PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alexander Zuev (ranked 21779 p4p, 458 weight class) and LeBron James (ranked 6502 p4p, 415 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Zuev
vs
James

210 cm
20
280 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

203 cm
20
265 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Alexander Zuev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, LeBron James!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Daniel Franklin and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Zuev shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. James manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
James is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
James is pulling down on Zuev's head. It's preventing any offense from Zuev, at least for the moment.
Zuev trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but James manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

James looking to pass the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
James is still trying to improve position.
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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
James passes Zuev's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Zuev wants to control but James is keeping busy and won't allow it.
James missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Zuev is looking to get back to full guard here but James has managed to pass to side control instead.
Zuev is looking to regain half guard here but James keeps moving and retains side control.

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.

James thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Zuev is looking for a sweep.

James looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Zuev is trying to improve his position.
Zuev is not content to let James control the position.
Zuev is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zuev keeps James under control for a moment.

James is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Zuev is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
You can see the frustration on Zuev's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

James tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no James has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

James is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Zuev is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zuev regains half guard there - taking advantage of James's attempt to lay and pray for a moment.
James stops Zuev from getting back to his feet.
Zuev trying to control here.
Zuev has a hand on James's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. James takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Zuev tries to lock up and control but James gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

LeBron James dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Zuev scores with a takedown into James's guard.
James is looking to sweep but instead, Zuev has passed into half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Zuev trying to mount his opponent but James defends it.
James is trying to control but can't.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Zuev is staying active.
James wants to improve his position but Zuev is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zuev stalling away here and it's allowed James to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Zuev looking to sit in guard and control but James gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

James won't allow Zuev to get back to his feet.
James has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
James passes Zuev's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
James is figuring out what he wants to do next.
It looks like James is going to stand back up.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with James in particular looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James trying to pass the guard but Zuev defending well.
James is keen to just control but Zuev is a slippery customer.
James passes to full mount!

James wants to finish this one by submission but Zuev is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from James.
James wants to control the pace but Zuev is squirming around nicely.

James looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
My spies in Doherty's Gym inform me that James has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zuev tries to control James's head but James pushes him back down and moves quickly to lock up an arm here - he's swung around for an armbar! Will he get it??? Yes! Zuev is tapping out! Lovely Jiu Jitsu there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (armbar). LeBron James!
LeBron James seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.