PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dongstae Friend (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dmitry Larin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dongstae Friend has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Friend
vs
Larin

190 cm
24
265 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

203 cm
25
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Dongstae Friend!
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, Dmitry Larin!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Ivan Kurochkin and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Larin throws a quick inside leg kick.
Friend throws a solid leg kick but Larin takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Friend.

Larin feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Friend scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Larin fails with the takedown.
Friend swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.

Larin moves into the clinch successfully.
Larin goes for a takedown attempt but Friend pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Larin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Friend is fending him off so far but Larin persists. Nope, Friend circles away and we're back to standing.
Dongstae Friend has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dmitry Larin.
Larin looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Friend seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Friend throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A countering left hand to the body from Larin misses.
Friend definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Friend stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Friend wants it to stay on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Larin pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Larin darts in and clinches Friend up against the cage.
Larin jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Friend walks away with a smile on his face. Larin gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Larin moves into the clinch.

Larin breaks from the clinch.
Friend misses with a jab to the body

and Larin counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Larin lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

Friend decides to pull guard.
Friend keeping full guard, as Larin tries to pass.
Friend managing to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Larin tries to free his leg and advance position but Friend is retaining full guard.

Friend looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Friend is breathing heavily.
Friend pulls Larin in close to prevent any damage.
Friend could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Friend utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Larin stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Friend swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Larin looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Larin wants to get up but he can't break Friend's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Friend instigates a clinch.
Larin tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Friend gets underhooks to prevent Larin's takedown attempt.

Larin breaks the clinch.

Friend shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Friend was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Larin manages to get back to half guard.
Larin wants to improve his position but Friend is controlling well.
Friend moves into full mount! Larin won't be happy about that!
Friend wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Dongstae Friend will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Larin misses with a takedown attempt - Friend sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Friend shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Friend was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Larin tries to improve position but can't.

Friend is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Larin has escaped the position, nice work there.
Friend wants to control but Larin is keeping him busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Larin is looking to reverse the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Larin looks to move to half guard but instead Friend has passed into mount! Damn!
Larin is squirming around, avoiding Friend's attempts to control the action.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Larin tries to reverse the position but Friend maintains control.
Larin really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Friend. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Larin wants to hold on but Friend pushes him away.
Friend controlling the pace for now.
Friend has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Larin is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Friend controlling his opponent.
Friend trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Larin is wriggling around trying to escape.
Friend blocks Larin's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.

Friend working for a submission but Larin is keeping him at bay.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Friend looking to control but Larin is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Larin tries to reverse the position but Friend maintains control.
Friend looking to control and managing it successfully.
Larin is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Friend wants to control the pace but Larin is squirming around nicely.

That's four 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.

Friend is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Larin to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Larin shrugs it off.
Larin is in all sorts of trouble here.
Friend content just to control the position here.
Friend trying to control but Larin is having none of it.
Friend is trying to take his opponent's back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dongstae Friend dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

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

Larin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Friend chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Larin can pounce on him.
Larin tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Friend swivels and escapes.
Friend displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Larin.

Larin closes the distance and clinches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Friend gets underhooks to prevent Larin's takedown attempt.
Dongstae Friend has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dmitry Larin.
Larin holding his opponent close, against the cage.

Friend jumps guard and drags Larin to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Friend pulls Larin in close to prevent any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Friend is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Larin is aware though and is defending well.
Friend controls Larin momentarily but Larin frees himself.
Friend has a closed guard, preventing Larin from standing up.
Larin throwing strikes from guard but Friend blocks nicely.

That's two 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.
Larin throws a strike but Friend rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Larin throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Friend stays in close to Larin's body and controls the position.
Larin looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Friend controls from within his opponent's guard.
Larin not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Friend stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Larin swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Larin is adopting a defensive guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Larin fails with the takedown.
Friend wants to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Friend circles away from the clinch attempt

so Friend counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Friend got a little sloppy there for a moment and Larin has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Friend has managed to get both his arms back between Larin's legs - danger averted.
Larin wants to sweep but no luck.
Friend 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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Friend passes Larin's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dongstae Friend showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Friend, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dongstae Friend!