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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Varban Botev (ranked 3124 p4p, 3066 weight class) and Omari Morales (ranked 349 p4p, 345 weight class). Omari Morales will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.
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| 187 cm
30
194
6 - 3 - 0 |
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201 cm
30
200
7 - 4 - 0 |
Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine |
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BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin |
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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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Varban Botev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Omari Morales!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Stewart Dunkirk and Alan Glass.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morales cracks Botev with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Botev swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Morales moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Botev misses with a right hand
and Morales counters with a nice uppercut.
Botev throws a predictable looking body shot
and Morales counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Morales moves out of range of the strikes.
Morales doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Morales lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Morales lands with a straight right. Botev didn't see that one coming.
Botev takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Morales lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Botev throws a right hand that misses
and Morales counters with a crisp one two that drops Botev! Morales thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Botev to his feet! Botev is in big trouble!
Botev is rocked!
Morales is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Botev misses with a lunging right hand
and Botev takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Oh Botev is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Botev takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Botev seems to have got his legs back now.
Botev misses with a straight left.
Morales has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Botev throws a sloppy body shot
enabling Morales to counter with a crisp jab.
Botev misses with an uppercut
and Morales counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Morales cracks a nice hook into Botev's ribs.
Botev throws a left and a right that both miss
and Morales counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Botev moves into the clinch successfully.
Morales is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Morales escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Botev walks into a stiff left hand from Morales.
Botev throws an off balance right hand
and Morales counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Morales lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Morales smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Botev misses with an uppercut
and Morales connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Botev throws a right hand that misses
and Morales counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Botev throws a lazy uppercut
and Morales counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Morales is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Botev had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
Botev swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morales appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Botev looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Morales is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Morales lands the left hand.
Botev swings widly with a right hand
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Morales uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Botev.
Botev misses with a left hand
enabling Morales to counter with a crisp jab.
Botev throws a right hand that misses
and Morales counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Botev swings widly with a right hand
and Morales counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Botev misses with a body shot.
A countering left hand to the body from Morales misses.
Botev is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Varban Botev seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Botev gets the takedown into side control.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Botev controlling the position from side mount.
Morales is trying to get back to half guard.
Botev is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Morales will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Botev working the ground and pound.
Botev advances to mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Botev lands a nice shot to the head.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Botev controlling from mount.
Morales tries to hold on but Botev pushes him away.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Botev cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Morales holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Botev tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Botev 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.
Morales taking shots to the head.
Botev lands a heavy elbow.
Botev dominating with strikes here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Botev lands a nice shot to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Botev controlling the position easily from mount.
Botev tries to control but Morales wriggling away.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Omari Morales 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.
Morales fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Botev misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Morales throws a good cross that connects.
Botev misses with a hook
enabling Morales to counter with a crisp jab.
Botev changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Morales looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Morales takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Botev working away.
Botev grinds an elbow into Morales's temple.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Botev in side control, throwing shots but Morales defends.
Varban Botev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morales is being controlled here.
Botev seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Morales for as long as he can get away with.
Botev landing strikes.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Botev landing strikes.
Botev connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Morales some visible discomfort.
Morales wants to get back to his feet but Botev drags him back down.
Morales has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Botev slows the pace down.
Morales defending against the ground and pound.
Morales is trying to get back to half guard.
Botev cracks Morales with a big elbow.
Morales taking a bit of punishment here - Botev scoring with strikes.
Morales managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Botev.
Botev working the ground and pound.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morales is trying to improve his position.
Botev grinds an elbow into Morales's temple.
Morales is working to avoid the ground and pound but Botev connects with a decent elbow.
Botev throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Botev grinds an elbow into Morales's temple.
Botev wants to lay and pray for a moment but Morales keeps working.
Botev tries to score with some ground and pound. Morales controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Botev lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Morales down.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Botev working away.
The strikes coming from Botev are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Botev connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Morales some visible discomfort.
Botev controlling the position.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Botev has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Botev lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Botev throwing shots but missing, from side control.
You can see the frustration on Morales's face as Botev controls the position.
Botev in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Botev is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Morales takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Botev connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Morales some visible discomfort.
Botev scores with punches from side control.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morales defending against the ground and pound.
Botev trying to control the action but Morales is working from the bottom.
Botev moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Botev working the ground and pound from side control.
Botev takes a little break here. Morales wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Botev scores with a couple of short elbows.
Botev working the ground and pound.
Botev landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
Varban Botev dominated that second 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. This is the final round!
Botev throws a lazy uppercut
and Morales counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Morales has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Morales jabs Botev to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Botev throws a poor cross that misses
and Morales counters with a series of strikes. Botev will be more careful next time no doubt.
Botev throws a poor cross that misses
and Morales counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Morales swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Botev.
Botev misses with a lunging right hand
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Botev is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Morales's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Botev throws a lazy uppercut
letting Morales counter with a right hand.
Botev misses with a left hand
and Morales counters with a straight right hand.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Morales fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Botev is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
A shot to the body from Botev misses
and Morales counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Morales jabs at Botev's body.
Botev throws a sloppy body shot
enabling Morales to counter with a crisp jab.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Morales uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Botev has time to react.
Morales misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Botev moves to clinch but Morales breaks away
and Morales connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Botev moves into the clinch successfully.
Morales misses with a punch on the inside.
Morales is fighting off a takedown attempt but Botev is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Morales to the mat. Morales regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Morales tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morales utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Botev trying to control but Morales is working from the bottom.
Botev working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Morales has momentary wrist control but Botev slips an elbow through the middle.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Botev not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Morales controls Botev momentarily but Botev frees himself.
Morales keeping full guard, as Botev tries to pass.
Botev loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Botev loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Botev stops Morales from standing up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Botev lands a couple of elbows.
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!
Botev engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Morales takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morales utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Botev is looking to work some ground and pound but Morales has wrist control.
Botev won't allow Morales to sweep him here.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Botev misses with an uppercut
and Botev takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Botev throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Morales moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Botev has managed to clinch.
Morales escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Botev tries to move into range but Morales moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Botev misses with an uppercut
and Botev takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Botev misses with a hook
letting Morales counter with a right hand.
Botev throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Morales counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morales cracks Botev with a good jab.
Botev's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Morales connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Botev scrambles back to his feet.
Botev rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Omari Morales seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Botev has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Botev misses with a right hand
and Morales counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
The fighters circling - Botev throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Morales is looking for the big counter here.
Botev misses the shot to the body.
Jab by Morales.
Morales takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
And that's the end of the fight!
Omari Morales comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Morales 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 28:29
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Omari Morales!
After the fight, Omari Morales was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.
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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
70% |
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