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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Lasha Abashidze (ranked 303 p4p, 890 weight class) and Yannick Sakala (ranked 51 p4p, 135 weight class). Sakala has chosen Pole Pole as his entrance music. Yannick Sakala acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.
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| 190 cm
23
244
7 - 0 - 0 |
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193 cm
23
242
7 - 2 - 0 |
Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine |
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Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin |
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Lasha Abashidze!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Yannick Sakala!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Russell Pearce and Reed Andrews.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jab, jab by Sakala - just one landing.
It looks like Lasha Abashidze has been cut.
Abashidze closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Sakala did well to prevent Abashidze getting side control.
Abashidze is controlling the pace.
Ground and pound from Abashidze.
Abashidze throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sakala wants to control but Abashidze is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Abashidze throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Abashidze is nestled in close to Sakala, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Abashidze thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Abashidze sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Sakala defending well though.
Sakala is looking to improve his position.
Abashidze throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Abashidze scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Abashidze missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Abashidze 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.
Sakala keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Sakala keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Abashidze throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Abashidze wants to take a breather but Sakala is having none of it.
Abashidze is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Sakala is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Abashidze missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Abashidze throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Abashidze is looking to take a break and control but Sakala is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakala taking some punishment here, with Abashidze in his half guard.
Sakala trying to control here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sakala is looking to improve his position.
Sakala keeps trying to improve his position.
Abashidze missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Abashidze looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Sakala with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Sakala trying to hold on to Abashidze's head to control him but Abashidze postures up.
Abashidze lands strikes from half guard.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakala moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Abashidze throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Abashidze in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Sakala avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Abashidze cracks Sakala with a solid left hand.
Abashidze is looking to advance position but Sakala has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Abashidze slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Abashidze regains full guard. Nicely done.
Abashidze pulls Sakala in close to prevent any damage.
Abashidze wants to sweep here but Sakala controlling him for the moment.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze managing to control the position.
Abashidze tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Abashidze is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Lasha Abashidze dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Lasha Abashidze's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.
Sakala walks into a jab.
Abashidze drives through with a takedown into guard.
Abashidze postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Sakala avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sakala is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Abashidze's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Abashidze trying to control but Sakala is working from the bottom.
Sakala avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sakala preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Abashidze postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Abashidze postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Abashidze with a flurry of punches that miss.
Abashidze throws an elbow that misses. Sakala uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Abashidze's guard. Nice move by Sakala!
Sakala must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Abashidze has Sakala pulled in close to control his posture.
Abashidze trying to keep a closed guard but Sakala is proving a slippery customer.
Abashidze trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Abashidze wants to sweep but no luck.
Abashidze seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze is looking to sweep but instead, Sakala has passed into half guard.
Abashidze is trying to get back to full guard.
Abashidze controlling the position for now.
Abashidze is looking to improve his position.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Abashidze trying to control but Sakala postures up.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakala controlling the pace.
The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Abashidze swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Sakala.
Sakala misses with a body shot.
Sakala wants to clinch up but Abashidze keeps it at a distance.
Sakala lands with a hook. Abashidze tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
A swing and a miss from Sakala.
A big left from Sakala misses.
Abashidze looks to land a left hand but Sakala moved out of range nicely.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze shoots in and drives through. Sakala sprawls well.
Abashidze throws an overhand right that lands on Sakala's shoulder, as Sakala tries to avoid the shot.
Abashidze is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sakala can do to turn this around?
Sakala fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Sakala steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Abashidze.
Sakala tries to counter by closing the distance.
Sakala uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Sakala throws a body shot but no joy.
Abashidze appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Sakala throws a good cross that connects.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sakala takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sakala throws out a loose jab but Abashidze uses good head movement to avoid it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close second round but I would say that Lasha Abashidze will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Lasha Abashidze's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.
Abashidze shoots for a double leg takedown but Sakala sprawls well. He's pushed Abashidze's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Abashidze throws a hook but Sakala avoids it easily.
Abashidze keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Abashidze scores with a jab. Sakala acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Sakala misses with a looping left.
Sakala throws a hook but Abashidze blocks it.
Sakala takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Yannick Sakala seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sakala tries to move into range but Abashidze moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Sakala throws a body punch but Abashidze moves out of range.
Abashidze throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Sakala's waist but Sakala gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Abashidze off to one side.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakala gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Abashidze.
Abashidze shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Sakala defends it nicely.
Sakala wants to counter the offense by Abashidze and move into the clinch position.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lasha Abashidze. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Abashidze lands a jab to the nose.
Abashidze digs a good hook to Sakala's body.
Abashidze keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Abashidze throws an overhand right that lands on Sakala's shoulder, as Sakala tries to avoid the shot.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze stuns Sakala with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
A punch combination from Sakala misses.
