PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Chance Birmbaum (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ali Aliev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aliev has chosen Lezginka as his entrance music. Ali Aliev has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Birmbaum
vs
Aliev

175 cm
19
176 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

175 cm
20
159 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Mohito Fightwear

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 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Chance Birmbaum!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ali Aliev!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Viktor Lagutenko and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Birmbaum moves into the clinch.
Birmbaum tries to work over Aliev's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Birmbaum can't find room to land a body shot as Aliev controls the action.

Birmbaum breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Aliev misses with a head kick.
Aliev with a lazy takedown attempt
and Birmbaum counters with a straight right hand.
Birmbaum tries to clinch but Aliev is having none of it.
Aliev goes for a double leg but Birmbaum avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Birmbaum continues to drive forward.
Aliev moves out of range of the strikes.
Aliev bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Birmbaum's head backwards.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aliev misses with a combination

and Birmbaum counters with a nice double leg into side control. Aliev won't be happy with that.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Birmbaum wants to lay and pray for a moment but Aliev keeps working.
Aliev wants to control but Birmbaum postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Birmbaum is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Aliev has escaped the position, nice work there.
Aliev defending against the ground and pound.
Birmbaum looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Aliev is avoiding damage well.
Birmbaum tries to advance to mount but can't.
Birmbaum scoring with punches and elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aliev is not content to let Birmbaum control the position.
Birmbaum fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Birmbaum scores with a couple of short elbows.
Aliev takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Birmbaum 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.
Birmbaum working the body and head with strikes.
Birmbaum lands some shots froms side control.
Aliev regains half guard.
Birmbaum not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birmbaum is trying to control the action in half guard but Aliev is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Aliev can do anything to dispel that myth.

Birmbaum is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Aliev has managed to free his arm - good work.
Birmbaum thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Aliev's head.
Aliev trying to control from the bottom.
Birmbaum is trying to control. Aliev wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Aliev really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Birmbaum. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

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.
Birmbaum missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Birmbaum is working for a kimura but Aliev is defending it quite comfortably.
Aliev trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Birmbaum manages to pass to mount!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Aliev is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chance Birmbaum dominated that round.
That's time! Birmbaum's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Aliev throws a left and a right that both miss

and Birmbaum counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Aliev!

Birmbaum tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Birmbaum has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Birmbaum trying to control the position but Aliev is working away.
Aliev is looking to regain half guard here but Birmbaum keeps moving and retains side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Birmbaum throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Aliev tries to buck Birmbaum off but Birmbaum is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Birmbaum cracks Aliev with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Sloppy strikes there by Birmbaum.
Birmbaum lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Aliev is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Birmbaum off and has taken his back!
Birmbaum manages to reverse the position and now he's in Aliev's guard. Nice work there by Birmbaum.
Birmbaum is stalling in the full guard.
Aliev manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Birmbaum manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Aliev got a little sloppy there for a moment and Birmbaum has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Aliev has managed to get both his arms back between Birmbaum's legs - danger averted.
Birmbaum keeping moving, preventing Aliev from controlling successfully.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Aliev working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Aliev must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Birmbaum had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Aliev defends it easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Birmbaum 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.
Aliev trying to control here.
Birmbaum seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Aliev does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Birmbaum is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Aliev is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Aliev has a hand on Birmbaum's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Birmbaum takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Aliev is looking to improve his position but Birmbaum isn't that keen on the idea.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Aliev wants to hold on but Birmbaum pushes him away.
Chance Birmbaum overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Birmbaum unloading with bombs!
Birmbaum with shots to the head and body - Aliev looks very uncomfortable down there.
Aliev working to try and regain half guard.
Birmbaum definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Birmbaum can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Aliev is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chance Birmbaum dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Birmbaum connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Aliev throws a sloppy head kick

and Birmbaum counters with a takedown into side control.
Birmbaum tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Birmbaum works to advance to full mount. Aliev defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Birmbaum has hold of Aliev's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Aliev manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Birmbaum throwing strikes here but Aliev is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aliev is wriggling around trying to escape.
The referee warns Aliev that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Birmbaum landing shots from mount.
Birmbaum wants to control the pace but Aliev is squirming around nicely.
Birmbaum is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Birmbaum lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

Aliev is rocked!
Birmbaum postures up and lands a whopping elbow - oh that's hurt Aliev bigstyle! Two more strikes land for Birmbaum and the fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Chance Birmbaum!
After winning the bout, Chance Birmbaum thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
Ali Aliev was interviewed post fight and said 'Thanks all fans for support! Next time I'll be better, thanks God!'.