PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ansastaja Chai (ranked 4385 p4p, 4394 weight class) and Alkiviadis Samaras (ranked 0 p4p, 0 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.

Chai
vs
Samaras

167 cm
18
135
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
18
148
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Big right hand

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ansastaja Chai!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Alkiviadis Samaras!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Chris Edwards and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Samaras dives in and grabs Chai's left leg, looking for a takedown. Chai pushes down on Samaras's head and hops out.

Samaras feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Chai wants to sweep here but Samaras controlling him for the moment.
Samaras tries to free his leg and advance position but Chai is retaining full guard.
Samaras engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Samaras with a flurry of punches that miss.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Samaras postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Samaras wants to pass the guard but Chai is keeping the position.
Chai is trying to control the position but Samaras postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samaras is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Chai controls Samaras momentarily but Samaras frees himself.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Ansastaja Chai is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Samaras shoots in but Chai avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Chai fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Samaras looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Chai scores with a nice head shot.
Samaras moves forwards but Chai connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Samaras fails with the takedown.
Ansastaja Chai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alkiviadis Samaras.

Samaras fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Chai sprawls well initially but Samaras persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Samaras sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Chai is trying to control but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Samaras looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Chai trying to control here.
Chai is trying to get back to full guard.
Samaras scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Samaras uses his free foot to push down on Chai's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Chai.
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!
Chai holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Samaras tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Poor strikes thrown by Samaras there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Samaras throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Chai avoids a series of strikes thrown by Samaras.
Samaras tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Chai wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Samaras.
Samaras throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Samaras punching from mount but Chai doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Samaras controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Samaras thowing shots but they're missing.
Samaras controlling from mount.
Chai is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Samaras controlling from mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Chai avoids a series of strikes thrown by Samaras.
Samaras tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alkiviadis Samaras 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.

Chai scores with a three punch combo!
A cross from Chai lands.

Samaras scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Chai is looking to reverse the position.
Samaras lands an elbow.
Chai wants to control but Samaras postures up.
Samaras taking a breather here.
Samaras working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samaras controlling the position from side mount.
Chai avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Samaras.
Samaras in side control, throwing shots but Chai defends.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
The referee asks Samaras politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Samaras prefers to stall for the moment though.
Let's hope that Samaras has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Samaras has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Samaras is continuing to stall.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Samaras with a lazy takedown attempt
and Chai counters with a straight right hand.
Chai lands with a cross.
Samaras closes the distance and clinches up with Chai, looking for a takedown. Samaras pushes Chai against the cage but Chai circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Alkiviadis Samaras seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chai scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Samaras will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ansastaja Chai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alkiviadis Samaras.

Samaras closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Chai to the mat! Chai manages to get full guard.
Samaras has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Samaras controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The adventures of Samaras the control monster continue. Boring.
Chai controls Samaras momentarily but Samaras frees himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chai looking for a sweep. Not yet Chai, not yet.
Samaras postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Chai connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Samaras momentarily.
Ansastaja Chai is winning the standup battle so far.
Samaras looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Chai cracks Samaras with an open hand slap.

Samaras shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Samaras throws a big right hand that misses.
Samaras stands and throws Chai's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Chai gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Alkiviadis Samaras has got the better of the ground game so far.
Samaras misses with a head shot.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Alkiviadis Samaras will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! 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.

Chai gets caught flat footed, as Samaras shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Samaras controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Samaras works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Samaras takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Samaras throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Chai is looking for a sweep. Samaras is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Samaras perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Samaras is thwarting Chai's attempts to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Samaras missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Chai avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Samaras.
Samaras content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samaras's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Chai uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Samaras shoots for a takedown but Chai saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Samaras with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Chai to score with a decent uppercut.
Samaras shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
A left lands for Chai.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No luck for Samaras with that takedown attempt.
Ansastaja Chai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alkiviadis Samaras.
Samaras fails with a takedown attempt.
Samaras shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Chai as he avoids it easily.
Samaras shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Chai sprawls well. Chai wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Samaras gets slowly back to his feet.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Samaras is defended easily by Chai.

Samaras manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Chai on his heels. He'll look to pass Chai's guard now, I'm sure.
Samaras takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Chai looking for a sweep. Not yet Chai, not yet.
Samaras seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chai looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Chai working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Samaras.
Chai has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Samaras's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Samaras postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Chai utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Chai is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

Samaras closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Samaras seems to be looking for submissions.
Chai blocking the ground and pound attempt from Samaras.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chai won't allow Samaras to pass to mount.
Samaras perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Chai regains full guard. Nicely done.
Chai is trying to control the position but Samaras postures up.
Ansastaja Chai has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Samaras accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Samaras is stalling in the full guard.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Samaras.
Alkiviadis Samaras is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Chai is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alkiviadis Samaras comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Samaras winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alkiviadis Samaras!