PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Morozov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Buddy Brandon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brandon has chosen All Summer Long as his entrance music. Ivan Morozov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Morozov
vs
Brandon

199 cm
20
204 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

188 cm
27
210 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Knockout power

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ivan Morozov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Buddy Brandon!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Bruno Hogan and Ben Watson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Brandon shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Brandon is looking to stall here but Morozov recovers full guard.

Morozov is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Brandon defends well.
Morozov has a closed guard, preventing Brandon from standing up.
Brandon must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Morozov throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Brandon throwing strikes from guard but Morozov blocks nicely.
Brandon has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Morozov is proving hard to escape from.
Brandon won't allow Morozov to sweep him here.
Morozov will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Brandon tries to free his leg and advance position but Morozov is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brandon not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Brandon wants to stand but Morozov is controlling his posture from full guard.

Morozov is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Brandon defends well.
Morozov trying to control the position.
Brandon advances to half guard.
Brandon wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Brandon keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Brandon is pressing down on Morozov's thigh, looking to free his foot. Morozov is holding on for now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morozov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Morozov looking for submissions off his back.
Brandon wants to pass to mount but Morozov is defending the position.

Morozov looking for submissions off his back.
Morozov wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Brandon is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Morozov looking for submissions off his back.
Morozov moves into full guard.
Brandon tries to free his leg and advance position but Morozov is retaining full guard.

Morozov is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Brandon defends well.
Brandon trying to control but Morozov is working from the bottom.
Brandon sitting in guard here, content to control.
We've been informed that Brandon has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Morozov escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Brandon gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Morozov keeping full guard, as Brandon tries to pass.
Brandon wants to get up but he can't break Morozov's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Brandon is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Brandon has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Morozov is proving hard to escape from.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Buddy Brandon wasn't active enough on the ground.
An inside leg kick lands from Brandon.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Brandon tries to clinch but Morozov moves out of range.
Brandon looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Buddy Brandon dominated that round.
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.

Brandon shoots in but Morozov avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Buddy Brandon is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A right-left combo lands from Brandon.
Morozov darts in looking for a takedown but Brandon gets double underhooks and turns Morozov into the cage.
Brandon jumps guard but Morozov turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Brandon is trying to push Morozov away but Morozov has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Brandon fails to pull guard.
Ivan Morozov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Buddy Brandon.

Morozov gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Brandon is trying to maintain the position but Morozov is very close to passing his half guard.

Morozov is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Brandon defends it well.
Morozov throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Brandon is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morozov controlling the action here.
Brandon is positioning himself well to prevent Morozov advancing to mount.
Brandon wants to control but Morozov is keeping busy.
Morozov looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Morozov prevents Brandon from improving his position.
Morozov thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Brandon wants to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morozov not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Morozov thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Brandon's head.
Brandon keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Brandon trying to control but Morozov postures up.
Brandon makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Brandon.

Brandon looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Morozov postures up.
Brandon has momentary wrist control but Morozov slips an elbow through the middle.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Brandon looking for a sweep. Not yet Brandon, not yet.
Brandon is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morozov is pressing down on Brandon's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Brandon trying to control the position from guard on top but Morozov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morozov looking to control.
Brandon advances to half guard.

Brandon is working for a submission of some sort.
Brandon is breathing heavily.
Morozov moves into full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morozov is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Morozov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brandon can't escape the position.
Morozov working Brandon over with strikes here.
Morozov breaks from Brandon's wrist control and lands an elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Brandon can't escape the position.
Morozov avoids the attempt from Brandon to control.
Morozov looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Morozov scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Brandon tries to hold on but Morozov pushes him away.
Morozov lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Brandon hang on?

Brandon is rocked!
A nice elbow there by Morozov.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Morozov dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Morozov manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Brandon on his heels. He'll look to pass Brandon's guard now, I'm sure.
Morozov with a flurry of punches that miss.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Morozov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Brandon is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Brandon wants to stand up but Morozov is controlling him.
Morozov trying to control but Brandon is working from the bottom.
Morozov postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Morozov lands a couple of digs.
Morozov lands a couple of elbows.

Morozov drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Brandon dives on top into guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Morozov keeping moving, preventing Brandon from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morozov working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Brandon doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Brandon manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Brandon is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Morozov escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Brandon gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Brandon postures up in Morozov's guard and throws a big left but Morozov blocks it.
Brandon trying to control the position from guard on top but Morozov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morozov throws some shots to the body, keeping his opponent honest.
Brandon wants to get up but he can't break Morozov's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Brandon got a little sloppy there for a moment and Morozov has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Brandon has managed to get both his arms back between Morozov's legs - danger averted.
Ivan Morozov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morozov has a closed guard, preventing Brandon from standing up.

Morozov is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Morozov has an active guard here but Brandon has managed to pass into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brandon moves nicely into side control.
Morozov has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Brandon tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Morozov manages to work his way to half guard, despite Brandon's best efforts.

Morozov looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Morozov throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Brandon is looking to take a break and control but Morozov is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Brandon missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brandon wants to take a breather but Morozov is having none of it.

Morozov looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Morozov actively working from the bottom here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
It looks like Brandon is going to stand back up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Brandon seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Morozov is not content to let Brandon control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Morozov showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Morozov 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 29:28
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 29:28

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