PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nick Alvarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Adrik Vasilev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Vasilev has chosen Mr. Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Remix Radio Edit) as his entrance music. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Alvarez
vs
Vasilev

191 cm
39
183 lbs
27 - 17 - 2

175 cm
27
170 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Bullet Proof System

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 27 - 17 - 2, fighting out of New York, Nick Alvarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Adrik Vasilev!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, William Peck and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Horrible takedown attempt by Alvarez or perhaps it was just good defense by Vasilev, which made it look bad.

Alvarez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Alvarez engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Vasilev is pulling down on Alvarez's head. It's preventing any offense from Alvarez, at least for the moment.
Alvarez scoring with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alvarez trying to control but Vasilev is working from the bottom.
Alvarez is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Vasilev is trying to control the position but Alvarez postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasilev wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Alvarez is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Vasilev has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Elite Strikers. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Alvarez postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Vasilev wants to sweep here but Alvarez controlling him for the moment.
Vasilev keeping moving, preventing Alvarez from controlling successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Alvarez shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Vasilev pinned against the cage. Vasilev gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's two 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.
Alvarez doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Alvarez fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
It seemed like Vasilev was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Alvarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alvarez misses with a body shot.
Alvarez walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Alvarez throws a series of punches but Vasilev avoids them all with ease.
Alvarez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Vasilev lands with a hook. Alvarez tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Vasilev throws a body kick that misses.
Alvarez fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Alvarez ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Vasilev ducks under a wild hook from Alvarez.
Vasilev lands with a good body shot.
Alvarez takes a swing at Vasilev's ribcage but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez shoots in for a takedown but Vasilev shows good takedown defense.
Vasilev slips under a jab.
Vasilev throws a shot to the body.
Vasilev dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Alvarez. That did some damage!
Alvarez misses with a body shot
and Vasilev connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Alvarez throws a right and a left that both miss.
Vasilev now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Alvarez staying out of range there.
Alvarez shoots in looking for a takedown. Vasilev tries to sprawl out of it but Alvarez keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Vasilev manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
It seemed like Vasilev was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Vasilev works the jab nicely.

Vasilev forces Alvarez back against the cage and clinches.
Alvarez fails to pull guard.
Alvarez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Vasilev avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Alvarez is looking to take this one to the mat.
Alvarez has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Vasilev after a bit of a struggle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Alvarez has been working on his balance at Kattegat, so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by Vasilev.
Alvarez goes for a takedown in the clinch but Vasilev prevents it.
Alvarez can't get the takedown.
Alvarez is trying to pull guard but Vasilev has him pressed against the cage.
Alvarez tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Vasilev just stands there and leans against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Alvarez wants a takedown but no success here.
Alvarez is breathing heavily.
Vasilev lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Vasilev lands a left hand that snaps the head of Alvarez backwards.
Vasilev stops a takedown attempt from Alvarez.
A short right from Vasilev on the inside.
Vasilev scores with a hook to the body.
Vasilev tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alvarez avoids it.
Vasilev lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Alvarez drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Vasilev gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Vasilev's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Adrik Vasilev dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Vasilev throws a big shot that misses.
Alvarez pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Alvarez tried to score with a low kick but Vasilev checks it.
Alvarez rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Vasilev counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Vasilev takes a jab right on the kisser.
Vasilev feints and then cracks Alvarez's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Alvarez down.
Alvarez shoots in for a double leg but Vasilev sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Vasilev lands with a thumping leg kick.
Alvarez takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Vasilev misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nick Alvarez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Alvarez throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Vasilev sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Alvarez misses with a straight right.
Alvarez walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Nice cross by Alvarez.

It looks like Adrik Vasilev has been cut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vasilev works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Vasilev misses with an attempted mid kick.
Vasilev chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Alvarez can pounce on him.
Alvarez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Vasilev is fending him off so far but Alvarez persists. Nope, Vasilev circles away and we're back to standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasilev feints and then cracks Alvarez's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Alvarez down.
Alvarez tries to score a power double leg takedown but Vasilev sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Alvarez somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Alvarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alvarez throws a lazy right hand but Vasilev sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Vasilev with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Adrik Vasilev is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Alvarez fails to land the takedown.
Alvarez shoots in for a takedown but Vasilev shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Vasilev wants to counter with a clinch but Alvarez pushes him away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Alvarez has a takedown stuffed.
Vasilev pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Alvarez avoids the head kick by Vasilev.
Vasilev scoring well with a low kick there.
Alvarez has his takedown stuffed
and Vasilev counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Alvarez throws a series of punches but Vasilev avoids them all with ease.
Vasilev cracks Alvarez with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasilev swinging wildly here.
Alvarez fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Vasilev manages to avoid it.
Alvarez throws the left hand but Vasilev avoids the punch easily.
Vasilev steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Alvarez.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vasilev scores with a jab to the body.
Vasilev connects with a body shot that sends Alvarez's belly button to the back.
Vasilev misses with a wild body shot.
Vasilev getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Alvarez tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Vasilev was well out of range. Poor timing from Alvarez.
Vasilev lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Alvarez misses with an uppercut. Vasilev saw that one coming.
Alvarez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Vasilev is fending him off so far but Alvarez persists. Nope, Vasilev circles away and we're back to standing.
Good leg kick by Vasilev there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Vasilev lands with a good body shot.

