PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Oliver Strong (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and George Sotiropoulos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sotiropoulos has chosen Iron Man By Black Sabbath as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Strong
vs
Sotiropoulos

180 cm
23
180 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

178 cm
19
180 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

Syndicate Drugs

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Oliver Strong!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, George Sotiropoulos!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Blasius, Nard Betker and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sotiropoulos misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Strong throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Strong fails to land with a series of punches.
Strong throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sotiropoulos.
A jab from Strong misses.
Strong keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Sotiropoulos shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Strong as he jumps to the side.
Oliver Strong has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of George Sotiropoulos.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sotiropoulos shoots in for a takedown but Strong shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Sotiropoulos scores a takedown into full mount!
Sotiropoulos controlling his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Strong is desperately trying to improve his position but Sotiropoulos has a good base and remains in mount.

Sotiropoulos goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Strong turns into him and now he's in Sotiropoulos's guard.
Strong wants to stand and escape but instead Sotiropoulos has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Sotiropoulos tries to free his leg and advance position but Strong is retaining full guard.
Sotiropoulos passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sotiropoulos looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Strong is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Sotiropoulos off and has taken his back!
Will Strong go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Sotiropoulos holding both Strong 's hands and preventing any damage.
Strong wants to control but Sotiropoulos is keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sotiropoulos breaks Strong's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Sotiropoulos pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Strong is keeping the position for now.

Sotiropoulos drops back looking for a leg! Strong is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Strong manages to kick Sotiropoulos off! Sotiropoulos jumps back into Strong's guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Strong throws a right and a left that Sotiropoulos avoids nicely.

That's four 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.
Strong fails to land with a series of punches.
Sotiropoulos avoids the body shot from Strong.
Sotiropoulos displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Strong throws out the jab.
Strong throws a nice looking combination but Sotiropoulos bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sotiropoulos misses with an uppercut. Strong saw that one coming.
Sotiropoulos will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Strong fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Strong scores with a one two! Sotiropoulos had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Oliver Strong 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.

No luck with that takedown attempt from Sotiropoulos.
Sotiropoulos throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Sotiropoulos keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Strong thows a body shot but no joy.
Sotiropoulos uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Strong.
Sotiropoulos closes this distance looking for a takedown but Strong circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Strong throws a combination that misses

so Sotiropoulos counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Sotiropoulos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Sotiropoulos trying to control the position from guard on top but Strong is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Sotiropoulos thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Strong working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Sotiropoulos doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Sotiropoulos manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Strong is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Sotiropoulos is aware though and is defending well.

Strong has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sotiropoulos can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sotiropoulos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Strong swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sotiropoulos trying to control the position from guard on top but Strong is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sotiropoulos stands and throws Strong's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strong tries to improve position but can't.
Sotiropoulos in side control, just content to control the action for now.

Sotiropoulos thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Strong is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Sotiropoulos's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sotiropoulos is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Strong defends it well.
Strong wants to improve his position but Sotiropoulos is controlling well.
Strong gets full guard.

Strong is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Sotiropoulos is aware though and is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Strong looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Sotiropoulos has picked Strong up and slammed him! Strong can't keep hold of the triangle and Sotiropoulos manages to pass to side control!

Sotiropoulos thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Sotiropoulos swings around for an armbar but Strong sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Sotiropoulos's guard.
Strong wants to stand but Sotiropoulos is controlling his posture from full guard.
Strong trying to control the position from guard on top but Sotiropoulos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but George Sotiropoulos will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Strong pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Oliver Strong is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Strong connects with a body shot.
Strong just misses with a punch to the body.
Sotiropoulos shoots in but no luck this time.
Sotiropoulos fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Strong avoids it really well and circles away.
Sotiropoulos tries to score a power double leg takedown but Strong sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Sotiropoulos somewhat.
Oliver Strong has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of George Sotiropoulos.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sotiropoulos slips a jab from Strong.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Strong looking for subs off his back but Sotiropoulos has passed one foot through into half guard.
Strong is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Strong wants to sweep but Sotiropoulos has passed to side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strong is not content to let Sotiropoulos control the position.
Strong tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Sotiropoulos wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

Sotiropoulos tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Sotiropoulos has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Sotiropoulos wants to control but Strong is keeping him busy.
Strong tries to bench press Sotiropoulos off him but Sotiropoulos keeps the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strong is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Sotiropoulos off and has taken his back!
Strong controlling from the back.

Sotiropoulos is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sotiropoulos rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Strong tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Sotiropoulos.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Sotiropoulos moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Strong wants to get up but he can't break Sotiropoulos's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Strong wants to stand and escape but instead Sotiropoulos has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sotiropoulos trying to control but Strong is working from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
George Sotiropoulos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Sotiropoulos 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 Daniel Blasius scores the fight 28:29
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 28:29
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... George Sotiropoulos!