PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ian Saga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yuri Sarbinov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Saga
vs
Sarbinov

194 cm
20
181 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

177 cm
20
182 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ian Saga!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Yuri Sarbinov!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, Donatello Bradman and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sarbinov scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Saga is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Sarbinov off and has taken his back!

Saga is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Sarbinov has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Sarbinov can't escape the position.

Saga is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Sarbinov knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Sarbinov for a finish.
Saga misses with a punch to the head.
Saga doesn't have the hooks in and Sarbinov manages to turn into his guard.
Saga 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.

Saga throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Sarbinov controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Saga throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sarbinov's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Sarbinov preventing the sweep.

Saga escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Sarbinov gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Saga has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sarbinov can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Sarbinov got a little sloppy there for a moment and Saga has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Sarbinov has managed to get both his arms back between Saga's legs - danger averted.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Sarbinov is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Sarbinov stands and throws Saga's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Sarbinov is looking to take a break and control but Saga is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Saga really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sarbinov grinds an elbow into Saga's temple.
Saga is being controlled here.
Sarbinov wants to control but Saga is keeping him busy.
Saga is trying to improve his position.
Saga is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Saga is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sarbinov sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Saga is looking for a sweep. Sarbinov is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sarbinov content to control rather than advance.
Saga is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Sarbinov scores with a couple of nice shots.
Saga tries to get to full guard but Sarbinov has control of the leg.
Sarbinov looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Saga looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Sarbinov is looking to advance position but Saga won't allow it.

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.
Sarbinov trying to control the action but Saga is working from the bottom.
Saga gets full guard.

Saga has his foot on Sarbinov's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Sarbinov works his way back into a safe position though.
Sarbinov thows a big elbow that misses.

Saga escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Sarbinov gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Saga has an active guard here but Sarbinov has managed to pass into half guard.
Saga is breathing heavily.
Nice strikes from Sarbinov there.

Saga is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Sarbinov pulls his head out easily.
Sarbinov scoring with strikes to the body and head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Yuri Sarbinov 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.

Sarbinov throws a leg kick that misses.

Sarbinov closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sarbinov lands in his opponent's guard.

Saga working for a triangle but Sarbinov defends it easily.
Sarbinov seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Saga wants to sweep but no luck.
Saga will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Sarbinov avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Sarbinov content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Saga is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Sarbinov keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Saga's head.

Saga looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Sarbinov passes into half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sarbinov lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Saga looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Saga on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Sarbinov working over Saga with some ground and pound. Saga looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saga is not content to let Sarbinov control the position.
Saga gets full guard.
Sarbinov must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Saga throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Sarbinov is pushing down on Saga's leg trying to pass to half guard. Saga is fighting to maintain full guard but Sarbinov has managed to sneak the leg through.

Saga looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Sarbinov controlling the pace.
Sarbinov drops an elbow to the side of Saga's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Saga looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Sarbinov pushes past his half guard into mount!
Sarbinov lands a big shot there that rocks Saga but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

It looks like Ian Saga has been cut.
Saga is trying desperately to improve position.
Sarbinov unloading with bombs!
Saga really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Sarbinov is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Saga regains half guard.
Saga gets full guard.
Saga keeping moving, preventing Sarbinov from controlling successfully.
Sarbinov passes Saga's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saga is looking for a sweep. Sarbinov is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Saga with the active half guard here but Sarbinov passes nicely into side control.
Saga manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Sarbinov is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Saga's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Saga's back!
Sarbinov looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Sarbinov controls the position.
Saga rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Saga is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Sarbinov pulls his head out easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Sarbinov showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ian Saga's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Sarbinov shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Saga is trying to defend but Sarbinov finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Sarbinov moves nicely into side control.

Sarbinov looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Saga tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sarbinov landing a few strikes.
Sarbinov lands a few punches from side control.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Saga is trying to get back to half guard.
Saga is trying to escape the position but Sarbinov is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saga is looking for a sweep.
Saga wings away with a couple of strikes but they don't land.
A lull in the action here.
Saga gets back to half guard.
Saga wants to improve his position but Sarbinov is controlling well.
Sarbinov looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Saga wants to improve his position but Sarbinov is controlling well.

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.

Saga actively working from the bottom here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Saga is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Sarbinov pulls his head out easily.
Sarbinov moves into full mount! Saga won't be happy about that!
Sarbinov lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Saga is wriggling around trying to escape.
Sarbinov trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sarbinov working the ground and pound effectively.

Ian Saga's cut is getting worse.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saga tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sarbinov with shots to the head and body - Saga looks very uncomfortable down there.
Saga taking shots to the head.
Saga is squirming around, avoiding Sarbinov's attempts to control the action.
Sarbinov scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Sarbinov lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Saga hang on?
Saga is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Saga takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Ian Saga has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saga throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Sarbinov controlling from mount.
Saga tries to reverse the position but Sarbinov maintains control.
Sarbinov can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Saga is looking to escape.
Saga keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Saga throwing hammer fists to the chest of Sarbinov. What's that going to do exactly?
Sarbinov trying to control but Saga is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yuri Sarbinov comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sarbinov has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Eliza Hachem scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yuri Sarbinov!