PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Stevanikov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bongbong Marcos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Stevanikov
vs
Marcos

180 cm
20
220 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

189 cm
24
265 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Powerful

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Ivan Stevanikov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Bongbong Marcos!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Richard Clark and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stevanikov avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Marcos tries to clinch but Stevanikov moves out of range.
Stevanikov shoots in looking for a takedown but Marcos manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Stevanikov's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Stevanikov doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Marcos counters with a three punch combo that has Stevanikov backing up. Stevanikov nods at Marcos to acknowledge the strikes.

Marcos closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Still in the clinch, Marcos scores with a nice short uppercut.
Stevanikov wants to take the fight to the mat but Marcos manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Stevanikov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevanikov trying to land knees to the body.
Marcos prevents the takedown attempt.
Marcos looking for a takedown.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Stevanikov manages to pull guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Marcos trying to control but Stevanikov is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevanikov is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcos wants to stand but Stevanikov has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Stevanikov knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Marcos on the ground.
Marcos landing some decent shots from guard.
Marcos postures up in Stevanikov's guard and throws a big left but Stevanikov blocks it.
Marcos working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Stevanikov's head.
Marcos has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Marcos tries to free his leg and advance position but Stevanikov is retaining full guard.
Marcos wants to control from the top but Stevanikov keeps moving.

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.
Stevanikov controls Marcos momentarily but Marcos frees himself.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Marcos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Stevanikov paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Marcos tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Marcos tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Stevanikov shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Marcos pinned against the cage. Marcos gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Marcos darts in looking for a takedown but Stevanikov gets double underhooks and turns Marcos into the cage.
Marcos doesn't manage to clinch there - Stevanikov circles away.
Marcos tries to clinch up but Stevanikov circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Stevanikov tries for a takedown but Marcos sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Marcos shoots in for a double leg but Stevanikov sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Stevanikov went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Marcos drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Marcos has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Stevanikov!
Marcos tries to control but Stevanikov wriggling away.
Marcos is looking to stand but Stevanikov has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Marcos prevents Stevanikov from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevanikov is squirming around, avoiding Marcos's attempts to control the action.
Marcos breaks from Stevanikov's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Stevanikov is trying to escape the mount.
Marcos lands a big shot there that rocks Stevanikov but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Marcos tries to control but Stevanikov wriggling away.
Stevanikov is looking to improve his position but Marcos isn't that keen on the idea.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bongbong Marcos 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.

Stevanikov stuffs the takedown attempt from Marcos. Marcos gets slowly back to his feet.
Stevanikov shoots in for a takedown but Marcos shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Stevanikov fails with a takedown attempt.
Marcos darts in trying to clinch

and Stevanikov counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Stevanikov.
Marcos wants to stand and escape but Stevanikov is having none of it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stevanikov looking to sit in guard and control but Marcos gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Stevanikov wants to stand but Marcos is controlling the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Marcos gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcos shoots in but Stevanikov avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Stevanikov shoots and misses
and Marcos counters with a two punch combo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Stevanikov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Marcos throws a series of strikes that have Stevanikov backpedaling.

It looks like Ivan Stevanikov has been cut.
Marcos shoots for a takedown but Stevanikov saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Marcos tries to clinch there but Stevanikov circles away.
Marcos shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Stevanikov sprawls well. Stevanikov wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Marcos gets slowly back to his feet.

Stevanikov shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevanikov throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Marcos works his way to full guard. Good work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Marcos wants to stand but Stevanikov is controlling the position.
Marcos trying to keep a closed guard but Stevanikov is proving a slippery customer.

Stevanikov avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcos is trying to keep Stevanikov in close.
Marcos keeping moving, preventing Stevanikov from controlling successfully.
Marcos trying to keep a closed guard but Stevanikov is proving a slippery customer.
Stevanikov is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Marcos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Stevanikov defends it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Stevanikov closes the distance and clinches.
Marcos is looking to break free of the clinch but Stevanikov has double underhooks.
Marcos is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Stevanikov to keep the fight standing.
Marcos tries to throw a body punch but Stevanikov avoids it by throwing Marcos back against the cage.
Marcos has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Stevanikov successfully pulls guard.
Stevanikov looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stevanikov trying to control the position.
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 Ivan Stevanikov will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Ivan Stevanikov's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Marcos works over Stevanikov's head and body with a nice combination.
Stevanikov is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

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

Marcos is looking for submissions but instead, Stevanikov has regained full guard.
Marcos sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Stevanikov's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcos works his way into full mount!
Stevanikov can't escape the position.

Marcos has hold of Stevanikov's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Stevanikov manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Marcos wants to stand but Stevanikov is holding on to him, trying to stop him posturing up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevanikov tries to lock up and control but Marcos gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Marcos connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Marcos wants to control the pace but Stevanikov is squirming around nicely.
Marcos cracks Stevanikov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Stevanikov tries to reverse the position but Marcos maintains control.
A nice elbow there by Marcos.
Stevanikov tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Marcos wants to finish this one by submission but Stevanikov is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Marcos.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marcos landing strikes from the mount and Stevanikov is in trouble!
Marcos lands a heavy elbow.
Stevanikov is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Marcos wants to control the pace but Stevanikov is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stevanikov sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bongbong Marcos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Marcos 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 28:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bongbong Marcos!