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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Arkady Balagan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Billy O Brien (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Arkady Balagan has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?
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| 182 cm
30
195 lbs
15 - 10 - 1 |
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182 cm
32
185 lbs
14 - 4 - 0 |
Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine |
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Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank |
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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
15 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Arkady Balagan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
14 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Billy O Brien!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Jack Bonds and Frank Antenori.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Brien cracks Balagan with an open hand slap.
Balagan tries to clinch up but O Brien circles away and keeps his distance.
Balagan shoots in looking for a takedown but O Brien manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Balagan's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
O Brien misses with an uppercut. Balagan saw that one coming.
Balagan fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
O Brien misses with a body punch
and Balagan counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
O Brien keeping moving, preventing Balagan from controlling successfully.
Balagan trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balagan throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Balagan throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as O Brien works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Balagan is in close to O Brien's body, working some short punches and elbows.
O Brien working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Balagan.
That's one minute gone in the round.
O Brien controlling the position.
O Brien utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Balagan won't allow O Brien to sweep him here.
Balagan working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Balagan throwing strikes from guard but O Brien blocks nicely.
Balagan preventing the sweep.
Balagan trying to control but O Brien is working from the bottom.
Balagan throws a big elbow that misses.
O Brien keeping moving, preventing Balagan from controlling successfully.
Balagan stands up over O Brien, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balagan throws a strike but O Brien rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
O Brien controlling from the top position.
Balagan wants to sweep but no luck.
Balagan pulls O Brien in close to prevent any damage.
Balagan seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balagan wants to sweep here but O Brien controlling him for the moment.
O Brien controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Balagan looks for a takedown but O Brien sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Arkady Balagan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
O Brien just misses with a punch to the body.
O Brien misses with a head kick.
O Brien throws a big shot that misses.
Billy O Brien is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
O Brien paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
O Brien fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Balagan checks it well.
A big right from O Brien misses.
O Brien attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
O Brien thows a left - swing and a miss!
O Brien lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
O Brien lands a nice looking body kick.
O Brien connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Balagan momentarily.
The fighters circling - O Brien throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A cross from O Brien lands.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Balagan ducks under a wild hook from O Brien.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Balagan.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Billy O Brien 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.
Balagan shoots in and gets a takedown into O Brien's guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
O Brien lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.
O Brien throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Balagan works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
O Brien is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balagan is pulling down on O Brien's head. It's preventing any offense from O Brien, at least for the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
O Brien stays in close to Balagan's body and controls the position.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Balagan is trying to keep O Brien in close.
Balagan wants to sweep but no luck.
Balagan pulls O Brien in close to prevent any damage.
O Brien sitting in guard here, content to control.
That's two 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.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
O Brien preventing the sweep.
The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Balagan throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around O Brien's waist but O Brien gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Balagan off to one side.
Balagan works O Brien's body with a nice hook.
A low kick from O Brien misses
and Balagan counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Balagan.
O Brien preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Brien is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Balagan throws a strike but O Brien rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Balagan keeping moving, preventing O Brien from controlling successfully.
O Brien with a flurry of punches that miss.
O Brien trying to control the position from guard on top but Balagan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Balagan has control of O Brien's left arm, preventing O Brien from doing any damage.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
O Brien pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Balagan is keeping the position for now.
Balagan has control of O Brien's left arm, preventing O Brien from doing any damage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
O Brien is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close second round but I would say that Arkady Balagan will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. And we move into the final round!
Balagan shoots for a double leg takedown but O Brien sprawls well. He's pushed Balagan's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Balagan has his takedown stuffed
and O Brien counters with a straight right hand.
Balagan shoots in for a takedown but O Brien shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Arkady Balagan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Balagan with a lazy takedown attempt
and O Brien cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
O Brien slaps away a takedown attempt from Balagan, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Balagan defending well as O Brien loads up on a big left hand.
A big left from O Brien misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balagan moves out of range as O Brien strikes.
Balagan slips a jab from O Brien.
Balagan ducks under a wild hook from O Brien.
Balagan shoots in for a double leg but O Brien sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's one minute gone in the round.
O Brien connects with an inside leg kick.
O Brien misses with an uppercut
so Balagan counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Balagan throws an elbow that misses. O Brien uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Balagan's guard. Nice move by O Brien!
Balagan wants to sweep here but O Brien controlling him for the moment.
Balagan is pulling down on O Brien's head to control his posture.
Balagan is trying to keep O Brien in close.
O Brien wants to get up but he can't break Balagan's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Brien trying to control but Balagan is working from the bottom.
Balagan is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Balagan wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
O Brien gets to his feet. Balagan looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
A left and a right from O Brien both land. Nice combination.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balagan shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts O Brien as he jumps to the side.
O Brien looks like he wants to counter punch here.
O Brien throws a leg kick but Balagan checks it.
O Brien has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
O Brien tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Balagan was well out of range. Poor timing from O Brien.
Balagan swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
A combination from O Brien does no damage.
Balagan throws a body shot but no joy.
Balagan drops his hands momentarily and O Brien takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
O Brien misses with a looping right.
O Brien fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Balagan fails to land the takedown.
Balagan throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. O Brien was covering up waiting for the punch and Balagan finishes the takedown easily into guard.
O Brien kicks Balagan off and gets to his feet.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Billy O Brien seems to be getting the better of the standup.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
O Brien digs a good hook to Balagan's body.
O Brien keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
O Brien tries a low kick but Balagan avoids it.
O Brien throws a head kick that misses.
Balagan walks into a stiff left hand from O Brien.
Balagan moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
O Brien fails to land with a series of punches.
And that's the end of the fight!
Billy O Brien comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think O Brien has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Billy O Brien!
A victorious Billy O Brien thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
35% |
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