PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ceasar Morgan (ranked 15472 p4p, 455 weight class) and Anzhor Azhiev (ranked 10680 p4p, 480 weight class). Morgan comes into the arena with Fat Lip blaring out of the sound system. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Morgan
vs
Azhiev

175 cm
41
145 lbs
21 - 23 - 1

177 cm
41
144 lbs
22 - 75 - 0

Good takedowns
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 21 - 23 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ceasar Morgan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 75 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Anzhor Azhiev!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shirou Masuda and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Azhiev shoots in but Morgan avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Morgan scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Morgan looking to score a takedown here. Azhiev is defending well but Morgan drives through and ends up in Azhiev's guard.
Morgan slips nicely into half guard.

Morgan seems to be looking for submissions.

Morgan is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Azhiev defends it well.

Azhiev looking for submissions off his back.
Morgan content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Azhiev looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Morgan is pressing down on Azhiev's thigh, looking to free his foot. Azhiev is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morgan performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Azhiev looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Morgan trying to control the pace.
Morgan frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Morgan content just to control the position here.
Azhiev tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morgan controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Morgan has hold of Azhiev's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Azhiev manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Morgan controlling from the full mount.
Azhiev is desperately trying to improve his position but Morgan has a good base and remains in mount.
Morgan controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morgan has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Azhiev has given up his back here. Will Morgan look for the submission or keep pounding away?
Azhiev is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Morgan off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.
Morgan controlling from the back.
Azhiev really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Morgan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Morgan's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgan is trying to stick to Azhiev's back but Azhiev is turning into Morgan. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Morgan's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Azhiev.

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

Azhiev has gone for a leg lock! Morgan slips out almost immediately though and dives into Azhiev's guard.

Morgan slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Morgan wants to pass the guard but Azhiev is keeping the position.
Morgan seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Azhiev working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Morgan doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Morgan manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ceasar Morgan dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Azhiev fails with the takedown

and Morgan counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Azhiev is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Morgan to keep the fight standing.

Azhiev is fighting off a takedown attempt but Morgan is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Azhiev to the mat. Azhiev regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Morgan passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Morgan content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Azhiev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Morgan wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Morgan in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Morgan is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Azhiev's shoulder. That is not cool.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Morgan.

Morgan looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Azhiev is looking to regain half guard here but Morgan keeps moving and retains side control.
Morgan takes a little break here. Azhiev wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Azhiev is working to avoid the ground and pound but Morgan connects with a decent elbow.
Azhiev tries to improve position but can't.
Morgan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Azhiev can do to turn this around?
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Azhiev tries to bench press Morgan off him but Morgan keeps the position.
Morgan is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Azhiev's shoulder. That is not cool.
Morgan seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Azhiev for as long as he can get away with.
Further stalling from Morgan.
Morgan continues to stall.
Morgan continues to hold on tight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Azhiev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Morgan wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Morgan controlling the position.
Azhiev regains half guard.
Morgan is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Morgan has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Ceasar Morgan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Azhiev is looking to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgan controlling from the full mount.
Morgan moves to the back.
Azhiev wants to escape the position.
Morgan scores with punches from the back.
Morgan has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Azhiev's body.
Morgan looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morgan controlling the position well here. Azhiev rolled but Morgan kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ceasar Morgan dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Morgan shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Azhiev napping and manages to drive through into side control!
A lull in the action here as Morgan stalls from top position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
More hug and hope from Morgan.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morgan is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Azhiev has escaped the position, nice work there.
Morgan happy to just control the position for now.
Azhiev is looking to reverse the position.
Morgan is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Azhiev's shoulder. That is not cool.
Azhiev tries to bench press Morgan off him but Morgan keeps the position.
Azhiev is still trying to improve position.
Morgan controlling the position from side mount.
Azhiev is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morgan slows the pace down.
Azhiev is looking for a sweep.

Morgan tries for a kimura but Azhiev is defending well.
Morgan is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Azhiev will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Azhiev is looking to regain half guard here but Morgan keeps moving and retains side control.
Azhiev is being controlled here.
Azhiev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Morgan wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Anzhor Azhiev has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Morgan moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morgan wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Azhiev, who protects the arm well.
Morgan just content to control the position.
Azhiev is looking to regain half guard here but Morgan keeps moving and retains side control.
Morgan taking a breather here.
Ceasar Morgan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four 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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Ceasar Morgan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Morgan has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ceasar Morgan!
Our winner, Ceasar Morgan, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.
In defeat, Anzhor Azhiev stepped up to the mic, saying 'I still want that title shot. Im the most experienced fighter here and everyday wants to see me smash the champ so lets do it whenever he starts ducking me.'.