice hook.
Ataman scores with a leg kick.
Ross lands with a slapping head kick.
Dan Ross seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ataman scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Ataman looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Ataman misses with a right hand
and Ross counters with a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ataman ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ross moves away.
Ross looks to score with a jab to the body but Ataman is just out of range.
Ataman throwing a counter right hand but Ross manages to avoid it.
Ataman moves out of range as Ross strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Ross is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Ataman's half guard.
Ross takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Ataman is not content to let Ross control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Ross 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.

Ataman moves into the clinch successfully.
Ross lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Ataman throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ataman misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ataman.
Ataman scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Ross wants to break free but Ataman has control.
Ross lands a shoulder strike.
Ross goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ross is trying to push Ataman away but Ataman has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Ross looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Ross scores with a shoulder strike.
A short uppercut from Ataman.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ataman lands a hook to the side of the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Ataman obliges.
Ataman scores with a shoulder strike.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Ataman manages to break the clinch.
Ross cracks Ataman with a right hand to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross misses with a jab to the body
and Ataman counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Sergiusz Ataman is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ataman feints and then cracks Ross's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Ross down.
Some wild striking there from Ataman.
Ross lands a nice hook to Ataman's body. Ataman takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Ross misses with a looping left.
Ross misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ataman.
Ross connects with a right hand. Ataman shakes it off.
Ataman throws a front kick aimed at Ross's knee but Ross avoids it well.
Ross lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Ross scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

It looks like Dan Ross has been cut.
Nice sprawl there from Ataman as Ross shoots in.
A big right from Ataman misses.
It seemed like Ross was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.

Ross shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Ross showed some decent athleticism there.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ataman taking some punishment here, with Ross in his half guard.
Ataman blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ross.
Ataman moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Ross wants to control from the top but Ataman keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross won't allow Ataman to sweep him here.
Ross controls from within his opponent's guard.
Ataman keeping moving, preventing Ross from controlling successfully.
Ross passes into half guard.
Ataman is not content to let Ross control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Ross looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Ataman gets full guard.
Ross is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Ataman keeping full guard, as Ross tries to pass.
Ross slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Ross moves out of range as Ataman strikes.
Ataman moves out of range as Ross strikes.
Ataman swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Sergiusz Ataman will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dan Ross's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Ross displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Ataman.
Ross has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Ataman ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Ataman throws a right and a left that Ross avoids nicely.
Ross tests Ataman's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Ataman smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

Ataman has closed the distance and engaged Ross in a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Ross breaks from the clinch.
Ross with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ataman to score with a decent uppercut.
Ross lands with a thumping leg kick.
Ataman slips under a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross's jab looks to have found its range, popping Ataman under the eye.
Ataman misses with a left hand
and Ross counters with a stiff right hand.
Ross gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Ataman.
Ataman steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ross.
Ataman tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Ross cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
A chopping leg kick lands by Ataman.
Ross lunges at Ataman with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Ataman's hand.

Ross drives through with a takedown into Ataman's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ross tries to free his leg and advance position but Ataman is retaining full guard.
Ross loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Ataman keeping moving, preventing Ross from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Ataman's guard.
Ross wants to pass to mount but Ataman is defending the position.
Ataman controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ross is looking to advance position but Ataman won't allow it.
Ross is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Dan Ross has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Ross stands and throws Ataman's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Ross happy to just control the position for now.
A bit of a lull in the action here.
Ross misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Ross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ataman keeps working.

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.
Ross misses with the ground and pound.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Ross tries to stand but Ataman is controlling his head.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Ross will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ataman throws a right and a left that both miss.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ataman keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Ataman throws a sloppy head kick and Ross moves out of range easily.
A punch combination from Ataman misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dan Ross comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Ross has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 28:29
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dan Ross!
Dan Ross was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.