PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marcus Graves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pavle Bukilic (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.

Graves
vs
Bukilic

198 cm
25
265 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
21
221 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

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 St Petersburg, Marcus Graves!
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, Pavle Bukilic!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Aleksandr Martynov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.

It looks like Pavle Bukilic has been cut.
Bukilic displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Graves throws out the jab.
Graves throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Bukilic wants to clinch.
Bukilic is looking to clinch but Graves is avoiding it.
Graves misses with a shot to the body

and Bukilic counters by moving into the clinch.
Graves tries to break free but Bukilic pushes him back against the cage.
Bukilic is trying to pull guard but Graves turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Graves is trying to push Bukilic away but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Graves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage.
Bukilic tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Bukilic keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Graves's efforts to push away.
Bukilic prevents Graves from breaking the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves is trying to push Bukilic away but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Bukilic prevents Graves from breaking the clinch.
Bukilic jumps guard but Graves stands there with Bukilic around his waist. Bukilic gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Marcus Graves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Pavle Bukilic.
Graves has had enough of the clinch but Bukilic keeps him there for the moment.
Graves wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Graves tries to break free but Bukilic pushes him back against the cage.
Graves tries to break free but Bukilic pushes him back against the cage.
Bukilic has Graves pressed against the cage, preventing Graves from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A frustrated look appears on Graves's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Graves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage.
Bukilic keeps control of Graves as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage.
Bukilic misses with a short punch on the inside.
Graves blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Graves letting Bukilic take a breather here.
Graves tries to circle away but Bukilic has him pinned against the cage.
Graves working hard to break the clinch.
Graves wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Graves looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Bukilic jumps guard.

Graves gets to his feet. Bukilic looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Bukilic tries to clinch up.
Graves connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bukilic is looking to clinch.
Bukilic wants to clinch up but Graves keeps it at a distance.
Bukilic avoids a punch combination nicely.
Graves misses with a combination

and Bukilic moves into the clinch.
Bukilic throws a punch but it's blocked by Graves.
Graves has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Bukilic keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Graves's efforts to push away.
Bukilic cracks Graves with a nice body shot.
Graves tries to break free but Bukilic pushes him back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Bukilic tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Graves just stands there and leans against the cage.
Graves has had enough of the clinch but Bukilic keeps him there for the moment.

Bukilic jumps guard and drags Graves to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Graves gets to his feet - Bukilic follows without any prompting.
Graves misses with the combination.
Bukilic fails with an attempt to clinch.
Graves misses the shot to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Graves misses with a double jab.
Graves throws a right and a left that Bukilic avoids nicely.
Bukilic tries to clinch up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Graves dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Pavle Bukilic's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Bukilic moves into the clinch successfully.
Bukilic is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Graves to keep the fight standing.
Bukilic has Graves pressed against the cage, preventing Graves from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Graves can't break the clinch.
Bukilic has Graves pressed against the cage, preventing Graves from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Graves looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Graves is trying to break free.

Bukilic pulls guard successfully.
Graves prevents Bukilic from getting back to his feet.

Graves gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Bukilic jumps guard but Graves stands there with Bukilic around his waist. Bukilic gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bukilic is leaning against Graves and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Bukilic keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Graves's efforts to push away.
Graves looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Graves wants to break free but Bukilic has control.
Bukilic lands an uppercut.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Graves is trying to force a seperation but Bukilic has the dominant position.
Marcus Graves has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Graves wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Graves is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Graves is trying to break the clinch but Bukilic has him pressed against the cage.
Graves tries to circle away but Bukilic has him pinned against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic tries to pull guard but Graves won't allow it.
Marcus Graves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Pavle Bukilic.
Bukilic tries to pull guard but Graves holds him up against the cage and eventually Bukilic drops back down to his feet.
Bukilic pushes Graves back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Graves wants to break free but Bukilic has control.

Graves manages to break the clinch.
Graves throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Bukilic on the side of the head.
Bukilic tries to clinch but Graves is having none of it.

Graves drops Bukilic with a beautiful combination! Bukilic stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Graves is looking for the KO!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bukilic tries to clinch there but Graves circles away.
Bukilic is looking to clinch but Graves is avoiding it.
Bukilic tries to close the distance and clinch but Graves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic staying out of range there.
Graves misses with a double jab.
Graves scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

That has opened up Pavle Bukilic's cut even more.
A big right from Graves misses.
Graves misses with a jab, cross combination.
Graves avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Graves pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Marcus Graves is winning the standup battle so far.
Graves just misses with a punch to the body.
Bukilic bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Graves.
Graves digs a good body shot into Bukilic's ribs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Bukilic is breathing heavily.
Bukilic tries to clinch up but Graves circles away and keeps his distance.
Graves thows a left - swing and a miss!
Graves misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Bukilic counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Graves can't break the clinch.
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!
Bukilic misses with a body punch.
Bukilic keeps control of Graves as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Bukilic tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Bukilic tries to pull guard but Graves forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Bukilic prevents Graves from breaking the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Graves dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Pavle Bukilic's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Bukilic tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Bukilic tries to close the distance and clinch but Graves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Graves lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Graves.
Graves thows a body shot but no joy.
A jab from Graves misses.
Marcus Graves is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bukilic tries to clinch
enabling Graves to counter with a crisp jab.
A nice combination there by Graves.
Bukilic wants to clinch up but Graves keeps it at a distance.
Graves connects with a looping right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Graves fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Graves avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bukilic doesn't manage to clinch there - Graves circles away.
Bukilic shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves throws a nice looking combination but Bukilic bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Bukilic takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bukilic looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Bukilic doesn't manage to clinch there - Graves circles away.
Bukilic wants to clinch.
Graves misses with a double jab.
Graves ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Bukilic moves away.
Bukilic closes the distance but Graves moves to the side
and Graves counters with a lovely straight right hand!

The cut above Pavle Bukilic's eye is starting to cause him problems now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bukilic closes the distance and pushes Graves back into the cage.
Graves wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Graves working hard to break the clinch.
Graves is looking to break free of the clinch but Bukilic has double underhooks.
Graves is trying to break free.
Graves wants to break free but Bukilic has control.
Bukilic prevents Graves from breaking the clinch.
Bukilic keeps control of Graves as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Graves tries to circle away but Bukilic has him pinned against the cage.
Bukilic throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic keeps control of Graves as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Graves is trying to break free.
Bukilic lands with a light punch inside.
Graves wants to break free but Bukilic has control.
Graves is trying to break free.

Graves breaks the clinch.
Bukilic wants to clinch.
Bukilic avoids the body shot from Graves.
Bukilic is looking to clinch.
Bukilic tries to clinch up but Graves circles away and keeps his distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bukilic darts in trying to clinch
and Graves counters with a one-two to the body.
Bukilic tries to clinch there but Graves circles away.
Marcus Graves seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bukilic is looking to clinch but Graves is avoiding it.
Graves swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Bukilic counters by moving into the clinch.
Graves is trying to break the clinch but Bukilic is controlling him.
Bukilic misses with a short punch on the inside.
Graves wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bukilic prevents Graves from breaking the clinch.
Pavle Bukilic has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Marcus Graves is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Bukilic digs a right hand underneath Graves's ribcage. Graves let out a lung full of air as it connected.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcus Graves showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Graves 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcus Graves!