PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marian Balkon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Grado Itsyersel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Balkon
vs
Itsyersel

184 cm
27
191 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

178 cm
28
198 lbs
6 - 4 - 1

Good wrestling
World class MT
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marian Balkon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 1, fighting out of New York, Grado Itsyersel!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Reed Andrews and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Balkon lands with a cross.
Itsyersel missing with a left hand there. Balkon was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Itsyersel looks to land a left hand but Balkon moved out of range nicely.
Itsyersel tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Balkon counters with a series of strikes. Itsyersel will be more careful next time no doubt.
Balkon avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Itsyersel has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Balkon changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Itsyersel tried to score with a low kick but Balkon checks it.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Itsyersel misses with some punches.
Itsyersel pushes Balkon back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Balkon tries to land a knee to the head but Itsyersel blocks with his arms.
Itsyersel throws a head punch that misses.
Balkon lands a good knee to the midsection. Itsyersel won't want to take too many of those.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Balkon blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Balkon tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Balkon escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Balkon tries to move into range but Itsyersel moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Nice body punch from Balkon.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Itsyersel misses with a straight right.
Itsyersel throws a series of punches but Balkon avoids them all with ease.

Itsyersel has Balkon up against the cage in a clinch.
Itsyersel digs a right hand into Balkon's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Balkon's gas tank.
Itsyersel tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Balkon.
Balkon lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A head punch blocked on the inside by Balkon.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Balkon.

It looks like Grado Itsyersel has been cut.
Balkon blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Itsyersel misses with a hook from the clinch.
Itsyersel lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Balkon lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Itsyersel takes a knee right on the jaw!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Balkon breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Itsyersel tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Balkon counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Balkon throws the left hand but Itsyersel avoids the punch easily.
Left hook, right uppercut from Balkon.
Balkon uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Itsyersel.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balkon throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Itsyersel stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

Balkon gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Itsyersel tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A short uppercut from Balkon.
Itsyersel misses with a hook from the clinch.
Itsyersel misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Itsyersel misses with some punches.
Itsyersel lands with a light punch inside.
Balkon with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Balkon definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Itsyersel swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Balkon breaks the clinch.
Itsyersel walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Balkon gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Balkon circles away from the clinch attempt.
Itsyersel keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Balkon.
Itsyersel takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Balkon cracks Itsyersel with a right hand to the side of the head.

Itsyersel has closed the distance and engaged Balkon in a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balkon throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Itsyersels head.

Itsyersel is rocked!
Balkon blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A short right from Itsyersel on the inside.
Itsyersel swings wildly with an uppercut but Balkon uses good head movement to avoid it.

Balkon breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Balkon ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Itsyersel jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Balkon swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Balkon rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Itsyersel moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Balkon closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Balkon tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Itsyersel's elbow.
Itsyersel misses with a short punch on the inside.
Itsyersel on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Itsyersel misses with a hook from the clinch.
Itsyersel working aggressively here.
Balkon tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Itsyersel throws a head punch that misses.
Balkon misses with a short punch on the inside.

Balkon escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
A telegraphed right hand from Itsyersel misses the target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Itsyersel doesn't manage to clinch there - Balkon circles away.
Balkon swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.

Itsyersel gets a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Itsyersel misses with a short punch on the inside.
Itsyersel tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Itsyersel takes a knee right on the jaw!
Balkon blocks an uppercut.
Itsyersel can't find room to land a body shot as Balkon controls the action.
Itsyersel fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Itsyersel fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Balkon breaks the clinch.
Itsyersel throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Balkon counters with a left to the body.
Itsyersel tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Balkon lands with a shot to the body.
Itsyersel tries to clinch
and Balkon counters with a straight right hand.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Balkon scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Good standup being displayed there by Balkon as he connects with a hook.
Balkon looks to land a right hand but Itsyersel moved out of range.
Itsyersel wants to clinch
and Balkon counters with a stiff right hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marian Balkon dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Grado Itsyersel's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Balkon keeps the fight on the outside.

Itsyersel moves into the clinch.
Balkon scores a nice knee to the body.
Balkon trying to land knees to the body.
Balkon prevents a body shot from Itsyersel.
Balkon blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Balkon's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Balkon connects with a crisp jab.
Itsyersel looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Balkon is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Itsyersel can do to turn this around?
Balkon misses with a looping right.
Nice uppercut there from Balkon.
Balkon scores with a head kick. Itsyersel tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Itsyersel is still on wobbly legs! Can Balkon finish him?
Balkon throws a monster overhand right that drops Itsyersel! Balkon follows up with more strikes from mount and the fight is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Marian Balkon!
A very excited looking Marian Balkon made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.