PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sasha Lebedev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Colly Fairtex (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Colly Fairtex will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Lebedev
vs
Fairtex

180 cm
22
180 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

184 cm
22
175 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Sasha Lebedev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Colly Fairtex!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Aleksandr Martynov and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fairtex tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Fairtex keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Lebedev drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Fairtex keeping moving, preventing Lebedev from controlling successfully.
Fairtex wants to stand up but Lebedev is controlling him.
Lebedev wants to control from the top but Fairtex keeps moving.
Lebedev looking to sit in guard and control but Fairtex gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Fairtex wants to stand but Lebedev is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fairtex gets to his feet - Lebedev follows without any prompting.
Lebedev shoots for a double leg takedown but Fairtex sprawls well. He's pushed Lebedev's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Fairtex fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Fairtex throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Lebedev shoots in looking for a takedown. Fairtex tries to sprawl out of it but Lebedev keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Fairtex manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sasha Lebedev. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Fairtex lands with a kick to the temple. Lebedev shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
No joy there for Fairtex, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Fairtex misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Fairtex connects with a high kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Fairtex.
Lebedev shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Fairtex pinned against the cage. Fairtex gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
A head kick misses from Fairtex.
Fairtex looks gassed!
Lebedev wants to slow Fairtex down by chopping away at his legs.
Horrible takedown by Lebedev or perhaps it was just good defense by Fairtex which made him look bad.

Fairtex gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Lebedev drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Fairtex manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Lebedev has Fairtex in his guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lebedev has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Fairtex has passed into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lebedev sneaks back into half guard.
Lebedev regains full guard. Nicely done.

Lebedev throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Lebedev trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Fairtex accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Fairtex stands up from Lebedev's guard - Fairtex perhaps looking for a knockout.
Colly Fairtex seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Fairtex throws a head kick that misses.
Fairtex lands with a slapping head kick.
Fairtex throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Fairtex throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Lebedev.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
An inside leg kick from Lebedev misses.
Fairtex lands with a nice body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Colly Fairtex dominated that 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.

Fairtex misses with a head kick.
Sasha Lebedev is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Fairtex misses with a body kick.
Lebedev keeps the fight on the outside.
Fairtex tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Fairtex takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Fairtex throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Fairtex looks to land a left hand but Lebedev moved out of range nicely.
A head kick misses from Fairtex.
Lebedev fails with a takedown attempt.
Fairtex is breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fairtex stuffs the takedown attempt from Lebedev. Lebedev gets slowly back to his feet.

Lebedev shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lebedev is looking to pass Fairtex's guard but actually Fairtex recovers to full guard.
Lebedev throws a strike but Fairtex rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Fairtex stopping the sweep attempt from Lebedev.

That's two 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.
Lebedev looking to control but Fairtex passes into half guard.
Lebedev is trying to get back to full guard.
Lebedev trying to hold on to Fairtex's head to control him but Fairtex postures up.
It looks like Fairtex is going to stand back up.

Lebedev looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fairtex gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Fairtex throws a leg kick that misses.
Fairtex misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Lebedev avoids the head kick by Fairtex.
Fairtex misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Fairtex pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Fairtex throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Lebedev.
Lebedev looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sasha Lebedev. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lebedev looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lebedev has a takedown stuffed.
Fairtex scores with a head kick.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Lebedev.
Lebedev working the ground and pound from side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Fairtex prevents Lebedev from moving into mount.
The ground and pound from Lebedev seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Fairtex is not content to let Lebedev control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Lebedev tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Lebedev shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Fairtex but Fairtex pushes him off and we're back to square one.
A leg kick checked by Lebedev.
Fairtex throws a head kick that misses

so Lebedev counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Lebedev trying to control the position from guard on top but Fairtex is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Fairtex controls Lebedev momentarily but Lebedev frees himself.
Lebedev passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lebedev tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Fairtex defending against the ground and pound.
Lebedev creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Fairtex sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fairtex is pushing Lebedev's head away, looking to escape. Lebedev manages to hold on to the position though.

Lebedev is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Fairtex is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Lebedev tries to move to mount but Fairtex blocks the move with his legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Lebedev looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Fairtex tries to escape but Lebedev is in control.
Lebedev is looking to take a break and control but Fairtex is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.

Fairtex clinches up with Lebedev and pushes him back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fairtex breaks the clinch.
Fairtex throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Fairtex misses with a hook.
Fairtex stuffs the takedown.
Lebedev blocks a head kick by Fairtex.
Lebedev blocks a head kick by Fairtex.
Lebedev lets loose with a powerful body kick. Fairtex will feel that in the morning.
Fairtex takes a swing at Lebedev's ribcage but misses.
Lebedev looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sasha Lebedev. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Fairtex throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

That's four 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.

Lebedev shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Lebedev sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Fairtex's guard.

Lebedev is looking for a kimura but Fairtex is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Lebedev to get the leverage.

Lebedev is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Fairtex doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Lebedev.
Lebedev is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Fairtex reverses the position - he's now on top in Lebedev's guard.
Lebedev tries to land a sweep but no joy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sasha Lebedev showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Lebedev has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!