PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Fred Zelensky (ranked 3503 p4p, 3405 weight class) and Joseph Climber (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Joseph Climber will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Zelensky
vs
Climber

191 cm
25
270
4 - 1 - 0

192 cm
25
253
3 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Tends to cut

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Fred Zelensky!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Joseph Climber!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Tarja Halkonen and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Climber connects with a body shot that sends Zelensky's belly button to the back.

Zelensky gets a double leg takedown into Climber's guard.

Climber pushes Zelensky off and gets back to his feet.
Zelensky shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Zelensky shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zelensky stops Climber from getting back to his feet.
Zelensky is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Zelensky seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Climber for as long as he can get away with.
Zelensky prevents Climber from standing back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zelensky with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Climber lands a really nice looking cross but Zelensky seems unphased.
Climber works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Zelensky ducks under a wild hook from Climber.
Climber digs a good hook to Zelensky's body.
Climber misses with a hook
and Zelensky counters with a stiff right hand.

It looks like Joseph Climber has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Climber works the jab nicely.

Zelensky drives through with a takedown into Climber's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Zelensky stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Climber swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Zelensky is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Zelensky looking to sit in guard and control but Climber gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Zelensky is working an open guard so Climber takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Climber with a nice cross.
The fighters circling - Climber throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Climber throws a predictable looking body shot
and Zelensky counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Climber fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zelensky decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Zelensky wants to take a breather but Climber is having none of it.
Still in half guard, Zelensky seems content to control.
Zelensky could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Zelensky's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Climber is looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zelensky is figuring out what he wants to do next.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zelensky.

Zelensky shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Zelensky was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Zelensky controlling the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Climber dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Joseph Climber's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Climber misses the jab.
Zelensky takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

Zelensky changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Climber looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Zelensky happy to just control the position for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Climber. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zelensky continues to stall.
Climber tries to escape but Zelensky is in control.
Zelensky trying to control the position but Climber is working away.
Zelensky happy to just control the position for now.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zelensky has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Climber loads up on a big right hand but Zelensky slips the punch.
Climber misses with a wild body shot.
Climber lands with a good body shot.
Climber leaves Zelensky with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Climber lands with a nice body punch.
Climber scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Zelensky is trying hard to land a takedown here. Climber sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Zelensky shoots in for a takedown but Climber shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fred Zelensky. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Climber misses the jab.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Zelensky is defended easily by Climber.
Climber looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zelensky shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Climber throws a poor cross that misses
and Zelensky counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Climber connects with a nice looking jab.
Zelensky has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Zelensky there as he acknowledges the shot.
Zelensky with a lazy takedown attempt
and Climber counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Climber swings for the body but Zelensky moves out of range.
Zelensky misses with a takedown attempt
and Climber counters with a right hand to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Climber throws out a loose jab but Zelensky uses good head movement to avoid it.
Climber misses the jab.
Zelensky takes one to the chin there.
Climber has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zelensky misses with a takedown
and Climber counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Zelensky fails with a takedown attempt.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A left lands for Climber.
Zelensky with a lazy takedown attempt
and Climber counters with a left to the body.
Climber lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Zelensky shoots and misses
and Climber cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Donk. Climber catches Zelensky right on the button with a cross.
Climber tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Zelensky was well out of range. Poor timing from Climber.
Zelensky throwing a counter right hand but Climber manages to avoid it.
Climber scores with a hook.
Climber cracks Zelensky with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Climber showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Joseph Climber's cut.
That's time! Zelensky's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Climber looks to score with a jab to the body but Zelensky is just out of range.
Climber dips to his left and cracks Zelensky with an uppercut!

Zelensky gets a double leg takedown into Climber's guard.
Zelensky not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Climber is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Zelensky content to stall in guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Climber thuds a left hand into Zelensky's body.
Zelensky fails with the takedown.
Climber looks to throw the jab but Zelensky is out of range.
Joseph Climber is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

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.

Zelensky scores with a takedown into Climber's guard.
Zelensky won't allow Climber to get back to his feet.
Zelensky has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Zelensky trying to control the position from guard on top but Climber is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fred Zelensky overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Zelensky stays in close to Climber's body and controls the position.
Climber keeping moving, preventing Zelensky from controlling successfully.
Climber is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Zelensky is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zelensky controlling from the top position.
More hug and hope from Zelensky.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Climber misses with a hook.
Zelensky swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Zelensky throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Climber tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Zelensky is in Climber's guard.
Zelensky controls from within his opponent's guard.
Zelensky prevents Climber from getting back to his feet.
Zelensky is stalling in the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zelensky prevents Climber from getting back to his feet.
Zelensky showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Climber keeping moving, preventing Zelensky from controlling successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Fred Zelensky has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Zelensky displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Climber throws out the jab.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Fred Zelensky.
I think Climber 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joseph Climber!