PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Maiquel Falcao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yevgeni Ratchenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Yevgeni Ratchenko has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Falcao
vs
Ratchenko

181 cm
25
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

178 cm
18
187 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Maiquel Falcao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yevgeni Ratchenko!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Viktor Lagutenko and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Falcao is trying hard to land a takedown here. Ratchenko sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Falcao clinches.
Ratchenko wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Ratchenko jumps guard and drags Falcao to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Falcao stopping the sweep attempt from Ratchenko.

Ratchenko has his foot on Falcao's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Falcao works his way back into a safe position though.
Falcao lands a couple of digs.
Falcao tries to free his leg and advance position but Ratchenko is retaining full guard.
Falcao preventing the sweep.
Falcao 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.

Falcao gets to his feet - Ratchenko follows without any prompting.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ratchenko tries to clinch up.

Falcao scores a takedown into full mount!
Falcao tries to control but Ratchenko wriggling away.
Falcao throws a wild left hand from mount and Ratchenko manages to wriggle his way back to half guard.
Ratchenko regains full guard. Nicely done.
Falcao looking to sit in guard and control but Ratchenko gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Falcao not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Falcao is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Falcao not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Maiquel Falcao.

Falcao changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Ratchenko looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Falcao working away.
Ratchenko is working to avoid the ground and pound but Falcao connects with a decent elbow.
Falcao working away.
Ratchenko seems a little lost for a moment, as Falcao dominates the positioning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Falcao has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Ratchenko looks gassed!
Ratchenko takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Ratchenko stuffs the takedown.
Falcao shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Ratchenko as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Maiquel Falcao. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Falcao shoots in and drives through. Ratchenko sprawls well.
Falcao throws a leg kick that misses.
Ratchenko has a takedown stuffed.
Falcao tries to clinch there but Ratchenko circles away.

Falcao shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Falcao is keen to just control but Ratchenko is a slippery customer.

Falcao stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Ratchenko wants to clinch but Falcao slips to the side

and Falcao counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Falcao.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Falcao looking to pass the guard.
Falcao trying to control the position from guard on top but Ratchenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Ratchenko scrambles and gets back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maiquel Falcao 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.

Ratchenko dodges the punch combination from Falcao.

Falcao scores with a takedown into Ratchenko's guard.
Falcao stops Ratchenko from standing up.
Falcao trying to control but Ratchenko is working from the bottom.
Ratchenko being controlled here, momentarily.
Falcao tries to stand but Ratchenko is controlling from the bottom.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Falcao wants to control from the top but Ratchenko keeps moving.
Ratchenko looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Ratchenko doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Ratchenko is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Falcao scores with a takedown into Ratchenko's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ratchenko lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Falcao!
Falcao is in all sorts of trouble here.
Falcao regains half guard.
Falcao is looking to control Ratchenko's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Falcao avoid being mounted?
Falcao blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ratchenko.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Falcao has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Ratchenko is working away from the top position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ratchenko wants to take a breather but Falcao is having none of it.
Falcao wants to control but Ratchenko is keeping busy.
Falcao is looking to improve his position.
Ratchenko wants to lay and pray for a moment but Falcao keeps working.

That's four 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.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Ratchenko drives through and clinches with Falcao against the cage.
Ratchenko tries to break the clinch but Falcao is controlling the position.

Falcao's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Falcao closes the distance and clinches.
Falcao tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Ratchenko smiles and moves away.
Ratchenko blocks a head kick by Falcao.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Ratchenko shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Falcao manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Falcao is looking to stand up but Ratchenko isn't so interested in that idea.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maiquel Falcao dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Falcao moves into range and clinches up with Ratchenko.

Falcao pulls Ratchenko into guard.

Ratchenko drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Ratchenko jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ratchenko controlling from the top position.
Ratchenko looking to pass the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Falcao working a defensive guard here.
Ratchenko takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Falcao looking for a guillotine here but Ratchenko defends easily.
Ratchenko trying to control the position from guard on top but Falcao is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Falcao has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Ratchenko can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Falcao manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Ratchenko manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Falcao trying to control the position from guard on top but Ratchenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ratchenko wants to sweep but no luck.
Falcao throwing strikes from guard but Ratchenko blocks nicely.
Falcao wants to stand but Ratchenko is controlling his posture from full guard.
Ratchenko keeping moving, preventing Falcao from controlling successfully.
Maiquel Falcao overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Falcao is really struggling to control Ratchenko but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Ratchenko can't keep his opponent in guard - Falcao advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Falcao is trying to control the action in half guard but Ratchenko is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Ratchenko fails with the takedown

and Falcao counters with a nice double leg into side control. Ratchenko won't be happy with that.
Falcao is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Falcao tries to move into full mount but can't pass Ratchenko's legs.

Falcao is trying to get an arm triangle but Ratchenko is defending well.
Falcao tries to stand but Ratchenko is controlling his head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ratchenko is looking to reverse the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Maiquel Falcao showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Falcao has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Maiquel Falcao!