PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sergejs Denisovs (ranked 4629 p4p, 0 weight class) and Star Moorman (ranked 5268 p4p, 476 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.

Denisovs
vs
Moorman

178 cm
24
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
25
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight 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, Sergejs Denisovs!
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, Star Moorman!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Konstantin Menshow and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Denisovs rushes Moorman and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
A right handed body shot lands from Moorman.
Denisovs tries to stall but Moorman uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Moorman wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Moorman wants to get back to striking at distance but Denisovs won't allow it.
Moorman scores with a nice hook to the head.

Denisovs gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Denisovs sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Moorman defending well though.
Denisovs thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Moorman's head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Denisovs stands up from half guard.
Moorman throws a right and a left that both miss.

Denisovs looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Denisovs trying to control but Moorman is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Moorman wants to stand up but Denisovs is controlling him.
Denisovs slips nicely into half guard.
Denisovs trying to control from half guard but Moorman is working away.

Denisovs stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Moorman to get to his feet.

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.
Moorman looks to land a left hand but Denisovs moved out of range nicely.
No joy there for Moorman, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Moorman throws a right and a left that both miss.
Denisovs changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.

Denisovs shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Denisovs is pressing down on Moorman's thigh, looking to free his foot. Moorman is holding on for now.

Denisovs stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Moorman to get to his feet.
Denisovs tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Denisovs shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Moorman manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Denisovs passes Moorman's left leg - he's now in half guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Moorman can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Moorman looks like he's trying to stand up.
Denisovs trying to control the pace.
Denisovs is trying to control the action in half guard but Moorman is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Denisovs is looking for a kimura but Moorman is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Denisovs to get the leverage.

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.
Denisovs missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Moorman is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Moorman keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Denisovs throwing shots but Moorman is blocking nicely.
Moorman tries to get to full guard but Denisovs has control of the leg.
Moorman trying to control but Denisovs postures up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Moorman throws a right and a left that Denisovs avoids nicely.
Star Moorman is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Moorman misses with a jab, cross combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Moorman misses with a wild body shot.
Moorman lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Star Moorman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Moorman throws the left hand but Denisovs avoids the punch easily.

Denisovs scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

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

Denisovs tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Denisovs has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Moorman struggling a bit here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Denisovs trying to control the action but Moorman is working from the bottom.
Denisovs tries to move into full mount but can't pass Moorman's legs.
Moorman managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Denisovs.
Moorman really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Denisovs. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Denisovs decides to stand back up. Denisovs steps back and let's Moorman get back to his feet.
Moorman looks to score with a jab to the body but Denisovs is just out of range.
Moorman throws a series of punches but Denisovs avoids them all with ease.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Denisovs dodges the punch combination from Moorman.
Moorman throws a right and a left that both miss.
Moorman throws a combination. Denisovs tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Moorman misses with a two punch combination.
Moorman throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Denisovs.

Moorman gets tackled into the cage by Denisovs. Denisovs maintains the clinch.
Moorman has had enough of the clinch but Denisovs keeps him there for the moment.

Moorman breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Denisovs avoids a punch combination nicely.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Denisovs avoids a punch combination nicely.
Denisovs keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Denisovs throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Moorman tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Denisovs is in Moorman's guard.
Moorman preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Denisovs wants to control from the top but Moorman keeps moving.
Moorman can't keep his opponent in guard - Denisovs advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Denisovs not doing much here.
Denisovs wants to pass the guard but Moorman is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Denisovs is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Denisovs wants to control but Moorman is keeping him busy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Moorman is in trouble now - Denisovs has advanced to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Star Moorman showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Denisovs's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. 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.

Denisovs changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Moorman looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Moorman is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Denisovs working away.
Denisovs throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Denisovs working away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Moorman parries the strikes from Denisovs easily there. Denisovs is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Moorman to escape.
Denisovs misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Denisovs throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Denisovs is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Moorman has escaped the position, nice work there.
Moorman defending against the ground and pound.

Denisovs is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Moorman has escaped the position, nice work there.

Denisovs stands up and beckons Moorman to his feet.
Some wild striking there from Moorman.

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.

Denisovs shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Denisovs was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Moorman wants to control but Denisovs postures up.
Sloppy strikes there by Denisovs.
Denisovs trying to control the position but Moorman is working away.
Denisovs tries to move to mount but Moorman blocks the move with his legs.
Moorman can't do much from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Denisovs advances to full mount.
Denisovs controlling his opponent.
Denisovs misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Denisovs scoring with strikes but Moorman is staying in there.
Moorman tries to hold on but Denisovs pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Denisovs can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Moorman is looking to escape.
Denisovs sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Denisovs throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sergejs Denisovs showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Denisovs has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sergejs Denisovs!