PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Xavier Barthe (ranked 4368 p4p, 5582 weight class) and John Beef (ranked 555 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Barthe
vs
Beef

185 cm
22
205
0 - 0 - 0

200 cm
18
200
0 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

BRAZEN - Fight Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight 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, Xavier Barthe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, John Beef!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Igor Prikhodko and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Beef scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Barthe wants to stand back up but Beef manages to pass into side control.

Beef working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Beef wants to lay and pray for a moment but Barthe keeps working.
Barthe holds on to Beef's head and controls the position momentarily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barthe is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Beef off and has taken his back!
Barthe avoiding Beef 's attempts to control his hands.

Barthe is working hard for the rear naked choke here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barthe controlling from the back.
Barthe throwing damaging strikes from the back! Beef could be in trouble here!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
You can see the frustration on Beef's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

Beef showing good submission defense here.
Barthe keeps control of the position as Beef tries to break free.
Beef just trying to survive but Barthe is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Beef wants to escape the position.
Barthe avoiding Beef 's attempts to control his hands.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Beef grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.

Barthe looking for the choke from the back.
Beef trying to control the position but Barthe manages to sink in the hooks.
Barthe biding his time, controlling Beef.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Barthe not allowing Beef to control his hands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beef manages to reverse the position and now he's in Barthe's guard. Nice work there by Beef.
Beef preventing the sweep.
Beef looking to sit in guard and control but Barthe gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Barthe slips nicely into half guard.
Barthe keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barthe passes the guard and advances to mount!
Barthe dominating with strikes here.
Barthe lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Beef hang on?
Beef is desperately trying to improve his position but Barthe has a good base and remains in mount.
Beef wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Beef looks winded!
What can Beef do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Barthe dominated that round.
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.

Barthe shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Beef napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Beef bucks up and tries to throw Barthe off but instead Barthe has got his back!
Barthe is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Beef can do to turn this around?
Barthe not allowing Beef to control his hands.

Barthe looking to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. Beef is controlling Barthe 's left arm and he spins nicely into guard.
Barthe has Beef pulled in close to control his posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beef is looking to stand up but Barthe won't let him.
Barthe wants to improve his position but instead Beef has moved into half guard.
Barthe is refusing to be controlled, as Beef sits in half guard.
Barthe looks like he's trying to stand up.
It looks like Beef is going to stand back up.
Barthe on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Barthe tries to get out of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Beef is trying to control. Barthe wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
It looks like Beef is going to stand back up.
Barthe controlling the position well.
Beef is looking to take a break and control but Barthe is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Barthe trying to hold on to Beef's head to control him but Beef postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Barthe is defending against the submission attempts here by Beef.
Barthe tries to roll over but Beef keeps him under control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Barthe clinches up with Beef and pushes him back against the cage.

Barthe has hold of one of Beef's legs. Beef is fighting the takedown attempt but Barthe gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Barthe controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beef trying to strike off his back.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Barthe passes Beef's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Barthe is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Barthe tries to stand but can't do so whilst Beef controls his leg.
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 Xavier Barthe will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Barthe throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Beef tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Barthe is in Beef's guard.

Beef working for a triangle but Barthe defends it easily.
Barthe stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Beef swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Beef wants to get back to his feet but Barthe is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barthe sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barthe might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Beef controls Barthe momentarily but Barthe frees himself.
Barthe is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Barthe wants to stand but Beef has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Beef closes the distance and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Beef manages to break the clinch.
Beef looks to land a left hand but Barthe moved out of range nicely.
It looked like Barthe wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

Barthe drives through with a takedown into Beef's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Beef trying to keep a closed guard but Barthe is proving a slippery customer.
Barthe stops Beef from standing up.
Beef throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Barthe tries to free his leg and advance position but Beef is retaining full guard.

Beef has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Barthe can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Xavier Barthe overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Beef takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Barthe sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beef looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Barthe closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Barthe controlling the position from side mount.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beef is being controlled here.
Beef is looking to reverse the position.
Beef wants to control but Barthe postures up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Barthe tries to move to mount but Beef blocks the move with his legs.
Barthe controls the position from side control.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xavier Barthe showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Barthe, 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 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xavier Barthe!