PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kareem Said (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and First Dag (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Kareem Said has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Said
vs
Dag

189 cm
20
280 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

170 cm
19
225 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Intelligent

Good wrestler
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kareem Said!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, First Dag!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No joy there for Said, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Said lands a head shot.

It looks like First Dag has been cut.
Said throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Dag fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Dag misses with a takedown
and Said counters with a two punch combo.
Dag blocks a head kick by Said.
A punch combination from Said misses.

Dag shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Said napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Dag throws an elbow but Said slips to the side and avoids it well.
Dag tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
The strikes coming from Dag are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
The strikes coming from Dag are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Said is not content to let Dag control the position.
Dag looks up at the clock and then as Said takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Dag smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dag throws a strike aimed at the side of Said's head but Said avoids it well.
Dag working the ground and pound but Said is defending the strikes.
Dag looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Said is avoiding damage well.
Dag is trying to ground and pound but Said uses the momentary lack of control by Dag to regain half guard.
Dag throwing shots but Said is blocking nicely.
Dag scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Dag throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Said blocking the ground and pound attempt from Dag.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Said avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Dag.
Dag not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Said avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Dag.
Dag is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Said regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Dag.
Said preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Dag is looking to work some ground and pound but Said has wrist control.
Dag throwing strikes but missing.
Dag content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dag scoring with punches to the head and body.
Dag in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Dag chips away with some ground and pound.
Said will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Dag thows a big elbow that misses.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Dag throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Said works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Said is breathing heavily.
Dag throwing strikes but missing.
Said wants to stand and escape but Dag is having none of it.
Dag pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Said is keeping the position for now.
Dag slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dag throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Said works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Dag loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Said preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Said keeping moving, preventing Dag from controlling successfully.
Dag postures up in Said's guard and throws a big left but Said blocks it.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Dag has eaten all the pies!
Said avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Dag with a flurry of punches that miss.
Dag missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

First Dag dominated that round.
The cut man is working on First Dag's cut.
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.

Dag with a poor takedown
and Said counters with a stiff right hand.
Sloppy strikes from Said. Those never looked like landing.
Dag tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Said swivels and escapes.
Said throws a sloppy head kick and Dag moves out of range easily.
No joy there for Said, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Dag fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Kareem Said has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of First Dag.
Said misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Dag showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Said.
Dag has a takedown stuffed.
Said throws a nice looking combination but Dag bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Said lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Said stuffs the takedown attempt from Dag. Dag gets slowly back to his feet.
Kareem Said is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Said throws a right and a left that both miss.
Said misses with a combination

and Dag counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Dag.
Dag has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Said working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Dag.
Said keeping full guard, as Dag tries to pass.
Dag won't allow Said to get back to his feet.
Dag scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Dag prevents Said from getting back to his feet.
Dag trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Dag missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Dag throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Said works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Dag trying to control the position from guard on top but Said is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.
Said avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Dag working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Said's head.
Dag throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Dag wants to control from the top but Said keeps moving.
Dag stands up over Said, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Dag accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Dag trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Dag throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Dag throws a strike but Said rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dag doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Dag trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
First Dag has got the better of the ground game so far.
Dag throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Dag throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Dag trying to strike off his back.
Dag trying to strike off his back.
Dag scores with a nice shot.
Dag throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Dag is striking from the bottom but Said uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
Dag throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Dag punching from the bottom.
Dag is looking to improve his position.
Dag tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Dag flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Dag throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dag misses with some strikes from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

First Dag showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on First Dag's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Nice cross by Said.
Dag shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Said as he jumps to the side.
Kareem Said seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dag will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Dag drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Said will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Said throws a sloppy head kick and Dag moves out of range easily.
Said throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Dag darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Dag sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Said defending well though.
Dag takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Dag throws a strike but Said avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Dag in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Dag accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Said wants to stand and escape but Dag is having none of it.
Dag throws a strike but Said rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Dag. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Dag will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Dag doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Dag throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Dag thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Dag thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Dag trying to strike off his back.
Dag is striking off his back. Said thinks nothing of it though and passes easily into half guard.
Said blocks the strikes from Dag.
Dag throws a sloppy strike from the bottom. He's now off balance and Said manages to pass to side control.
Dag tries to strike from the bottom but misses.
Said gets to mount! Dag was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Said tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dag throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Dag tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Dag flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Dag throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Dag is working to get back to half guard.
Dag flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Said blocks Dag's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Dag is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Kareem Said has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Dag flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Dag swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Dag is trying desperately to improve position.
First Dag is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Dag swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kareem Said showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Dag 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... First Dag!