PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight kickboxing rules bout between Dragomir Barbu (ranked 5366 p4p, 556 weight class) and Duncan Smith (ranked 19509 p4p, 681 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Barbu
vs
Smith

196 cm
22
187 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

186 cm
26
204 lbs
11 - 9 - 0

Excellent MT
Cardio machine

World class MT
Good gas tank

Sully's Bar & Grill
Mockstar Energy Drinks 160Q

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Dragomir Barbu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Duncan Smith!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Kenichi Hosakawa and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Barbu clinches.
Smith lands a hook to the side of the head.
Barbu taking a breather.
A short right from Barbu on the inside.
Smith using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Barbu manages to break the clinch.
Smith tries to work over Barbu's front leg with a kick but Barbu checks it.
Smith misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Smith throws the kick towards the body but Barbu avoids it.
Smith dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Barbu. That did some damage!
Barbu lands a right hook to the body.
Barbu takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Barbu doesn't manage to clinch there - Smith circles away.

Barbu rushes Smith and presses him up against the ropes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Barbu misses with a body punch.
Our sources have told us that Barbu has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.

Smith breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Smith looks to throw the jab but Barbu is out of range.

Barbu has closed the distance and engaged Smith in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith misses with a punch to the body.
Smith told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.
Barbu lands with a left to the head.
Smith tries to land knees in the clinch but Barbu avoids the damage to the body.
Barbu has had enough of the clinch but Smith keeps him there for the moment.
Smith avoiding damage.

Barbu breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Smith wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Duncan Smith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A jab lands there for Smith.

Barbu closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Barbu tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Barbu breaks from the clinch.
Smith moves forwards but Barbu connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Smith throws a head kick that misses.
A big right from Barbu misses.

Smith instigates a clinch.
Barbu leaning against his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A right handed body shot lands from Smith.
A hook to the body from Smith.
Smith misses with a knee to the head.
Barbu tries to stall but Smith uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Smith is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Barbu is defending well for now.
Barbu misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Smith.
Smith tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barbu avoids it.
Smith unloads a knee to the mid-section. Barbu lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Smith tries a knee to the head but Barbu blocks it.
Smith lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A short body shot lands from Barbu as the two fighters clinch.
Smith tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Barbu avoids it.
Barbu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Barbu is trying to stall.
Barbu tries to throw a body punch but Smith avoids it by throwing Barbu back against the ropes.
Barbu tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Smith avoids it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Duncan Smith dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Smith has Barbu up against the ropes in a clinch.

Barbu escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Barbu drives through and clinches with Smith against the ropes.
Barbu works on Smith's body with a couple of short punches.
Duncan Smith seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Barbu is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Smith is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Barbu is keeping busy.

Barbu breaks from the clinch.
Barbu tries to clinch but Smith is having none of it.
Barbu is looking to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barbu changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Barbu fails with an attempt to clinch.

Barbu has Smith up against the ropes in a clinch.
Barbu throws a head punch that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith keeps control of Barbu as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Barbu swings wildly with an uppercut but Smith uses good head movement to avoid it.
Barbu really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Smith missing with knees to the body.
Smith missing with knees to the body.
Smith slows down the pace here.
Barbu lands a right hand.
Barbu struggles to land a body shot inside as Smith controls his hands.
Barbu throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Smith blocks it with crossed arms.
Barbu has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Smith tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Smith tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Barbu wants to get back to striking at distance but Smith won't allow it.
Barbu lands a right hand that snaps the head of Smith backwards.
Smith digs a right hand into Barbu's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Barbu's gas tank.
Smith missing with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Barbu managing to block the knees to the body from Smith.
Barbu lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Smith backwards.
Barbu throws a punch but it's blocked by Smith.
Smith has Barbu pressed against the ropes, preventing Barbu from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Smith misses with a knee strike.
Barbu lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barbu is trying to maintain a safe position but Smith gets an underhook and turns Barbu into the ropes.
Barbu with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Smith trying to land knees to the body.
Barbu taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
A right hook to the body lands for Smith.
Barbu avoiding damage as Smith throws knees to the body.
Smith throws a head punch that misses.

Barbu breaks the clinch.
Smith moves out of range as Barbu strikes.
Smith has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Smith there as he acknowledges the shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dragomir Barbu dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Smith takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Barbu rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Smith moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Barbu closes the distance and clinches.
Barbu can't find room to land a body shot as Smith controls the action.

Barbu manages to break the clinch.

Smith gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Barbu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Smith has Barbu pressed against the ropes, preventing Barbu from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Smith creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Barbu's defenses.

It looks like Dragomir Barbu has been cut.
Smith gets through Barbu's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Smith lands an elbow inside.
Barbu tries to land a knee to the head but Smith blocks with his arms.
Barbu lands a right hand.
Barbu has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Smith trying to land knees to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Smith lands a body shot.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Barbu escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Barbu fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Smith, pushing him back against the ropes.
Barbu avoids the elbow strike from Smith, against the ropes.
Barbu lands a shot to the body.
Barbu leaning against his opponent.
Smith misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Barbu.
Barbu scores with a nice hook to the head.
Barbu blocks an elbow strike from Smith.
Barbu lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Smith throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Barbu blocks it with crossed arms.
Barbu on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Barbu breaks the clinch.

Smith gets a clinch.
Smith lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Smith lands an elbow inside that Barbu shrugs off.

Smith escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Smith tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Barbu takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Smith misses with a leg kick
and Barbu counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Barbu misses with a body shot.
Barbu tries to clinch there but Smith circles away.
Smith throws a sloppy head kick and Barbu moves out of range easily.
Barbu wants to clinch up but Smith keeps it at a distance.
Smith tries to counter with a clinch but Barbu shakes him off and moves away.
Smith takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Barbu scores with a hook.

Smith forces Barbu back against the ropes and clinches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Barbu.
Barbu misses with a hook to the ribs.
Smith crunches a lovely knee into Barbu's ribcage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Smith pushes off an throws an elbow but Barbu leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
A short right from Barbu.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Duncan Smith.
I think Smith 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Duncan Smith!
After winning the bout, Duncan Smith thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.