PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gary Jones (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Savchuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Savchuk's choice of entrance music: This is Not the END. Ivan Savchuk told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Jones
vs
Savchuk

188 cm
18
192 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

179 cm
20
184 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Powerful

Popeye’s Spinach - 159 + 158 Proof Supps

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gary Jones!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ivan Savchuk!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Thiago Cunha and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Savchuk shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Jones's guard.
Savchuk's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Jones looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Savchuk pushing down on Jones's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Jones is trying to maintain the position but Savchuk is very close to passing his half guard.
Savchuk tries to pass to full mount but Jones defends it.
Savchuk throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Savchuk is looking for a kimura but Jones is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Savchuk to get the leverage.
Savchuk wants to pass the guard but Jones is defending well.
Jones gets full guard.
Savchuk looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Savchuk wants to control from the top but Jones keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Savchuk content to stall in guard here.
Jones wants to stand up but Savchuk is controlling him.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Ivan Savchuk.
Jones gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Savchuk counters with a shoot takedown. Jones fights it but they end up in guard.
Savchuk stays in close to Jones's body and controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jones keeping moving, preventing Savchuk from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Savchuk stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Jones swivels though and keeps the full guard.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ivan Savchuk hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Savchuk drives through with a takedown into Jones's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Savchuk slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Savchuk trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Savchuk stopping the sweep attempt from Jones.
Savchuk showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Jones preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Jones looking for a sweep. Not yet Jones, not yet.
Savchuk trying to control the position from guard on top but Jones is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ivan Savchuk hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Savchuk is defended easily by Jones.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Savchuk shoots in looking for a takedown. Jones tries to sprawl out of it but Savchuk keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Jones manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Jones has his takedown stuffed

and Savchuk counters with a takedown into side control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Savchuk wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jones keeps working.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Savchuk dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Jones gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Savchuk counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Savchuk slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Savchuk wants to pass the guard but Jones is keeping the position.
Savchuk slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Jones manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Savchuk squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Jones cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Savchuk can do anything to dispel that myth.
Savchuk trying desperately to get to his feet.
Savchuk blocking the ground and pound.
Jones looking to control but Savchuk is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Jones sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jones trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Savchuk's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Savchuk is squirming around, avoiding Jones's attempts to control the action.
Poor strikes thrown by Jones there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Savchuk is trying to stand up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jones throws some wild stikes that Savchuk manages to avoid easily.
Jones wants to control the pace but Savchuk is squirming around nicely.
Savchuk blocking the ground and pound.
Jones with good strikes from the mount here!
Savchuk really wants to buck Jones off and get back to his feet.
Jones unloads with some shots from mount but Savchuk bucks and avoids them well.
Jones dominating with strikes here.
Jones dominating with strikes here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jones trying to control but Savchuk is having none of it.
Savchuk is trying to stand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Jones raining down hammerfists from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gary Jones dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Jones fails with the takedown

and Savchuk counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Savchuk.
Savchuk looking to pass the guard.
Savchuk is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Jones keeping moving, preventing Savchuk from controlling successfully.
Savchuk slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ivan Savchuk hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Jones gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Savchuk counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Jones!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Savchuk looking to control but Jones is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Savchuk controlling the pace for now.
Savchuk tries to control but Jones wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Savchuk is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Ivan Savchuk hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Savchuk scores a takedown into full mount!
Savchuk can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Jones is looking to escape.
Savchuk controlling from the full mount.
Jones tries to buck Savchuk off but he can't manage it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Savchuk looking to control and managing it successfully.
Savchuk trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Savchuk controlling his opponent.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Ivan Savchuk wasn't active enough on the ground.
Jones tries for a takedown but Savchuk sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gary Jones. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Savchuk shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Jones is not content to let Savchuk control the position.

Savchuk decides to stand and escape the position.
Nice takedown defense from Savchuk. No joy for Jones on that attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Savchuk comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Savchuk 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ivan Savchuk!
During a confident post fight interview, Ivan Savchuk thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.