PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between John Darnielle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Vronsky (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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?

Darnielle
vs
Vronsky

197 cm
32
196 lbs
26 - 13 - 0

181 cm
31
200 lbs
23 - 15 - 2

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Diamond Nutrition 160q

Brute
Crippler's Corner

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 26 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Darnielle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 15 - 2, fighting out of Las Vegas, Michael Vronsky!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Elvis Blanc and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Darnielle tries to close the distance and clinch but Vronsky swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A jab from Darnielle misses.
Darnielle just misses with a punch to the body.
Vronsky ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Darnielle throws a solid leg kick but Vronsky takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Darnielle.
Darnielle fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Vronsky has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Vronsky gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Darnielle.
Vronsky shoots in for a takedown but Darnielle shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Vronsky bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Darnielle throws a leg kick but Vronsky sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Darnielle throws a leg kick which misses Vronsky's front leg but catches the back leg as Vronsky tries to avoid it.
Darnielle misses with a looping right.

Vronsky gets a takedown into half guard.
Vronsky is looking to pass Darnielle's guard but actually Darnielle recovers to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vronsky stopping the sweep attempt from Darnielle.
Vronsky tries to free his leg and advance position but Darnielle is retaining full guard.
Darnielle is trying to control the position but Vronsky postures up.
Vronsky wants to pass the guard but Darnielle is keeping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Darnielle keeping moving, preventing Vronsky from controlling successfully.

John Darnielle has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Darnielle misses with a kick to the body.
Vronsky takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
John Darnielle seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice defenses there by Darnielle.
Vronsky takes a swing at Darnielle's ribcage but misses.
Vronsky throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Darnielle fails with an attempt to clinch.
Vronsky keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Darnielle tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Darnielle fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Vronsky.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vronsky swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Darnielle throws a sloppy head kick and Vronsky moves out of range easily.
Darnielle wants to clinch up but Vronsky keeps it at a distance.
Darnielle tries to clinch up but Vronsky circles away and keeps his distance.

Vronsky drives through with a takedown into Darnielle's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Vronsky lands a couple of digs.
Vronsky loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Darnielle keeping full guard, as Vronsky tries to pass.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Darnielle being controlled here, momentarily.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Nice takedown defense from Vronsky. No joy for Darnielle on that attempt.
Vronsky misses the shot to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vronsky pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Darnielle scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Vronsky misses with a body shot.
Vronsky jabs Darnielle to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Darnielle takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Michael Vronsky will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Darnielle tries to bum rush Vronsky with a series of wild strikes but Vronsky uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Darnielle bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Vronsky's head.
Vronsky scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Darnielle throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Vronsky's head.
Vronsky uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Darnielle.
Darnielle fails to land the takedown.
Vronsky cracks a nice hook into Darnielle's ribs.
Vronsky has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Darnielle.
Darnielle misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Vronsky.

Vronsky shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Vronsky trying to pass the guard but Darnielle defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vronsky thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Darnielle's head.
Vronsky not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Vronsky wants to free his trapped foot but Darnielle is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Vronsky missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Darnielle blocking the ground and pound attempt from Vronsky.
Darnielle trying to control from the bottom.
Darnielle won't allow Vronsky to pass to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vronsky not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Vronsky throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Darnielle to regain full guard.
Darnielle looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Vronsky trying to move into half guard but instead Darnielle has managed to sweep!
Vronsky wants to improve his position but instead Darnielle has moved into half guard.
Vronsky is looking for a sweep. Darnielle is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vronsky is looking to control Darnielle's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Vronsky avoid being mounted?
Vronsky trying to get back to full guard but Darnielle takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Vronsky is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Darnielle tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Vronsky is looking to improve his position but Darnielle isn't that keen on the idea.
Vronsky tries to lock up and control but Darnielle gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Vronsky is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Vronsky regains half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Vronsky showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Crunch! Darnielle slams his shin into Vronsky's torso.
Darnielle connects with a leg kick. Vronsky looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Darnielle misses with a wild combination.
John Darnielle is winning the standup battle so far.
Darnielle lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Darnielle misses with a hook. Vronsky ducked under it nicely.
Vronsky throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Darnielle stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
No joy there for Darnielle, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Vronsky shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Vronsky showed some decent athleticism there.
Vronsky tries to pass the half guard into mount. Darnielle knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vronsky is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Vronsky with the ground and pound but Darnielle uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Darnielle utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Vronsky tries to free his leg and advance position but Darnielle is retaining full guard.
Darnielle wants to hit a switch here but Vronsky passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Darnielle there!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vronsky throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Poor strikes thrown by Vronsky there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Vronsky can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Darnielle is looking to escape.
Vronsky throwing strikes but Darnielle bucks up and reverses the position. He's now in guard on top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vronsky wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Darnielle passes Vronsky's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Vronsky is trying to get back to full guard.
Vronsky has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Vronsky keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Darnielle wants to pass the guard but Vronsky is defending well.
John Darnielle has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

The ref stands the fighters back up. Michael Vronsky was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Vronsky has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Darnielle.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Darnielle - that will leave a mark!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Darnielle thows a left - swing and a miss!
Darnielle tries to clinch but Vronsky moves out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Michael Vronsky.
I've got Vronsky winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 William Peck scores the fight 27:30
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Vronsky!
A relieved looking Michael Vronsky thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.