PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Vladimir Mikhail (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Esko Morko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Morko has chosen Arch Enemy - Nemesis as his entrance music. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Mikhail
vs
Morko

182 cm
20
197 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

176 cm
22
190 lbs
6 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

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 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Vladimir Mikhail!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Esko Morko!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Viktor Lagutenko and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morko circles away from the clinch attempt.
Mikhail wants to clinch.
Morko throws a nice head kick!
Morko tries to clinch up

and Mikhail counters by moving into the clinch.
Mikhail misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Morko.
Morko stalling.

Morko pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
The fight stays on the outside here - Morko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Mikhail throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Mikhail wants to clinch

and Morko moves into the clinch.
Morko lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Mikhail or not.
Morko drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Morko lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Morko with a knee to the head.
Morko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Mikhail's face.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morko lands a knee to the body.
Mikhail is breathing heavily.
Morko with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Morko gets through Mikhail's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Morko is working Mikhail over against the cage.
Morko with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Mikhail misses with a body punch.
Mikhail misses with a knee strike.

Morko drags the fight down to the ground.
Morko has Mikhail pulled in close to control his posture.

Morko is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Morko has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Mikhail avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Morko tries to land a knee to the head but Mikhail blocks with his arms.
Morko avoids the elbow strike from Mikhail, against the cage.
A knee to the head by Morko.
Mikhail tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Mikhail tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Morko breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Morko fails with an attempt to clinch.
Morko plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

Mikhail gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Morko to score an easy takedown into full guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morko content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Morko throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Morko has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Morko won't allow Mikhail to get back to his feet.
Morko controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morko is looking to work some ground and pound but Mikhail has wrist control.
Morko in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Morko postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Mikhail is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Morko, into his guard.
Mikhail tries to stand but Morko is controlling from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Morko trying to control the position.

Mikhail avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Morko looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Esko Morko dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Morko closes the distance and clinches.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Morko lands with a short shot to the head.
Mikhail looking to stall.

Morko breaks the clinch.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Mikhail!
Mikhail looks to clinch

and Morko holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Morko fails to pull guard.
Morko lands a body shot in the clinch.
Mikhail managing to block the knees to the body from Morko.
Mikhail takes a knee right on the jaw!
Morko tries for a takedown but Mikhail manages to get underhooks.
Mikhail is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Morko is keeping busy.

Morko breaks from the clinch.
Mikhail blocks a head kick by Morko.
Mikhail tries to clinch but Morko moves away

and Morko counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Mikhail!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Morko trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Morko has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Mikhail's face.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morko looking to finish with strikes here!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morko landing strikes, looking to finish!
Morko tries to control but Mikhail wriggling away.
Mikhail squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

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.
Morko with the ground and pound from mount.
Mikhail is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Morko tries to control but Mikhail wriggling away.
Morko is landing with some decent strikes but Mikhail is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Mikhail is trying to stand.
Morko with the ground and pound from mount.
Mikhail is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mikhail is squirming around, avoiding Morko's attempts to control the action.
Morko controlling the pace for now.
Mikhail is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Morko in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morko takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Morko's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Esko Morko has got the better of the ground game so far.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Esko Morko 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!

Morko rushes Mikhail and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Morko.
Morko landing knees to the head.
Morko trying to stall but Mikhail improves his position.
Morko connects with a knee to the head.
Morko trying to land knees to the body.
Morko gets through Mikhail's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Mikhail misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Morko.
Mikhail tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Morko avoids it.
Mikhail gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Mikhail is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Morko softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Morko landing knees to the head.
Mikhail's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Mikhail looking to stall.
Morko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Morko lands a knee to the body.
Morko lands a knee to the head.
A knee to the head by Morko.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mikhail looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morko landing knees to the head.
Mikhail missing with knees to the body.
Mikhail looking to stall.
Come on Morko - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Mikhail misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Morko's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Morko has managed to clinch.
Morko avoids a wild elbow strike from Mikhail.
Mikhail misses with an elbow strike.
Mikhail throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Morko throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Mikhails head.
Morko is pushing Mikhail up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Morko lands a knee to the head.
Morko scores with a shot to the side of Mikhail's head.
Morko lands a right hand.
Nice body punch from Morko.
Morko throws a knee to the head but misses.
Morko throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Mikhail blocks it with crossed arms.
Morko wants a takedown but no success here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mikhail landing knees to the body.
Morko throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Mikhail blocks it with crossed arms.
Mikhail tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Mikhail throws an elbow that misses.
Mikhail looking to slow down the pace here.

Morko breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Mikhail falls off balance throwing a combination
and Morko counters with a nice uppercut.
Mikhail circles away from the clinch attempt

and Mikhail counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Mikhail.

Morko jumps into guard, dragging Mikhail to the mat.
Morko working a defensive guard here.

Morko working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Mikhail has passed into half guard!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mikhail stands up out of the half guard.
Esko Morko is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Morko moves into the clinch.
Morko with a knee to the head.
Morko dodges an elbow strike from Mikhail.
Morko stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Mikhail lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Morko backwards.
A hook to the body from Morko.
Esko Morko seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Morko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Mikhail's face.
Morko blocks an elbow strike from Mikhail.
Morko taking a breather.
Morko with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Morko misses with a knee strike.
Mikhail has Morko pressed against the cage.
Mikhail swings wildly with an uppercut but Morko uses good head movement to avoid it.
Morko lands a shoulder strike.
Mikhail trying to land knees to the body.
Mikhail throws an elbow that misses.
Vladimir Mikhail has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Morko dodges an elbow strike from Mikhail.

And that's the end of the fight!
Esko Morko comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Morko 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Esko Morko!