PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Nikos Balopoulos (ranked 2123 p4p, 4159 weight class) and Bastian Lykaios (ranked 276 p4p, 463 weight class). Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Balopoulos
vs
Lykaios

178 cm
28
164
4 - 3 - 0

185 cm
26
160
5 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Fantasy Threads
Furnace Performance 🔥

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Nikos Balopoulos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Bastian Lykaios!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Alyssa Summers and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lykaios looks to throw the jab but Balopoulos is out of range.
Lykaios misses with a left hand

and Balopoulos counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Balopoulos.
Balopoulos distracts Lykaios with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lykaios is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Balopoulos is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Balopoulos lands a couple of decent looking shots.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Balopoulos engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balopoulos postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balopoulos is stalling in the full guard.
Balopoulos works over Lykaios with some ground and pound from guard.
Lykaios can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Balopoulos controls the pace.
Lykaios is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Lykaios wants to sweep here but Balopoulos controlling him for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Balopoulos slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
We've been hearing good reports from Balopoulos's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Balopoulos connects with a couple of short punches.
Balopoulos postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Balopoulos is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Balopoulos lands a couple of elbows.
Balopoulos showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Balopoulos's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balopoulos is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Lykaios is looking to stand up but Balopoulos isn't so interested in that idea.
Balopoulos scoring with punches to the head and body.
Lykaios really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Balopoulos. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Balopoulos is in close to Lykaios's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Balopoulos showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Balopoulos is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Balopoulos showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lykaios has momentary wrist control but Balopoulos slips an elbow through the middle.
Balopoulos lands a couple of elbows.
Balopoulos stays in close to Lykaios's body and controls the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Lykaios is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Balopoulos is controlling him.
Balopoulos controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nikos Balopoulos dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Lykaios uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Balopoulos.
Lykaios is looking for the big counter here.
Balopoulos shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Lykaios cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Balopoulos throws a hook but Lykaios avoids it easily.
Bastian Lykaios is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lykaios connects with a jab.
Lykaios throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Balopoulos.
Balopoulos half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Lykaios throws a right hand that misses

and Balopoulos counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Balopoulos controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Balopoulos's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Balopoulos chips away with some ground and pound.
Balopoulos keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Lykaios's head.
Nikos Balopoulos overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Balopoulos slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balopoulos scoring with punches from side control.
Lykaios is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Balopoulos working the head and body with strikes.
Balopoulos creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Balopoulos just content to control the position.
Lykaios takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Balopoulos 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.
Balopoulos grinds an elbow into Lykaios's temple.
Balopoulos scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Lykaios to see if he's OK.
Balopoulos landing strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lykaios takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.

Lykaios is rocked!
Balopoulos lands a strong strike to the head of Lykaios. That's dazed him! Balopoulos looking to finish here. Lykaios is waving his arms around trying to block but he's hurt badly - Balopoulos lands more strikes and the referee steps in to end the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Nikos Balopoulos!
Nikos Balopoulos really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Fantasy Threads logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.