PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between MJ Ardah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fabio Chielanno (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Ardah
vs
Chielanno

177 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, MJ Ardah!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Fabio Chielanno!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Ivan Kurochkin and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Chielanno stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Chielanno wants it to stay on the feet.
Chielanno lands with a cross.
Chielanno leaves Ardah with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Ardah chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Chielanno can pounce on him.
No joy there for Chielanno, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Chielanno lands with a good body shot.
Ardah tries to bum rush Chielanno with a series of wild strikes but Chielanno uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Ardah fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for MJ Ardah. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Chielanno scores a takedown into full mount!
Chielanno is landing with some decent strikes but Ardah is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Ardah working to try and regain half guard.
Ardah tries to hold on but Chielanno pushes him away.
A nice elbow there by Chielanno.
Chielanno tries to control but Ardah wriggling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chielanno lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Ardah is breathing heavily.
Ardah holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Chielanno tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
You get the feeling that Ardah really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Chielanno has hold of Ardah's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Ardah manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Chielanno fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Chielanno is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Ardah to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Ardah shrugs it off.
Chielanno cracks Ardah with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Ardah might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Chielanno jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Ardah manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Chielanno fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Chielanno cracks Ardah with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Chielanno is putting a hurting on Ardah here, landing some big shots from side control.
Chielanno slows the pace down.
Chielanno wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ardah keeps working.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ardah takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Check out the look on Chielanno's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Chielanno throws a strike aimed at the side of Ardah's head but Ardah avoids it well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ardah tries to buck Chielanno off but Chielanno is having none of it.
Chielanno in side control, throwing shots but Ardah defends.
Chielanno landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Chielanno taking a breather here.
Chielanno trying to control the action but Ardah is working from the bottom.

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.

Chielanno decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Chielanno slaps away a takedown attempt from Ardah, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Chielanno changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Ardah looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Chielanno scores with punches from side control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Chielanno in side control lands a decent elbow.
Chielanno in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fabio Chielanno dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Chielanno pivots, looking for a leg kick but Ardah is out of range and Chielanno settles back down.

Chielanno looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Ardah!
Ardah wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Chielanno has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Ardah's face.
Ardah is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Chielanno scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Ardah is in a horrible position here. Chielanno smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Chielanno scoring with strikes but Ardah is staying in there.
Chielanno lands a nice shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chielanno with the ground and pound from mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Chielanno punishing his opponent with strikes.
Chielanno fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Chielanno controlling from mount.
Chielanno looking to control but Ardah is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Chielanno lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Ardah hang on?
Chielanno unloading with bombs!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Chielanno controlling the pace for now.
Chielanno working Ardah over with strikes here.
Chielanno tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Chielanno can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Ardah is looking to escape.
Ardah is in a horrible position here. Chielanno smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chielanno takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Chielanno landing shots from mount.

Chielanno jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Ardah manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Chielanno tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Chielanno has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Chielanno creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Ardah sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chielanno misses with the ground and pound.
Ardah avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Chielanno.
Chielanno misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Ardah takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Chielanno fails to land a wild elbow strike.

Chielanno decides to stand up, so the ref orders Ardah to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fabio Chielanno showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Chielanno misses with a kick to the body.
Chielanno moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Ardah shoots and misses
and Chielanno counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Chielanno gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Ardah counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Chielanno!
Ardah wants to take his opponent's back but Chielanno doesn't allow it.
Ardah misses with a head shot.
Chielanno is looking to improve his position but Ardah isn't that keen on the idea.

Ardah is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Chielanno has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Chielanno!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Chielanno postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chielanno is in close to Ardah's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Ardah is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Chielanno is controlling him.
Chielanno is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Chielanno slips nicely into half guard.
Ardah keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Chielanno connects with a nice short shot to Ardah's temple.

That's two 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.

Chielanno wants to work for an arm triangle but Ardah is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Chielanno wants to control but Ardah is keeping him busy.
Ardah on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Chielanno is working for a kimura but Ardah is defending it quite comfortably.
Chielanno stops Ardah from getting back to his feet.
Fabio Chielanno has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Chielanno stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Ardah to get to his feet.
MJ Ardah is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Chielanno fails to land the takedown.

Chielanno looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Ardah is trying to stand back up but Chielanno is controlling him
Chielanno takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Chielanno has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Chielanno working over Ardah with some ground and pound. Ardah looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Chielanno trying to control from half guard but Ardah is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ardah manages to escape and get back to his feet!
MJ Ardah has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Chielanno looks for the body kick but Ardah saw that one coming.
Ardah tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Chielanno paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ardah shoots in for a takedown but Chielanno shows good takedown defense.
Chielanno throws the kick towards the body but Ardah avoids it.
Ardah takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Fabio Chielanno is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Chielanno shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ardah pinned against the cage. Ardah gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
MJ Ardah has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fabio Chielanno.
Ardah misses with a looping left.

And that's the end of the fight!
Fabio Chielanno comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Chielanno 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 25:30
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 25:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Fabio Chielanno!