PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Napura Cross (ranked 6014 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nazim Bardakci (ranked 5887 p4p, 0 weight class). Cross comes to the cage accompanied by Hey Man, Nice Shot. Bardakci has chosen Edis - Çok Çok as his entrance music. Nazim Bardakci has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cross
vs
Bardakci

170 cm
20
154 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

177 cm
18
165 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Napura Cross!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Nazim Bardakci!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Sergei Dronov and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cross tries to sprawl but Bardakci drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Bardakci is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cross sees it coming and defends easily.
Cross is pressing down on Bardakci's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Cross throws his legs up looking for a submission but Bardakci uses it to pass to side control.
Cross tries to improve position but can't.
Bardakci is looking to take a break and control but Cross is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Bardakci tries to advance to mount but Cross denies him.
Cross is looking for a sweep.
Cross throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.
Cross 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.
Bardakci wants to stand but Cross has his arm trapped.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Bardakci working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Bardakci thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Bardakci tries to move to mount but Cross blocks the move with his legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Cross gets full guard.
Bardakci tries to free his leg and advance position but Cross is retaining full guard.
Bardakci 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.
Bardakci stopping the sweep attempt from Cross.
Bardakci stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cross swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Bardakci passes into half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Bardakci trying to control from half guard but Cross is working away.
Cross regains full guard. Nicely done.
Cross looking to hit a scissor sweep but Bardakci is one step ahead there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bardakci pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cross is keeping the position for now.
Cross keeping moving, preventing Bardakci from controlling successfully.
Bardakci tries to free his leg and advance position but Cross is retaining full guard.
Cross wants to sweep here but Bardakci controlling him for the moment.
Cross trying to strike off his back.
Bardakci wants to pass the guard but Cross is keeping the position.
Cross looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cross is breathing heavily.

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

Cross has his foot on Bardakci's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Bardakci works his way back into a safe position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bardakci passes Cross's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Bardakci frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Bardakci has control of Cross's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Cross regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Bardakci is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Cross can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

Bardakci working for a guillotine from mount but Cross is in no mood to give up.
Bardakci trying to control but Cross is having none of it.

Bardakci is working for a guillotine from mount but Cross frees his head quite easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cross gets back to half guard.
Bardakci is looking to advance position but Cross won't allow it.
Cross misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Cross regains full guard. Nicely done.
Bardakci wants to control from the top but Cross keeps moving.
Bardakci pushes down on Cross's leg and manages to get into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bardakci is trying to control the action in half guard but Cross is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cross works his way to full guard. Good work.
Cross being controlled here, momentarily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nazim Bardakci dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Cross looks for a takedown but Bardakci sprawls well.
Bardakci is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Bardakci fails with a takedown attempt.
Cross shoots for a takedown but Bardakci saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Bardakci changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Cross fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Napura Cross. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Cross shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Bardakci manages to escape and get back to his feet!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross shoots and misses

and Bardakci counters with a nice double leg into side control. Cross won't be happy with that.
Cross prevents Bardakci from moving into mount.

Bardakci is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cross knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Bardakci gets to mount! Cross was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Bardakci can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Cross is looking to escape.

Bardakci has hold of Cross's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Cross manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

Bardakci is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Cross to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Cross shrugs it off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cross sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bardakci is pressing down on Cross's thigh, looking to free his foot. Cross is holding on for now.

Bardakci is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Cross is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Bardakci pulls his head out easily.
Bardakci works his way into side control.

Bardakci is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cross knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Bardakci tries to advance to mount but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross tries to bench press Bardakci off him but Bardakci keeps the position.

Bardakci tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Bardakci has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Bardakci advances nicely into full mount.
Bardakci sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Cross is trying desperately to improve position.

Bardakci jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Cross manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Cross tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Bardakci presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Bardakci working for a submission but Cross is keeping him at bay.
Cross is squirming around, avoiding Bardakci's attempts to control the action.
Cross gets back to half guard.
Bardakci takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Bardakci is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Cross moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Bardakci drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bardakci jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Bardakci wants to stand but Cross is controlling his posture from full guard.
Bardakci preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nazim Bardakci showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. 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.

Cross closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Bardakci quickly recovers to half guard.
Cross lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Bardakci keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Bardakci really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Cross. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cross not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Bardakci trying to control here.
Bardakci gets full guard.
Cross missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Nazim Bardakci has got the better of the ground game so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cross passes Bardakci's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Cross seems to be working for a kimura but Bardakci defends the submission attempt.
Cross working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Bardakci's thigh. Bardakci counters though and makes it back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross throws a big elbow that misses.
Cross stops Bardakci from standing up.
Cross is looking to advance position but Bardakci has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Cross defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Bardakci.
Cross keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Bardakci looking to secure an arm triangle but Cross defends it well.
Bardakci takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cross regains half guard.
Bardakci looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Cross is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Bardakci pulls his head out easily.
Cross is trying to get back to full guard.
Cross won't allow Bardakci to pass to mount.

Bardakci stands up and beckons Cross to join him on the feet.
Cross dives in and grabs Bardakci's left leg, looking for a takedown. Bardakci pushes down on Cross's head and hops out.
Bardakci now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

Bardakci shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Bardakci has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cross escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Bardakci gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Cross looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Bardakci must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Cross throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Cross keeping moving, preventing Bardakci from controlling successfully.
Bardakci wants to pass the guard but Cross is keeping the position.
Bardakci engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Bardakci trying to control but Cross is working from the bottom.
Nazim Bardakci is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bardakci controls from within his opponent's guard.
Bardakci stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cross swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Cross is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Bardakci passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Cross is trying to get back to half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cross being controlled for a moment.
Napura Cross has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Bardakci stands up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nazim Bardakci comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Bardakci has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nazim Bardakci!
Nazim Bardakci bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.
Napura Cross was interviewed post fight and said 'Not my day. I will come back stronger. '.