PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ryan O Riley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Victor Drago (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

O Riley
vs
Drago

180 cm
21
200 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

225 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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, Ryan O Riley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Victor Drago!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from O Riley is defended easily by Drago.
O Riley throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Drago doesn't manage to clinch there - O Riley circles away.
O Riley has a takedown stuffed.

O Riley gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Drago to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Drago stays in close to O Riley's body and controls the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Drago tries to stand but O Riley is controlling from the bottom.
O Riley is looking to sweep but instead, Drago has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Drago stands up from half guard.
Drago fails in his attempt to clinch.
Drago tries a head kick but it misses.
O Riley lands with a shot to the body.
O Riley swinging wildly here.
Drago misses with a kick to the body.
Drago with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling O Riley to score with a decent uppercut.
O Riley shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Drago defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryan O Riley. That's going to take a lot out of him.

O Riley gets a takedown into half guard.
O Riley is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Drago is positioning himself well to prevent O Riley advancing to mount.
Drago is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

O Riley is looking for a kimura but Drago is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for O Riley to get the leverage.
The fighters are battling for position here. Drago manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Drago pulls O Riley in close to prevent any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Drago has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
O Riley might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Drago working a defensive guard here.
Drago tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Drago pulls O Riley in close to prevent any damage.

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

Drago closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Drago controlling the action here.
Drago frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Victor Drago dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Drago is looking to score with low kicks.
O Riley slips under a jab from Drago.

O Riley instigates a clinch.
O Riley keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Drago's efforts to push away.
Drago tries to stall but O Riley uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
O Riley fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Drago changes levels and goes for a takedown here. O Riley fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Drago wants to clinch but O Riley slips to the side

and O Riley counters with a single leg into guard. Drago didn't expect that.
Drago trying to control the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Drago manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. O Riley manages to get himself to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drago is stalling in the full guard.

Drago gets to his feet - O Riley follows without any prompting.
Drago tries to clinch

and O Riley moves into the clinch.
Drago misses with the head strike.
Drago wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but O Riley has him pressed against the cage.
Drago tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Nice elbow from O Riley.

O Riley escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Drago tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but O Riley was well out of range. Poor timing from Drago.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Drago closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. O Riley did well to prevent Drago getting side control.
Drago tries to stand but can't do so whilst O Riley controls his leg.
Drago passes to full mount!
Drago controlling from the full mount.
O Riley taking shots to the head.
Drago looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Drago tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Drago's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Victor Drago has got the better of the ground game so far.
Drago with good strikes from the mount here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Drago controlling from the full mount.

Drago stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Victor Drago 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. And we move into the final round!

Drago fails with the takedown
and O Riley counters with a head kick. That will keep Drago thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Drago tries to clinch but O Riley moves away

and O Riley holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Drago is trying to break free.

Drago manages to break the clinch.
Drago tries to clinch

and O Riley counters with a single leg into guard. Drago didn't expect that.
Drago wants to stand but O Riley is controlling the position.
O Riley has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Drago is trying to control the position from the bottom.
O Riley preventing the sweep.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Drago controlling O Riley's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Despite being in the dominant position, Victor Drago just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Drago fails with the takedown
and O Riley counters with a nice low kick that buckles Drago's knee momentarily.
Drago wants to clinch

and O Riley counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by O Riley.
Drago wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
O Riley has Drago pressed against the cage, preventing Drago from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Drago tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. O Riley just stands there and leans against the cage.
Ryan O Riley has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Victor Drago.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Drago has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. O Riley is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

O Riley pulls guard.
Drago is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Drago pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. O Riley is keeping the position for now.
O Riley is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Drago is controlling him.
Drago has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of O Riley is proving hard to escape from.

Drago stands and steps away. O Riley gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drago shoots in looking for a takedown. O Riley tries to sprawl out of it but Drago keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. O Riley manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
O Riley moves out of range of the body kick.
Left hook, right uppercut from O Riley.
O Riley tries to clinch up but Drago circles away and keeps his distance.
Drago tries for a takedown but O Riley circles away easily
and O Riley counters with a good low kick that Drago was not able to check.
O Riley avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nice takedown defense from O Riley. No joy for Drago on that attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Drago lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but O Riley circles away quickly and effectively.

Drago gets caught flat footed, as O Riley shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Drago is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
O Riley prevents Drago from getting back to his feet.
Drago is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Drago looking to hit a scissor sweep but O Riley is one step ahead there.

O Riley avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ryan O Riley showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Drago has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Victor Drago!