PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Andy Graham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Zygor Bane (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Graham
vs
Bane

195 cm
21
215 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

185 cm
21
213 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Andy Graham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Zygor Bane!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Paul Tew and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Bane scores with a takedown into Graham's guard.

Graham is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Bane postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Graham can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Bane controls the pace.

Graham had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Bane defends it easily.
Bane is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Graham throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Graham has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Bane can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Bane sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Graham has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Bane can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bane thows a big elbow that misses.
Bane content to stall in guard here.
Graham keeping full guard, as Bane tries to pass.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Bane controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Graham keeping moving, preventing Bane from controlling successfully.

Despite being in the dominant position, Zygor Bane just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Graham misses with a takedown

and Bane counters with a single leg into guard. Graham didn't expect that.

Graham escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Bane gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Graham is breathing heavily.
Bane looking to pass the guard.
Graham keeping moving, preventing Bane from controlling successfully.

Graham working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Bane has passed into half guard!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bane content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Bane's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

Graham actively working from the bottom here.
Well, if Bane 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.
Bane lands with a punch from half guard.
Bane lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Graham looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Bane with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Ground and pound from Bane.
Still in half guard, Bane seems content to control.
Bane drops an elbow to the side of Graham's head.
Bane is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Bane controlling the pace for now.
Bane has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Despite being in the dominant position, Zygor Bane just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Bane shoots and misses

and Graham counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Bane's guard now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zygor Bane 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.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Bane.
Bane is looking to take a break and control but Graham is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Bane scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Graham to see if he's OK.
Graham tries to bench press Bane off him but Bane keeps the position.
Graham is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Bane off and has taken his back!
Bane trying to control the hands but Graham won't let him.

Bane is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Graham gets his way!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graham is not going to allow Bane to sit and survive in this position.

Bane is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.

Bane is trying to get back to his feet. He's worked up on to his knees and now he's on his feet with his head on the canvas, trying to shake Graham off. It looks like it's working - Graham slides off, much to his dismay, and we're back to standing! Bane displaying calm under pressure there.

Bane moves into range and clinches up with Graham.
A shot in the inside from Bane.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bane lands a shot to the body.

Bane turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Bane manages to end up in side control.
Graham being controlled for a moment.
Zygor Bane has got the better of the ground game so far.
Let's hope that Bane 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bane advances to full mount.
Bane controlling the position easily from mount.

Despite being in the dominant position, Zygor Bane just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Graham shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Bane counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Bane is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Bane trying to control but Graham is working from the bottom.

Graham working for a triangle but Bane defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bane not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

Graham working for submissions but it's allowed Bane to get to half guard.
Graham has hold of Bane's hands but Bane slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bane passes to side control.
A lull in the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zygor Bane showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Graham avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bane goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Bane fails with an attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bane is looking to clinch but Graham is avoiding it.
Graham misses with a takedown

and Bane counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Bane.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bane trying to control the position from guard on top but Graham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Graham looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Graham has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Bane is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Graham.
Bane is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Graham will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Despite being in the dominant position, Zygor Bane just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Bane decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Bane working the head and body with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bane content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Graham looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Bane is looking for a kimura here.
Bane slows the pace down in half guard.

Graham has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Bane escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Bane!
Bane looks up at the clock and then as Graham takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Bane smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graham is trying to get back to half guard.
Bane advances to full mount.
Bane controlling his opponent.
Graham regains half guard.
Zygor Bane is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Graham looking for submissions off his back.

Graham actively working from the bottom here.
Bane seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham won't allow Bane to pass to mount.

Graham is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Bane pulls his head out easily.
Bane keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Andy Graham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
Zygor Bane comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Bane has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 James Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zygor Bane!