PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Javi Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Smeder Balovich (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.

Garcia
vs
Balovich

170 cm
18
148 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

172 cm
18
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Intelligent

Namunamu Clothing
DTK Designs (Laundry)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight 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, Javi Garcia!
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, Smeder Balovich!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Viktor Lagutenko and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia throws a body kick that misses.
Garcia fails with an attempt to clinch.
Garcia darts in trying to clinch

and Balovich counters with a single leg into guard. Garcia didn't expect that.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Balovich is stalling in the full guard.
Balovich looking to pass the guard.
Balovich is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Smeder Balovich wasn't active enough on the ground.
Garcia pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia darts in trying to clinch

and Balovich counters by moving into the clinch.
Garcia tries to break the clinch but Balovich is controlling the position.
Balovich wants a takedown but no success here.
Balovich tries to score a body lock takedown but Garcia shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Garcia is fighting off a takedown attempt but Balovich is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Garcia to the mat. Garcia regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Garcia looking to control.
Balovich throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Balovich trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Balovich engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balovich passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Balovich has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Balovich lands a decent elbow from side control.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Garcia is trying to escape the position but Balovich is controlling the position.
Balovich working the body and head with strikes.
Garcia knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Balovich on the ground.
Garcia tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Garcia seems a little lost for a moment, as Balovich dominates the positioning.
You can see the frustration on Garcia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Balovich scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Balovich tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Balovich dominating with strikes here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balovich looking to control and managing it successfully.
Let's hope that Balovich has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

Balovich is working for a guillotine from mount but Garcia frees his head quite easily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Balovich looking to finish Garcia with some ground and pound. This is bad for Garcia!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia tries to hold on but Balovich postures up.
Garcia is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Balovich looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Balovich is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Garcia has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Garcia tries to hold on but Balovich pushes him away.
Balovich tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Garcia in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Balovich cracks Garcia with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Smeder Balovich dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Garcia tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Balovich paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Balovich keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Garcia swings for the body but Balovich moves out of range.
Balovich shoots in but Garcia avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Garcia tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Balovich counters with a shoot takedown. Garcia fights it but they end up in guard.
Balovich is in close to Garcia's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Balovich is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Balovich trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Garcia avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Balovich sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Garcia's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balovich takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Balovich controlling the action here.
Balovich looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Balovich is taking a breather. Garcia says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Balovich working Garcia over with strikes.
Garcia trying to hold on to Balovich's head to control him but Balovich postures up.
Balovich frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balovich looking to control and managing it successfully.
Garcia is in a horrible position here. Balovich smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Balovich controlling from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Garcia taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balovich unloading with bombs!
Balovich raining down hammerfists from mount.
Balovich controlling the position easily from mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Balovich cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A big strike lands for Balovich! That's really hurt Garcia and he's turned his back - Balovich keeps firing away and the ref dives in to stop the fight! Balovich jumps to his feet to celebrate the victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Smeder Balovich!