PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zhang Bei Liu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Victor Karmin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Karmin has chosen Eyes of the World as his entrance music. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Bei Liu
vs
Karmin

180 cm
20
235 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
22
225 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite 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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Zhang Bei Liu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Victor Karmin!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Sosuke Kotani and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Liu tries for a takedown but Karmin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Liu scores with a takedown into Karmin's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Liu wants to stand but Karmin has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Karmin controls Liu momentarily but Liu frees himself.
Liu content to stall in guard here.
Karmin working a defensive guard here.
Liu sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Karmin's guard.

Karmin is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Liu pulls his head out easily.
Karmin is refusing to be controlled, as Liu sits in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Liu decides to stand up.
Liu doesn't manage to clinch there - Karmin circles away.
Liu fails with the takedown.
Liu tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Karmin paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Karmin tries to close the distance and clinch but Liu swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Liu tries to clinch but Karmin moves away

and Karmin counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Karmin works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Liu is on top in guard.
Liu wants to pass the guard but Karmin is keeping the position.
Liu trying to control but Karmin is working from the bottom.
Liu postures up.
Liu could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Liu controlling from the top position.
Liu working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Karmin wants to stand up but Liu is controlling him.
Liu wants to pass the guard but Karmin is keeping the position.
Liu is breathing heavily.

Liu decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Liu fails with the takedown

and Karmin holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zhang Bei Liu. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Liu tries to pull guard but Karmin won't allow it.
Liu wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Karmin breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Liu throws a right hand that misses

and Karmin moves into the clinch.

Karmin pulls Liu into guard.
Liu stopping the sweep attempt from Karmin.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Karmin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Liu can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Liu tries to free his leg and advance position but Karmin is retaining full guard.
Karmin not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Karmin looking for a guillotine here but Liu defends easily.
Liu content to stall in guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Karmin tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Liu decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Karmin's guard.
Liu won't allow Karmin to sweep him here.
Karmin will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

Karmin is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

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

Karmin is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Liu wants to control from the top but Karmin keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zhang Bei Liu dominated that 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.

Karmin closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Karmin moves nicely into side control.
Karmin tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Liu is trying to get back to half guard.
Liu is trying to buck Karmin off.
Liu sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Karmin is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Liu is just riding it out for now. Karmin eventually gives up the hold.
Liu trying to control from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Karmin decides to stand up.
Liu misses with a kick to the body

and Karmin holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Liu tightens his grip and picks Karmin up, before dumping him to the ground. Karmin manages to land in guard.
Liu scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Liu passes into half guard.
Liu is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Karmin taking some punishment here, with Liu in his half guard.
Liu works his way into full mount!
Karmin tries to improve his position but instead Liu has taken his back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Liu controls the action.
Zhang Bei Liu overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Liu punches the canvas rather than the man.

Liu has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.
Karmin tries to break free.
Karmin manages to reverse the position and now he's in Liu's guard. Nice work there by Karmin.
Liu not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Liu keeping moving, preventing Karmin from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Karmin gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Liu with a poor takedown

and Karmin holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Liu stalling in the clinch but Karmin improves position.
Liu fails to pull guard.

Karmin breaks the clinch.
Karmin wants to clinch.
Liu throws a head kick that misses

and Karmin counters by moving into the clinch.
Liu tries for a takedown but Karmin manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zhang Bei Liu. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Karmin lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Liu or not.

Karmin manages to break the clinch.

Liu looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Karmin!
Karmin is in all sorts of trouble here.
Liu in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

Liu stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
Liu fails with the takedown

and Karmin counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Liu working a defensive guard here.
Liu looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Karmin must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Liu throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

Liu looking for a guillotine here but Karmin defends easily.
Karmin stopping the sweep attempt from Liu.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Liu working a defensive guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Zhang Bei Liu will probably get the nod.
That's time! Liu's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Karmin drives through and clinches with Liu against the cage.
Karmin lands a body punch.
Karmin lands with a short head shot on the inside.
A left hand lands to the body for Karmin.
Karmin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Liu lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Liu is fighting off a takedown attempt but Karmin is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Liu to the mat. Liu regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Karmin throwing strikes but missing.

Karmin drops back looking for a leg! Liu is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Liu manages to kick Karmin off! Karmin jumps back into Liu's guard.
Liu is pulling down on Karmin's head. It's preventing any offense from Karmin, at least for the moment.
Liu working a defensive guard here.
Karmin takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Liu bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Karmin's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Liu forces his way into half guard.
Nice strikes from Liu there.
Liu throwing shots but Karmin is blocking nicely.
Karmin is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Liu is taking a breather. Karmin says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Liu is keen to just control but Karmin is a slippery customer.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Liu in particular looking to stall.
Karmin is looking to improve his position.

Karmin looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Liu throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Karmin counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Liu dodges the punch combination from Karmin.
Liu misses with a takedown attempt

and Karmin counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Liu wants to get back to striking at distance but Karmin won't allow it.
Liu tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Karmin just stands there and leans against the cage.

Karmin jumps guard.
Liu sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Karmin's guard.
Liu trying to control from Karmin's half guard. Karmin has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Karmin working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Liu.
Liu looking to pass the guard.
Karmin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Liu is one step ahead there.

Karmin is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Liu is looking to work some ground and pound but Karmin has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karmin is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Liu is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Karmin working a defensive guard here.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Karmin tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Liu counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Liu.
Karmin doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Liu pushes down on Karmin's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Liu passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Karmin!
Liu controlling his opponent.
Liu lands a heavy elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Liu controlling from the full mount.
Karmin taking shots to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Liu lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Karmin hang on?
Karmin working to try and regain half guard.
Liu lands a big shot there that rocks Karmin but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Liu trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Karmin tries to get back to half guard but can't.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Liu tries to control but Karmin wriggling away.
Liu lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Karmin hang on?

And that's the end of the fight!
Zhang Bei Liu showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Liu, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zhang Bei Liu!