Vasilev clinches.
Vasilev misses with a punch to the body.
Alvarez has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Vasilev after a bit of a struggle.
Vasilev gets through Alvarez's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Vasilev.
Alvarez is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Vasilev pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Vasilev lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Adrik Vasilev seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Vasilev lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

Alvarez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Alvarez shoots for a double leg takedown but Vasilev sprawls well. He's pushed Alvarez's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Alvarez with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Vasilev to score with a decent uppercut.
Vasilev throws a sloppy head kick and Alvarez moves out of range easily.
Vasilev lands a leg kick that knocks Alvarez off balance momentarily.
Alvarez misses with an uppercut.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Vasilev enables Alvarez to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Vasilev manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Vasilev has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vasilev has Alvarez pulled in close to control his posture.
Alvarez content to stall in guard here.
Vasilev pulls Alvarez in close to prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez throws a strike but Vasilev rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Alvarez looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Vasilev stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Alvarez swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Alvarez wants to control the position but Vasilev says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Vasilev content to control rather than advance.
Alvarez gets full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Adrik Vasilev showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Adrik Vasilev's cut.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Alvarez is trying hard to land a takedown here. Vasilev sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Vasilev ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Alvarez uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Vasilev.
Alvarez gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Vasilev.
Vasilev lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Alvarez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Alvarez scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Vasilev throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Vasilev darts in and clinches Alvarez up against the cage.

Alvarez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vasilev lands with a nice body punch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Alvarez tries to score a power double leg takedown but Vasilev sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Alvarez somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Alvarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alvarez fails with a takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasilev scores with a nice right hand.
Vasilev dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Vasilev slips under a jab from Alvarez.
Alvarez looks for a takedown but Vasilev sprawls well.
Vasilev swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Vasilev fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Alvarez on the side of the head.
A telegraphed right hand from Alvarez misses the target.
Vasilev only half commits to the counter leg kick.
Alvarez misses with a looping right.
Adrik Vasilev seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Alvarez misses with the combination.
Alvarez lands with a cross.
Vasilev connects with a body shot that sends Alvarez's belly button to the back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasilev feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Alvarezs jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Horrible takedown attempt by Alvarez or perhaps it was just good defense by Vasilev, which made it look bad.
Alvarez misses with a takedown attempt
and Vasilev counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Vasilev closes the distance and pushes Alvarez back into the cage.
Alvarez is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Alvarez has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Vasilev after a bit of a struggle.
Vasilev unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Vasilev lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Alvarez wants a takedown but no success here.
Knees in the clinch landing for Vasilev.
Vasilev lands with a right to the head.
Vasilev digs a right hand underneath Alvarez's ribcage. Alvarez let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Vasilev softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Vasilev working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Alvarez drops down looking for an ankle pick but Vasilev pulls his leg out and moves away.
Vasilev lands a nice leg kick that just misses Alvarez's sensitive parts.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vasilev displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Alvarez.
Alvarez on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Vasilev throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Vasilev connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Alvarez throws the kick towards the body but Vasilev avoids it.
Vasilev lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Vasilev stuns Alvarez with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Nice uppercut there from Vasilev.
Vasilev tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Adrik Vasilev is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Alvarez throws a big shot that misses.
Vasilev thuds a left hand into Alvarez's body.

Vasilev closes the distance and clinches.
Alvarez is trying to drag Vasilev to the mat but Vasilev just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alvarez tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alvarez jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Vasilev walks away with a smile on his face. Alvarez gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vasilev throws a head kick that misses.
Alvarez misses with a takedown
and Vasilev counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Nick Alvarez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Alvarez looks for a takedown but Vasilev sprawls well.
Vasilev defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Alvarez.
Vasilev scores with a kick to the midsection.
Vasilev moves into range and connects with a jab.
Alvarez throws out a leg kick but Vasilev moves out of range and Alvarez only half commits.
Vasilev lands a head kick. Alvarez smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Vasilev scores with a hook to the body. Alvarez takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.

And that's the end of the fight!
Adrik Vasilev comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Vasilev winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Adrik Vasilev!
In his post fight interview, Adrik Vasilev started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.