PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Panagiotis Nikolau (ranked 1673 p4p, 2873 weight class) and Gord Ryan (ranked 246 p4p, 385 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Nikolau
vs
Ryan

190 cm
20
201
3 - 2 - 0

188 cm
20
193
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Vegan Gains
Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Panagiotis Nikolau!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gord Ryan!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Chad Campbell and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ryan cracks a nice hook into Nikolau's ribs.
Nikolau closes the distance looking to clinch
and Ryan counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Nikolau thinking.
A jab from Nikolau finds it's way through Ryan's defenses.
Nikolau swings away with a body shot that misses
and Ryan counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Nikolau thinking.
Nikolau lands a nice hook to Ryan's body. Ryan takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Nikolau throws a series of punches but Ryan moves out of range.
Decent striking displayed by Nikolau there.
Nikolau looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Ryan throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nikolau looks to throw the jab but Ryan is out of range.
A little jabbing left from Ryan on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Ryan misses with a left hand
and Nikolau counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A shot to the body from Nikolau misses
and Ryan counters with a nice uppercut.

Nikolau forces Ryan back against the cage and clinches.
Nikolau tries a body shot but Ryan blocks it.
A head punch on the inside from Ryan fails to land.
Nikolau throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Ryan lands a hook that snaps the head of Nikolau backwards.
A short left from Ryan.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Nikolau.
Nikolau digs a right hand into Ryan's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Ryan's gas tank.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Nikolau.
Nikolau can't find room to land a body shot as Ryan controls the action.
Nikolau blocks an elbow strike from Ryan.
Ryan throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Nikolau lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ryan swings wildly with an uppercut but Nikolau uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nikolau doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ryan lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ryan takes a shot to the head.
A shot in the inside from Nikolau.
Nikolau tries to throw a body punch but Ryan avoids it by throwing Nikolau back against the cage.
Ryan has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Nikolau seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Ryan can turn it around.
A head punch on the inside from Ryan fails to land.
Ryan lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Ryan lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Ryan is working Nikolau over against the cage.
Nikolau struggles to land a body shot inside as Ryan controls his hands.
Ryan can't find room to land a body shot as Nikolau controls the action.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Nikolau.
Ryan misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ryan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ryan prevents a body shot from Nikolau.
Nikolau swings wildly with an uppercut but Ryan uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ryan pushes Nikolau back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Ryan doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ryan lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Nikolau avoids a wild elbow strike from Ryan.
Nikolau throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ryan lands a hook to the side of the head.
Nikolau swings wildly with an uppercut but Ryan uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nikolau blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nikolau scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A head punch on the inside from Ryan fails to land.
Nikolau tries to throw a body punch but Ryan avoids it by throwing Nikolau back against the cage.
Nikolau gets through Ryan's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Nikolau lands a left hand.
Nikolau working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Ryan lands a right hand.
Nikolau lands with a right to the head.
Ryan blocks a body shot from Nikolau.
Ryan swings wildly with an uppercut but Nikolau uses good head movement to avoid it.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Ryan creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ryan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ryan pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
A hook to the body from Nikolau.
Nikolau tries to throw a body punch but Ryan avoids it by throwing Nikolau back against the cage.
Nikolau works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ryan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Nikolau lands a hook that snaps the head of Ryan backwards.
Ryan swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nikolau blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nikolau tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A right handed body shot lands from Nikolau.
Ryan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ryan lands a nice shot to the body.
Still in the clinch, Nikolau scores with a nice short uppercut.
Nikolau scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Ryan blocks a body shot from Nikolau.
Ryan misses with a hook from the clinch.
Ryan blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nikolau misses with a hook to the ribs.
Nikolau misses with a punch to the body.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nikolau lands with a light punch inside.
Nikolau tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Ryan's elbow.
Nikolau lands a shot to the body.
Nikolau blocks a body shot from Ryan.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Panagiotis Nikolau will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Nikolau staying out of range there.
Ryan misses with a body shot

and Nikolau counters with a crisp right hand that drops Ryan! Nikolau lets Ryan back up to his feet, looking for a finish!

Ryan is rocked!
Nikolau misses the shot to the body.
Ryan is still on wobbly legs! Can Nikolau finish him?
Nikolau keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nikolau drops Ryan with a naaaaasty hook - Ryan is in real trouble here! Nikolau dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:23 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Panagiotis Nikolau!
A relieved looking Panagiotis Nikolau thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.