PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Drago (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Da Costa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Drago comes to the cage accompanied by Antonin Dvorak- Symphony 9. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Drago
vs
Da Costa

195 cm
25
215 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ivan Drago!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Michael Da Costa!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Aleksandr Martynov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drago lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Da Costa at a distance.

Drago tries to keep at a distance but Da Costa has taken the fight into the clinch.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Drago holds him up against the cage and eventually Da Costa drops back down to his feet.
Drago misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Da Costa.
Da Costa blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Drago has a couple of punches blocked by Da Costa.
Drago misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Da Costa.
Da Costa is trying to break free.
Da Costa has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Da Costa.
Da Costa tries for a takedown. No joy.
A head punch on the inside from Drago fails to land.

Da Costa successfully pulls guard.
Drago wants to get up but he can't break Da Costa's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Drago is fighting to break Da Costa's control of his arms but Da Costa is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Da Costa working for a triangle but Drago defends it easily.

Drago avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Drago has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Da Costa is proving hard to escape from.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Da Costa pushes Drago off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Da Costa slips under a jab.
Da Costa tries for a takedown but Drago sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ivan Drago has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Michael Da Costa.
Da Costa dives in and grabs Drago's left leg, looking for a takedown. Drago pushes down on Da Costa's head and hops out.
Da Costa on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Da Costa slips a jab and a cross from Drago.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago throws a chopping leg kick but Da Costa manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Michael Da Costa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Da Costa fails in his attempt to clinch.
Drago fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
No luck for Da Costa with that takedown attempt.
Da Costa is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Drago avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Da Costa moves out of range of the body kick from Drago.
Da Costa takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
A combination from Da Costa does no damage.
Drago misses with a hook

and Da Costa counters by moving into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Da Costa takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

Drago breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Drago misses with a two punch combination.
Drago avoids the head kick by Da Costa.

Da Costa moves into the clinch successfully.
Drago has Da Costa pressed against the cage, preventing Da Costa from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Drago tries to throw a body punch but Da Costa avoids it by throwing Drago back against the cage.
Drago tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Da Costa's elbow.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Drago misses with the head strike.
Da Costa leaning against his opponent.
Drago tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Costa avoids the damage to the body.
Drago struggles to land a body shot inside as Da Costa controls his hands.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Ivan Drago will probably get the nod.
That's time! Drago's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Da Costa keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nice sprawl there from Drago as Da Costa shoots in.
Drago ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Da Costa moves away.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Da Costa.
Da Costa shoots in but Drago avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Ivan Drago has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Michael Da Costa.
Da Costa tries to clinch up but Drago circles away and keeps his distance.
Da Costa tries to clinch up but Drago circles away and keeps his distance.
Drago connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Drago throws a front kick aimed at Da Costa's knee but Da Costa avoids it well.
A head kick by Da Costa misses
and Drago counters with a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Da Costa tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Drago manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Da Costa throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Drago's waist but Drago gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Da Costa off to one side.
Da Costa is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Da Costa on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Drago is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Drago digs a good body shot into Da Costa's ribs.
Ivan Drago is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Da Costa is breathing heavily.
Drago throws a leg kick but Da Costa sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Da Costa shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Drago sprawls well. Drago wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet.
Da Costa takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nice sprawl there from Drago as Da Costa shoots in.
Drago throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Da Costa.
Drago slips a jab and a cross from Da Costa.
Drago tries to work over Da Costa's front leg with a kick but Da Costa checks it.
Da Costa pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Da Costa is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Drago uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Da Costa has time to react.
Da Costa shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Drago defends it nicely.
Da Costa misses with a wild combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Drago lands a leg kick that knocks Da Costa off balance momentarily.
A left lands for Drago.
Drago looks to throw the jab but Da Costa is out of range.
Drago misses with a hook. Da Costa ducked under it nicely.
Drago lands with a good body shot.
Da Costa changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Drago tries to avoid it but Da Costa manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Drago to the ground. Drago escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Drago works the jab nicely.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Drago feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Da Costa's calf.
Drago misses with a low kick as Da Costa jumps back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Da Costa fails to land the takedown.
A combination from Drago does no damage.
Drago connects with a combination that backs up Da Costa into the cage. Drago lands a flurry of punches that gets past Da Costa's guard. Da Costa is down and the referee has seen enough. It is all over! Drago bursts into tears - this win obviously means a huge amount to him.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ivan Drago!
Ivan Drago bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.