PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ricardo Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Denis Boldyrev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ricardo Almeida could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Denis Boldyrev's chin.

Almeida
vs
Boldyrev

196 cm
24
238 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

191 cm
25
228 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Hates pizza

Good takedowns
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ricardo Almeida!
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, Denis Boldyrev!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Daniel Bishop and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Boldyrev shoots and misses

and Almeida counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Boldyrev's guard now.
Boldyrev thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Almeida cracks Boldyrev with a solid left hand.
Boldyrev working a defensive guard here.
Boldyrev keeping full guard, as Almeida tries to pass.
Boldyrev is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Boldyrev keeping full guard, as Almeida tries to pass.
Almeida cracks Boldyrev with a solid left hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Boldyrev seems keen to control Almeida's posture.
Almeida postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida won't allow Boldyrev to sweep him here.
Almeida works over Boldyrev with some ground and pound from guard.
Almeida controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Denis Boldyrev wasn't active enough on the ground.
Boldyrev shoots and misses

and Almeida counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Stalling in the clinch from Almeida.
Almeida is pressed up against the cage. Boldyrev has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Almeida down to the mat. Almeida avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Ricardo Almeida has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Denis Boldyrev.
Boldyrev fails with an attempt to clinch.
Boldyrev misses with a takedown attempt

and Almeida counters with a nice double leg into guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Boldyrev keeping full guard, as Almeida tries to pass.
Almeida controlling from the top position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida trying to control the position from guard on top but Boldyrev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Almeida throws a big elbow that misses.
Boldyrev looking to control.
Boldyrev looking for a sweep. Not yet Boldyrev, not yet.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Almeida keeps the fight on the outside.
Boldyrev shoots and misses

and Almeida counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Boldyrev!
Boldyrev looks winded!
The referee asks Almeida politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Almeida prefers to stall for the moment though.

Almeida wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Boldyrev, who protects the arm well.

Almeida tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Almeida has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida trying to control the action but Boldyrev is working from the bottom.
Almeida taking a breather here.
Almeida is looking to take a break and control but Boldyrev is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida scores with a couple of short elbows.
Almeida working away.
Almeida is staying tight to Boldyrev's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Almeida trying to control the position but Boldyrev is working away.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Boldyrev fails with the takedown

and Almeida counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Boldyrev!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricardo Almeida 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.

Boldyrev tries for a takedown but Almeida circles away easily

and Almeida counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Almeida.
Boldyrev keeping moving, preventing Almeida from controlling successfully.
Almeida stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Boldyrev swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Boldyrev is trying to control the position but Almeida postures up.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Almeida throws a big right hand that misses.
Boldyrev keeping full guard, as Almeida tries to pass.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida advances to half guard.
Almeida perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Boldyrev blocking the ground and pound attempt from Almeida.
Boldyrev throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Almeida wants to take a breather but Boldyrev is having none of it.
Almeida is looking to advance position but Boldyrev won't allow it.

Almeida is looking for a kimura here.
Boldyrev is trying to maintain the position but Almeida is very close to passing his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida works his way into side control.
Almeida taking a breather here.
Almeida has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Almeida with the ground and pound from mount.
Almeida landing shots from mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Almeida looking to control but Boldyrev is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida working Boldyrev over with strikes here.
Boldyrev is in all sorts of trouble here.
Boldyrev tries to hold on but Almeida pushes him away.
Almeida lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Boldyrev hang on?
Almeida wants to control the pace but Boldyrev is squirming around nicely.
Boldyrev wants to control but Almeida is having none of it.
Almeida controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida with good strikes from the mount here!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Almeida controlling from the full mount.
Almeida tries to control but Boldyrev wriggling away.
Almeida is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Boldyrev can do to turn this around?
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Boldyrev tries to hold on but Almeida postures up.
Almeida can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Boldyrev is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricardo Almeida dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Almeida stuffs the takedown.
Boldyrev wants to clinch

and Almeida counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Almeida distracts Boldyrev with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Almeida looking to pass the guard.
Boldyrev throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Boldyrev bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Almeida's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Boldyrev wanted to stand there but Almeida had control of the position.

Almeida has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Boldyrev can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Almeida looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Almeida throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Boldyrev wants to control from the top but Almeida keeps moving.
Boldyrev passes Almeida's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Boldyrev seems to be looking for submissions.
Boldyrev takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida gets back to full guard.
Boldyrev controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Boldyrev looking to sit in guard and control but Almeida gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Almeida passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Almeida tries to move to full mount but Boldyrev actually manages to regain half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Almeida is working for an americana but Boldyrev has been sneaky and has managed to get back to half guard, whilst Almeida was thinking about the submission.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Boldyrev utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Boldyrev trying to control the position.
Almeida wants to control from the top but Boldyrev keeps moving.
Boldyrev utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Almeida looking to pass the guard.
Almeida working some strikes from top position.
Almeida is looking to work some ground and pound but Boldyrev has wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Boldyrev not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Almeida has gone for a leg lock! Boldyrev slips out almost immediately though and dives into Almeida's guard.
Almeida looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Boldyrev wants to pass the guard but Almeida is keeping the position.
Almeida wants to sweep but no luck.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ricardo Almeida showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Almeida, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ricardo Almeida!