PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Potapov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Neil Fallon (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.

Potapov
vs
Fallon

185 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
18
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid 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, Ivan Potapov!
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, Neil Fallon!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Konstantin Menshow and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Potapov is looking to clinch but Fallon is avoiding it.
Fallon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Fallon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Potapov shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Potapov missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Fallon throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Fallon gets full guard.

Fallon is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Potapov is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fallon looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Fallon really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Potapov. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Fallon looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Fallon is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Potapov trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

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.
Potapov wants to control from the top but Fallon keeps moving.
Potapov has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Fallon is proving hard to escape from.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Potapov takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Fallon throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Fallon lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Potapov circles away quickly and effectively.
A punch combination from Fallon misses.
Fallon misses with a wild combination.
Fallon throws a series of punches but Potapov moves out of range.
Fallon looks gassed!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fallon misses with a jab, cross combination.
Potapov misses with a head kick.
Potapov misses with a takedown attempt - Fallon sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Fallon connects with a crisp jab.
Fallon misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Potapov shoots in for a takedown but Fallon shows good takedown defense.
Fallon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Fallon lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Potapov circles away quickly and effectively.
Fallon throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Potapov avoids a punch combination nicely.
The fight stays on the outside here - Potapov looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

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.
Potapov avoids a punch combination nicely.
Potapov staying out of range there.
A combination from Fallon does no damage.
Potapov throws a hook but Fallon avoids it easily.
Fallon will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Fallon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Fallon scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Potapov.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Potapov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A combination from Fallon does no damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neil Fallon dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Fallon throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Potapov closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Potapov in side control, throwing shots but Fallon defends.
Fallon manages to work his way to half guard, despite Potapov's best efforts.

Fallon is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Potapov pulls his head out easily.

Fallon looking for submissions off his back.
Potapov wants to pass to mount but Fallon is defending the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Potapov trying to control from half guard but Fallon is working away.
Fallon landing rabbit punches to the side of Potapov's head. Not doing much damage but still scoring a few points.
Potapov thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Fallon to regain full guard.
Fallon bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Potapov's guard.
Potapov wants to control but Fallon passes easily into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Fallon missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Potapov is defending against the submission attempts here by Fallon.
Fallon is thwarting Potapov's attempts to control the position.
Fallon stops Potapov from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fallon is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Fallon is pressing down on Potapov's thigh, looking to free his foot. Potapov is holding on for now.
Fallon missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Fallon not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Fallon working the head and body with strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Fallon missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Potapov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Fallon looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Fallon misses with a two punch combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neil Fallon showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Fallon throws a series of strikes that have Potapov backpedaling.
Potapov tries to close the distance and clinch but Fallon swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A combination from Fallon does no damage.
Potapov throws a head kick that misses.
Potapov shoots for a takedown but Fallon saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Fallon misses with the combination.
Fallon throws a right and a left that Potapov avoids nicely.
Fallon swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Fallon throws a head kick but Potapov moves out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fallon throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Potapov.
Fallon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Fallon misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Potapov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fallon misses with a two punch combination.
Potapov shoots in and drives through. Fallon sprawls well.
Potapov slips a jab and a cross from Fallon.
Fallon throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Potapov pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ivan Potapov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Potapov 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.
Potapov missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Potapov postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Fallon lands a decent shot there.
Potapov wants to control from the top but Fallon keeps moving.

Fallon is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fallon has his foot on Potapov's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Potapov works his way back into a safe position though.
Potapov trying to control but Fallon is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Fallon throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Fallon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Fallon throws a right and a left that Potapov avoids nicely.
Fallon misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Potapov.

Potapov closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Fallon to the mat! Fallon manages to get full guard.

Fallon throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Fallon throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Potapov is stalling in the full guard.
Potapov looking to sit in guard and control but Fallon gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Potapov looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Potapov is trying to control the position from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Potapov showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Fallon has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 28:29
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Neil Fallon!