PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Idan Atar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andrei Romanov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Idan Atar looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Atar
vs
Romanov

185 cm
22
198 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

198 cm
20
215 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

EFC Clothing

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Idan Atar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Andrei Romanov!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Konstantin Menshow and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Romanov throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Atar looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Romanov scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Romanov keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
I looks like Romanov might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Atar on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Atar tries to get out of the position.
Atar pushes Romanov off but Romanov dives into side control.
Romanov controlling from side mount.
Atar pushes Romanov away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Romanov gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Romanov controls the position.
Romanov works to advance to full mount. Atar defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romanov controlling his opponent.

Despite being in the dominant position, Andrei Romanov just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Romanov darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Romanov works his way into side control.
Romanov slows the pace down.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romanov working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Romanov content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

Romanov has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
No luck for Romanov with that takedown attempt.
Atar stuffs the takedown attempt from Romanov. Romanov gets slowly back to his feet.
Romanov looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Atar is fending him off so far but Romanov persists. Nope, Atar circles away and we're back to standing.
Idan Atar has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andrei Romanov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romanov has a takedown stuffed.
Atar swinging wilding here.
Romanov shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Atar throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Romanov's waist but Romanov gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Atar off to one side.
Romanov misses with a takedown

and Atar counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Atar cracks Romanov with a nice body shot.
Atar wants a takedown.
Romanov fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Atar controlling the action here for a moment.
Romanov stops a takedown attempt from Atar.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Romanov prevents the takedown attempt.
Romanov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Romanov has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Atar is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Atar wants a takedown.
Atar wants a takedown but no success here.
Atar gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Romanov.

Atar drags the fight down to the ground.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Romanov controls from within his opponent's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Atar wants to stand and escape but Romanov is having none of it.
Atar being controlled here, momentarily.
Atar looking to control but Romanov passes into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Atar gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Romanov counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Atar!
Romanov controlling the pace for now.
Atar wants to get back to his feet.
Romanov avoids the attempt from Atar to control.
Romanov looking to control but Atar is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Romanov gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romanov fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Atar looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Atar might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Romanov is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Romanov working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Atar doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Atar manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Atar tries to stand but Romanov is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Atar works over Romanov with some ground and pound from guard.
Atar wants to stand but Romanov has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Atar is pushing down on Romanov's leg trying to pass to half guard. Romanov is fighting to maintain full guard but Atar has managed to sneak the leg through.
Andrei Romanov has got the better of the ground game so far.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Atar connects with a nice short shot to Romanov's temple.
Atar takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Atar sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Romanov defending well though.
Romanov trying to control but Atar postures up.
Romanov moves into full guard.
Romanov looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Romanov working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Atar.
Atar tries to stand but Romanov is controlling from the bottom.
Atar postures up.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Romanov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Atar fails to land with a series of punches.
Atar gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Romanov counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Atar is looking to escape.
Romanov moves into side control, avoiding the strikes from Atar.
Romanov wants to control but Atar is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andrei Romanov showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Atar shoots and misses

and Romanov counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Romanov breaks the clinch.
Idan Atar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Atar stuffs the takedown attempt from Romanov. Romanov gets slowly back to his feet.
Atar misses with a takedown

and Romanov counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Atar is trying to stand back up but Romanov is controlling him
Atar wants to stand back up but Romanov manages to pass into side control.
Atar wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Atar tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Romanov tries to get the hooks in deep but Atar pushed the leg off.
Atar has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Romanov trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Atar knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Romanov on the ground.
Atar is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Romanov is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
Atar looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.

That's two 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.
Atar prevents Romanov from getting a body triangle.
Atar is trying to get back to his feet but Romanov has full control of the position and if anything, Atar has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Atar is keeping busy.
Atar trying to get back to his feet but Romanov is in full control for now.
Romanov tries to get the hooks in deep but Atar pushed the leg off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romanov is not going to allow Atar to sit and survive in this position.
Romanov trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Atar trying to control the action but Romanov just sinks the hooks in.
Atar controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Romanov trying to control.
Idan Atar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Atar has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Atar staying busy and making it hard for Romanov to control.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Despite being in the dominant position, Andrei Romanov just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Romanov lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Atar circles away quickly and effectively.
Andrei Romanov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Idan Atar is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Atar falls off balance throwing a combination

so Romanov counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andrei Romanov comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Romanov 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 Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 27:30
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andrei Romanov!