PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Julian Gniewek (ranked 4858 p4p, 451 weight class) and Vladimir Tarlac (ranked 2618 p4p, 295 weight class). Julian Gniewek has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gniewek
vs
Tarlac

181 cm
30
155 lbs
12 - 11 - 0

174 cm
31
167 lbs
11 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Julian Gniewek!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Vladimir Tarlac!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Marco Blurström and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tarlac works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Tarlac checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Gniewek has been working on his boxing with his coaches at mickeyharts the greatest in the buildup to the fight.

Gniewek moves into the clinch.
Gniewek with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Tarlac is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Gniewek makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Gniewek tries a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks it.
Gniewek blocks the elbow strike.
Gniewek trying to land knees to the body.
Tarlac throws a knee to the head but misses.
A nice right hand lands inside from Gniewek.
Tarlac putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Gniewek in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Tarlac prevents a body shot from Gniewek.
Gniewek misses with a knee to the head.
Gniewek misses with some punches.
Tarlac lands a body punch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Tarlac with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Gniewek on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Still in the clinch, Tarlac scores with a nice short uppercut.
Tarlac tries to land knees in the clinch but Gniewek avoids the damage to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gniewek tries to land a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks with his arms.
Tarlac lands a knee to the body.
Gniewek jumps guard but Tarlac turns him against the ropes and keeps the fight standing.
Tarlac wants to get back to striking at distance but Gniewek won't allow it.
Gniewek looking to stall.
Gniewek jumps guard but Tarlac turns him against the ropes and keeps the fight standing.
Tarlac tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Gniewek avoids it.
A right hand to the body from Tarlac.
Gniewek managing to block the knees to the body from Tarlac.
Gniewek avoiding damage as Tarlac throws knees to the body.
Gniewek trying to control the position but instead, Tarlac has worked for underhooks and has pushed Gniewek into the ropes.
Gniewek avoids a wild elbow strike from Tarlac.
Tarlac being controlled against the ropes.
Tarlac managing to block the knees to the body from Gniewek.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gniewek lands a shot to the body.
Gniewek blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Tarlac misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Tarlac connects with a nasty looking knee right to Gniewek's face.
Gniewek prevents a body shot from Tarlac.
Gniewek on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Tarlac lands a hook that snaps the head of Gniewek backwards.
Gniewek swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Gniewek is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Tarlac is keeping busy.

Tarlac manages to break the clinch.
Gniewek takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Vladimir Tarlac seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nice cross by Tarlac.
Gniewek tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Tarlac paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Tarlac misses with a body shot.
Gniewek takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vladimir Tarlac dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

A telegraphed right hand from Tarlac misses the target.
Tarlac just misses with a punch to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gniewek looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tarlac throws out a loose jab but Gniewek uses good head movement to avoid it.
It looked like Gniewek was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Gniewek throws a body punch but Tarlac moves out of range.
Gniewek looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Gniewek closes the distance but Tarlac moves to the side
and Tarlac counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Tarlac misses with a hook
and Gniewek counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Tarlac swings and misses with a hook to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tarlac misses with a low kick.
Tarlac swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Gniewek on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
The crowd cheers as Gniewek lands an impressive looking overhand right. Tarlac doesn't seem phased though.

Gniewek gets a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short uppercut from Gniewek.
Gniewek misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tarlac.

Tarlac breaks the clinch.
Gniewek lands a nice leg kick that just misses Tarlac's sensitive parts.
Tarlac slips under a jab.
A slow jab from Tarlac misses its intended target.
Gniewek seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
A nice leg kick lands there from Tarlac.
Tarlac tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Gniewek was well out of range. Poor timing from Tarlac.
Tarlac has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Tarlac jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Gniewek quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.
Gniewek lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tarlac lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Gniewek at a distance.
A telegraphed right hand from Tarlac misses the target.
Tarlac blocks a head kick by Gniewek.
Tarlac is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Gniewek.
Tarlac throws a body shot but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gniewek moves into range and clinches up with Tarlac.
Tarlac misses with a body punch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gniewek tries a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks it.
Tarlac misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Gniewek.
Gniewek stalling the fight.
Tarlac pushes Gniewek back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Vladimir Tarlac seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Gniewek on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Tarlac.
Tarlac lands an elbow that stopped Gniewek in his tracks for a moment.
Tarlac tries to land knees in the clinch but Gniewek avoids the damage to the body.
Tarlac is trying to break the clinch but Gniewek is controlling him.
Gniewek blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Gniewek looking to stall.
Gniewek misses with a knee strike.
Tarlac using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Gniewek has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Gniewek landing knees to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Vladimir Tarlac will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Tarlac misses with a hook. Gniewek ducked under it nicely.
Tarlac lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gniewek circles away quickly and effectively.
Tarlac throws a leg kick that misses.
Gniewek tries to clinch up.

Gniewek drives through and clinches with Tarlac against the ropes.
Tarlac misses with a knee to the head.
Julian Gniewek has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Tarlac tries to work over Gniewek's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Tarlac misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tarlac blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Gniewek misses with a knee strike.
Tarlac tries to work over Gniewek's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gniewek blocks a body shot from Tarlac.
Tarlac misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Gniewek.

Tarlac breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Tarlac attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Tarlac fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Gniewek manages to avoid it.
Gniewek dodges the punch combination from Tarlac.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gniewek blocks a low kick nicely.
Tarlac cracks the inside of Gniewek's front leg.
Tarlac throws a predictable looking body shot
and Gniewek counters with a nice uppercut.
Tarlac lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Tarlac scores with a jab to the head.
Gniewek fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Tarlac checks it well.
Gniewek avoids the body shot from Tarlac.
Tarlac is looking to chop away at Gniewek's legs.
Gniewek swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Tarlac misses with a leg kick

and Gniewek counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Gniewek.
Gniewek struggles to land a body shot inside as Tarlac controls his hands.
Tarlac takes a knee right on the jaw!
Gniewek managing to block the knees to the body from Tarlac.
Gniewek tries a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks it.
Tarlac tries to land knees in the clinch but Gniewek avoids the damage to the body.
Gniewek takes an elbow to the temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tarlac stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Gniewek tries to land a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks with his arms.
Gniewek with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Tarlac tries a body shot but Gniewek blocks it.
Gniewek throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Tarlac blocks it with crossed arms.
Gniewek tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Tarlac's elbow.
Tarlac misses with a knee strike.
Gniewek on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Gniewek tries a knee to the head but Tarlac blocks it.
Vladimir Tarlac is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Gniewek throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tarlac throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gniewek blocks it with crossed arms.
Tarlac tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Gniewek avoids it.
Gniewek tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Tarlac avoids it.
Gniewek lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Gniewek goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Gniewek working Tarlac over with knees to the body.
Tarlac tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Gniewek tries to land knees in the clinch but Tarlac avoids the damage to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Vladimir Tarlac.
I've got Tarlac winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight for Vladimir Tarlac!
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight for Vladimir Tarlac!
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight for Vladimir Tarlac!

Vladimir Tarlac wins by unanimous decision!
A very excited looking Vladimir Tarlac rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.