PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Julhabel Bairulla (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hamid Karzai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Bairulla
vs
Karzai

200 cm
25
230 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good in bed

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Julhabel Bairulla!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Hamid Karzai!
The judges for this bout are Summer Carpenter, Eliza Hachem and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karzai misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Bairulla defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Karzai.
Karzai misses with a wild combination.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Karzai.
Karzai tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bairulla swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Karzai fails with a takedown attempt.
Julhabel Bairulla has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hamid Karzai.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Bairulla.
Karzai circles away from the clinch attempt

and Karzai counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Bairulla is breathing heavily.
Bairulla lands a nice knee to the body.
Karzai tries to land knees in the clinch but Bairulla avoids the damage to the body.
Bairulla tries a knee to the head but Karzai blocks it.
Bairulla is trying to maintain a safe position but Karzai gets an underhook and turns Bairulla into the cage.

Bairulla breaks the clinch.
Karzai looks for a takedown but Bairulla sprawls well.

Karzai drives through and clinches with Bairulla against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karzai throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Bairulla is pressed up against the cage. Karzai has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Bairulla down to the mat. Bairulla avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Bairulla circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bairulla fails in his attempt to clinch.
Karzai is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Karzai tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Bairulla decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Karzai's guard.
Bairulla preventing the sweep.
Karzai has Bairulla pulled in close to control his posture.
Karzai manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Karzai with shots to the head and body - Bairulla looks very uncomfortable down there.
Karzai can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Bairulla is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karzai lands with some strikes.

Karzai looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Karzai has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Karzai wants to control the pace but Bairulla is squirming around nicely.
Karzai landing punches.

Karzai looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Karzai avoids the attempt from Bairulla to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karzai raining down shots from the mount!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Karzai landing punches.
Bairulla is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

Karzai working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Bairulla is trying to escape the mount.
Karzai with shots to the head and body - Bairulla looks very uncomfortable down there.
Karzai connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

Bairulla defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Karzai.
Karzai lands a heavy elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hamid Karzai will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Bairulla leaves Karzai with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Karzai moves into the clinch.
Bairulla is pressed up against the cage. Karzai has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Bairulla down to the mat. Bairulla avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Bairulla circles away from the clinch attempt.
Karzai has his takedown stuffed

and Bairulla decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Karzai's guard.
Julhabel Bairulla has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hamid Karzai.
Karzai wants to sweep here but Bairulla controlling him for the moment.
Karzai manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Bairulla manages to get himself to full guard.

Bairulla had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Karzai defends it easily.
Karzai trying to control the position from guard on top but Bairulla is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karzai tries to stand but Bairulla is controlling from the bottom.

Karzai decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Karzai scores a takedown into full mount!
Karzai with good strikes from the mount here!
Karzai with a couple of short strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karzai is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Bairulla knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Karzai on the ground.
Karzai postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Bairulla looks a forlorn figure.
Karzai controlling his opponent.
Karzai with good strikes from the mount here!
Karzai dominating with strikes here.
Bairulla tries to lock up and control but Karzai gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Bairulla taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karzai has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Bairulla's face.
Karzai unloading with bombs!
Karzai tries to control but Bairulla wriggling away.

Karzai working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Karzai landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karzai trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Karzai dominating with strikes here.
Karzai looking to control but Bairulla is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Karzai is landing with some decent strikes but Bairulla is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Hamid Karzai has got the better of the ground game so far.
Karzai with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Karzai pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Karzai controlling from the full mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Karzai cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hamid Karzai showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Karzai is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Karzai tries to clinch but Bairulla moves out of range.
Karzai shoots in and drives through. Bairulla sprawls well.
Karzai misses with a head kick.

Karzai moves into the clinch.

Bairulla pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Karzai looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Karzai has Bairulla up against the cage in a clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Karzai is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Bairulla is keeping busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bairulla misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Karzai.
Karzai wants to get back to striking at distance but Bairulla won't allow it.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Karzai tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Bairulla just stands there and leans against the cage.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Karzai tries to score a body lock takedown but Bairulla shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Julhabel Bairulla has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hamid Karzai.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karzai has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Bairulla avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Bairulla lands a knee to the head.
Karzai tries to land a knee to the head but Bairulla blocks with his arms.
Karzai fails to pull guard.
Bairulla tries to pull guard but Karzai holds him up against the cage and eventually Bairulla drops back down to his feet.
Bairulla lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Karzai is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Karzai tries a knee to the head but Bairulla blocks it.

Bairulla gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Karzai regains guard.
Karzai trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Bairulla wants to stand but Karzai has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Bairulla won't allow Karzai to sweep him here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karzai avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Bairulla avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Karzai blocks a low kick nicely.
Karzai misses with a head kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bairulla looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Karzai.
Karzai closes the distance looking to clinch

and Bairulla counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Bairulla.
Bairulla gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Karzai tries a knee to the head but Bairulla blocks it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Bairulla as Karzai tries to tie him up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Bairulla breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Karzai wants to clinch

and Bairulla counters with a single leg into guard. Karzai didn't expect that.
Karzai utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Karzai is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Karzai pushes Bairulla off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Bairulla rushes Karzai and presses him up against the cage.
Karzai tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Karzai can't get the takedown.

Bairulla breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Bairulla tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Karzai counters by clinching up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bairulla wants to stall.
Karzai wants to stall.

Karzai jumps into guard, dragging Bairulla to the mat.
Karzai is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Bairulla won't allow Karzai to get back to his feet.
Karzai is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Karzai not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Karzai trying to control the pace.
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!
Karzai is trying to control. Bairulla wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Julhabel Bairulla showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Karzai 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 Summer Carpenter scores the fight 28:29
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 29:29
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Hamid Karzai!