Abashidze appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Yannick Sakala is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sakala lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Abashidze circles away quickly and effectively.
Yannick Sakala seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Abashidze looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sakala is trying to keep Abashidze in close.
Sakala has control of Abashidze's left arm, preventing Abashidze from doing any damage.
Sakala working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Abashidze.
Sakala keeping full guard, as Abashidze tries to pass.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze stopping the sweep attempt from Sakala.
Abashidze throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Sakala avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Abashidze not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Abashidze accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Abashidze shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sakala pinned against the cage. Sakala gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's four 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.
Abashidze avoids the body shot from Sakala.
Abashidze attempts a counter takedown but Sakala avoids it well and moves away.
Sakala jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Sakala cracks Abashidze with a good jab.
Abashidze dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Sakala tries to clinch but Abashidze moves out of range.
Abashidze sizes up Sakala with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sakala throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Abashidze misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sakala.
Abashidze shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Abashidze showed some decent athleticism there.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Lasha Abashidze clearly takes that round.
The cut man is working on Lasha Abashidze's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!
A big left from Sakala misses.
Sakala ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Abashidze moves away.
Abashidze feinted with a counter takedown.
Sakala on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Abashidze shoots in and bounces Sakala off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Sakala looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Sakala is still trying to improve position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Abashidze trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakala is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Abashidze with a flurry of punches that miss.
Abashidze forces his way into half guard.
Abashidze throwing shots but Sakala is blocking nicely.
Abashidze seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Abashidze thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sakala's head.
Abashidze not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Abashidze landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Abashidze with the ground and pound but Sakala uses the opportunity to regain guard.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Abashidze is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Abashidze stopping the sweep attempt from Sakala.
Abashidze trying to control but Sakala is working from the bottom.
Sakala avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sakala preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Abashidze stands up over Sakala, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Lasha Abashidze overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Abashidze throwing strikes from guard but Sakala blocks nicely.
Abashidze is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Abashidze missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Sakala's guard.
Abashidze seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Sakala does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Sakala avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Abashidze.
Sakala is looking to control Abashidze's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Sakala avoid being mounted?
Abashidze sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Sakala defending well though.
Sakala is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Abashidze scores with a couple of nice shots.
Sakala felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Abashidze scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Abashidze scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sakala avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Abashidze.
Abashidze missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakala is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Abashidze scores with a couple of nice shots.
Abashidze throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Sakala to regain full guard.
Sakala looking to control but Abashidze passes into half guard.
Sakala has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Abashidze is working away from the top position though.
Sakala really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Abashidze. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sakala taking some punishment here, with Abashidze in his half guard.
Abashidze working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Sakala trying to control but Abashidze postures up.
Abashidze looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Lasha Abashidze had his way with Yannick Sakala in that round.
The cut man is working on Lasha Abashidze's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!
Sakala throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Sakala on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Sakala tries to clinch
and Abashidze counters with a nice double leg into side control. Sakala won't be happy with that.
Abashidze scores with a couple of short elbows.
Abashidze with the ground and pound but Sakala regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
The fighters are battling for position here. Sakala manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Abashidze scoring with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Abashidze throwing strikes from guard but Sakala blocks nicely.
Abashidze working some strikes from top position.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Abashidze trying to control but Sakala is working from the bottom.
Abashidze with a flurry of punches that miss.
Abashidze throwing strikes from guard but Sakala blocks nicely.
Abashidze throwing strikes but missing.
Abashidze connects with a couple of short punches.
Abashidze trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakala is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Abashidze with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Abashidze looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Yannick Sakala has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Abashidze with a flurry of punches that miss.
Abashidze won't allow Sakala to sweep him here.
Abashidze throws a big right hand that misses.
Abashidze loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Abashidze trying to control but Sakala is working from the bottom.
The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Abashidze uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Sakala.
Sakala pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Abashidze throws a right hand that Sakala ducks under and follows up with a left that Sakala also avoids with ease.
Sakala looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze lunges at Sakala with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sakala's hand.
Sakala throws a right hand that Abashidze ducks under and follows up with a left that Abashidze also avoids with ease.
Sakala throws an overhand right that lands on Abashidze's shoulder, as Abashidze tries to avoid the shot.
Sakala scores with a crisp jab that stopped Abashidze in his tracks.
Abashidze shoots for a takedown but Sakala saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Abashidze closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Abashidze lands in his opponent's guard.
Abashidze missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Lasha Abashidze is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abashidze looking to pass the guard.
Abashidze sitting in guard here, content to control.
Sakala looking to hit a scissor sweep but Abashidze is one step ahead there.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Abashidze scoring with some ground and pound.
And that's the end of the fight!
Lasha Abashidze showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Abashidze, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 49:46
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 50:46
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 50:45
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lasha Abashidze!
Lasha Abashidze retains his heavyweight title!
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
36% |
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