PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Wm Bryan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Riki Gonzales (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Bryan
vs
Gonzales

183 cm
24
193 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
183 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Likes comics

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Wm Bryan!
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, Riki Gonzales!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Dmitry Maklakov and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gonzales manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Bryan on his heels. He'll look to pass Bryan's guard now, I'm sure.

Bryan looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Gonzales stands up from Bryan's guard - Gonzales perhaps looking for a knockout.

Bryan has Gonzales up against the cage in a clinch.
Gonzales has Bryan pressed against the cage.

Gonzales manages to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bryan closes this distance looking for a takedown but Gonzales circles away.

Bryan gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Gonzales to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Bryan throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bryan manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gonzales manages to get himself to full guard.

Bryan is fighting to break Gonzales's control of his arms but Gonzales is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Gonzales not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Gonzales has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Bryan postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Gonzales wants to sweep but no luck.
Bryan throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bryan won't allow Gonzales to sweep him here.
Bryan won't allow Gonzales to get back to his feet.
Gonzales is trying to keep Bryan in close.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Gonzales utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gonzales moves into the clinch.
Gonzales stops a takedown attempt from Bryan.
Bryan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Gonzales prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wm Bryan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bryan changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Gonzales fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Gonzales.
Gonzales working away.
Bryan is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Gonzales has just dragged him back down to the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bryan is trying to control Gonzales's posture but Gonzales avoids it.
Gonzales controlling the position from side mount.
Bryan wants to control but Gonzales postures up.

Gonzales thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bryan tries to improve position but can't.
Bryan has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gonzales has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Bryan tries to hold on but Gonzales postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bryan is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Riki Gonzales 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.

Gonzales is looking to clinch.
Bryan half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Bryan shoots in but no luck this time.

Gonzales gets a double leg takedown into Bryan's guard.
Gonzales trying to control the position from guard on top but Bryan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gonzales postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Bryan wants to control the position but Gonzales says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Bryan is trying to get back to full guard.
Bryan wants to control but Gonzales is keeping busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bryan tries to get to full guard but Gonzales has control of the leg.
Bryan trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gonzales seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Bryan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Bryan wants to control but Gonzales is keeping busy.
Bryan is not content to let Gonzales control the position.
Bryan makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Bryan.
Bryan will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Gonzales has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Bryan keeping moving, preventing Gonzales from controlling successfully.
Gonzales won't allow Bryan to sweep him here.
Bryan is trying to keep Gonzales in close.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Bryan manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gonzales has picked Bryan up - he's going for a ride! Gonzales dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

Bryan kicks Gonzales off and gets back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bryan slips a jab from Gonzales.
Bryan tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Gonzales tries a head kick but it misses.
Bryan is looking for a counter combo.
Gonzales is looking to clinch.
Bryan was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Bryan tries to close the distance and clinch but Gonzales swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
As Bryan backs off Gonzales throws a huge counter combo but Bryan manages to avoid it all.
Riki Gonzales seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gonzales moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

Bryan shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Bryan showed some decent athleticism there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gonzales wants to improve his position but Bryan is controlling well.
Gonzales is trying to stand back up but Bryan is controlling him
Gonzales tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Gonzales wants to control but Bryan is keeping busy.

That's four 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.
Gonzales tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Bryan has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Gonzales is working to get back to half guard.

Bryan wants to finish this one by submission but Gonzales is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Bryan.
Gonzales is trying desperately to improve 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 Wm Bryan will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Gonzales feints and as Bryan raises his hands in defense, Gonzales changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Bryan uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Gonzales buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Bryan checks a leg kick.

Gonzales scores with a takedown into Bryan's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gonzales 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.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Bryan holds on and takes a little breather.
Bryan tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gonzales is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Bryan looking for a sweep. Not yet Bryan, not yet.
Gonzales wants to stand but Bryan is controlling his posture from full guard.
Gonzales scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Bryan bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gonzales's guard.

Gonzales is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Gonzales takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Bryan looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gonzales wants to stand but Bryan is controlling the position.
Gonzales is trying to keep Bryan in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bryan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Gonzales is looking for a triangle but Bryan pushes his legs off easily.
Bryan postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Gonzales moves into range and clinches up with Bryan.

Gonzales pulls guard.
Bryan scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Bryan controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gonzales looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Bryan passes into half guard.
Gonzales tries to kick Bryan off but Bryan keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Bryan is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Gonzales sees it coming and defends easily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Bryan is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Wm Bryan.
I think Bryan has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 29:29
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!