PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Hanung Herman (ranked 4070 p4p, 5275 weight class) and Phillip Ziskie (ranked 345 p4p, 408 weight class). Hanung Herman has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Herman
vs
Ziskie

175 cm
19
155
2 - 0 - 0

179 cm
19
160
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Likes musicals

BANZAI NUTRITION

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Hanung Herman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Phillip Ziskie!
The judges for this bout are Ben Hemmingworth, Winston Howard and Topper Green.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Herman fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And Ziskie tries to counter it with a takedown but Herman pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Herman throws a body kick that misses.
Herman will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Herman pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Herman tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Ziskie swivels and escapes.
Herman is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ziskie shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Herman but Herman pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Ziskie has a takedown stuffed.
We've been hearing reports that Herman has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ziskie looks for a takedown but Herman sprawls well.
Hanung Herman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Phillip Ziskie.

Ziskie closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Herman quickly recovers to half guard.
Herman wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ziskie is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
The fighters are battling for position here. Herman manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Ziskie is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Ziskie slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Herman is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Ziskie trying to control but Herman is working from the bottom.
Ziskie with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Herman escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Ziskie gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Ziskie must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Herman looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ziskie is one step ahead there.
Ziskie makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ziskie tries to free his leg and advance position but Herman is retaining full guard.
Herman tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ziskie throwing strikes but missing.
Ziskie controls from within his opponent's guard.
Herman tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ziskie trying to control the position from guard on top but Herman is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ziskie postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Ziskie trying to control the position from guard on top but Herman is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ziskie won't allow Herman to get back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ziskie tries to free his leg and advance position but Herman is retaining full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Herman is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Ziskie working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

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

Ziskie gets a clinch.
Herman is trying to break free.

Herman breaks the clinch.
Herman shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Ziskie defends it nicely.

Ziskie looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Ziskie missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Ziskie scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ziskie wants to take a breather but Herman is having none of it.
Ziskie sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Herman moves into full guard.
Ziskie advances position into side control!
Ziskie lands some shots froms side control.
Herman takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Herman manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Well, if Ziskie is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Ziskie's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ziskie thows a huge punch but Herman dodges it nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Phillip Ziskie will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Herman with a poor takedown
and Ziskie counters with a stiff right hand.
Phillip Ziskie seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Herman tries to clinch up.
Ziskie closes the distance and clinches up with Herman, looking for a takedown. Ziskie pushes Herman against the cage but Herman circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Ziskie shoots in looking for a takedown. Herman tries to sprawl out of it but Ziskie keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Herman manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Herman seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

Ziskie gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Herman to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Ziskie pushes Herman off and gets back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Herman closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Ziskie quickly recovers to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herman tries to pass to full mount but Ziskie defends it.
Ziskie really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Herman. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Ziskie is staying active underneath Herman, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Ziskie trying to hold on to Herman's head to control him but Herman postures up.
Ziskie is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Herman passes to full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Herman controlling the pace for now.
Herman raining down shots from the mount!
Herman takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Herman is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Ziskie can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Herman can't control as he wanted to and Ziskie manages to get the fight back to his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ziskie wants to get back to full guard.
Herman trying to control the pace.
Ziskie keeping hold of Herman's head, controlling as best he can.
Herman content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Phillip Ziskie has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Herman throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Ziskie trying to control from the bottom.
Herman is just content to waste time from the top position. Ziskie takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Ziskie looking for a sweep. Not yet Ziskie, not yet.
Herman wants to control from the top but Ziskie keeps moving.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ziskie goes for a double leg but Herman avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Herman continues to drive forward.
Hanung Herman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Phillip Ziskie.
Ziskie tries to score a power double leg takedown but Herman sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Ziskie somewhat.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Hanung Herman dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Ziskie misses with a takedown attempt - Herman sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Herman shoots in for a double leg but Ziskie sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Ziskie closes this distance looking for a takedown but Herman circles away.
Ziskie leaves Herman with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Herman shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Ziskie's guard.
Herman missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Herman would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Herman drops back, looking for a kneebar! Ziskie looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Ziskie looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Ziskie!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ziskie landing strikes.
Herman struggling a bit here.
Ziskie wants to control but Herman is keeping him busy.
Herman is looking to regain half guard here but Ziskie keeps moving and retains side control.
Herman dodges the ground and pound from Ziskie.
Ziskie working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Ziskie scores with a couple of short elbows.
Ziskie trying to control the action but Herman is working from the bottom.
Ziskie misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Herman is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Herman is not content to let Ziskie control the position.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Ziskie working his ground and pound in the gym.
Ziskie looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Herman with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Herman is trying to maintain the position but Ziskie is very close to passing his half guard.
Ziskie prevents Herman from improving his position.
Herman has hold of Ziskie's hands but Ziskie slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ziskie is just content to waste time from the top position. Herman takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Ziskie looking to pass the guard.
Ziskie sitting in guard here, content to control.
Herman keeping moving, preventing Ziskie from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Herman is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Ziskie is looking for a sweep. Herman is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ziskie is staying active underneath Herman, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Herman is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Herman wants to stand up but Ziskie is controlling the position.
Herman not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Herman scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Herman wants to take a breather but Ziskie is having none of it.
Herman wants to stand but Ziskie has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Herman looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Ziskie is trying to get back to full guard.
Ziskie trying to hold on to Herman's head to control him but Herman postures up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Herman trying to control the action but Ziskie is working from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

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 Hanung Herman.
I think Herman has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 29:28
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge Topper Green scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hanung Herman!
A very excited looking Hanung Herman made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.