PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between george st pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcus Crostly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

st pierre
vs
Crostly

180 cm
25
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, george st pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Marcus Crostly!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Fedor Mirinova and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crostly shoots in looking for a takedown. st pierre tries to sprawl out of it but Crostly keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. st pierre manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
st pierre throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

st pierre gets a takedown into half guard.
st pierre is looking to pass Crostly's guard but actually Crostly recovers to full guard.
st pierre won't allow Crostly to sweep him here.
st pierre won't allow Crostly to get back to his feet.
Crostly working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from st pierre.
Crostly controlling st pierre's posture.
Crostly trying to control the position.
st pierre trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

st pierre gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
st pierre winds up and cracks Crostly with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Crostly makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
st pierre misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Crostly shoots in but no luck this time.
Crostly looks gassed!
st pierre lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

st pierre scores with a takedown into Crostly's guard.
st pierre throws a big right hand that misses.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells st pierre's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Crostly is trying to keep st pierre in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
st pierre thows a big elbow that misses.
st pierre 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.
st pierre trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
st pierre pushes down on Crostly's leg and manages to get into half guard.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
st pierre stands up and beckons Crostly to join him on the feet.
Crostly bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of st pierre's head.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Crostly taking some punishment here, with st pierre in his half guard.
st pierre with the ground and pound but Crostly uses the opportunity to regain guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
st pierre tries to stand but Crostly is controlling from the bottom.
st pierre pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Crostly is keeping the position for now.
st pierre lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Crostly uses the cage to get back to his feet.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Crostly napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crostly can't do much from the bottom here.
Crostly is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but st pierre is staying active.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
st pierre cracks Crostly with an elbow. That is naaassty.
st pierre working the ground and pound.
st pierre scoring with punches and elbows.
st pierre working the head with strikes.
Crostly tries to buck st pierre off but st pierre is having none of it.
st pierre looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Crostly is avoiding damage well.
Crostly regains half guard, as st pierre was trying to land strikes.
st pierre scoring with strikes to the body and head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
st pierre working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Crostly is doing well to control the position and prevent st pierre from advancing to side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

george st pierre 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.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
st pierre sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Crostly defending well though.
st pierre is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Crostly pushes st pierre off looking to stand but st pierre dives back in and keeps control.
st pierre drops an elbow to the side of Crostly's head.
Crostly is trying to maintain the position but st pierre is very close to passing his half guard.
Ground and pound from st pierre.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

st pierre decides to return to a standing position.
st pierre fails with the takedown
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Crostly napping and manages to drive through into side control!
st pierre cracks Crostly with a big right hand but Crostly just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
st pierre landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

st pierre stands up and we're back to a striking position.
st pierre with a poor takedown
and Crostly counters with a flying knee. Nice.
A head kick misses from st pierre.
Crostly is looking to clinch.
st pierre goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
st pierre tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Crostly swivels and escapes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for george st pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Crostly shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

st pierre kicks Crostly off and gets back to his feet.
st pierre tries to bum rush Crostly with a series of wild strikes but Crostly uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Crostly darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The fighters are battling for position here. st pierre manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
st pierre tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Crostly wants to stand but st pierre has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
st pierre wants to stand but Crostly is controlling the position.
Crostly wants to stand but st pierre has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Crostly must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
st pierre looking for a sweep. Not yet st pierre, not yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Crostly scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
st pierre moves into full guard.

st pierre is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
st pierre looking to throw knees to the head but Crostly is blocking nicely.
Crostly tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and st pierre avoids it.
st pierre lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

st pierre breaks from the clinch.
st pierre has his takedown stuffed

and Crostly counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in st pierre's guard now.
st pierre lands a good elbow from the bottom.

Crostly is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
st pierre throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
st pierre wants to stand up but Crostly is controlling him.
Crostly wants to control from the top but st pierre keeps moving.
st pierre throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
st pierre tries to land a sweep but no joy.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Crostly shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Crostly showed some decent athleticism there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
st pierre missing with punches from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

st pierre pushes Crostly off and gets back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Marcus Crostly will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Crostly tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but st pierre was well out of range. Poor timing from Crostly.
Crostly fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. st pierre looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
st pierre misses with a takedown attempt
and Crostly counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Crostly.
Crostly doesn't manage to clinch there - st pierre circles away.
st pierre looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Crostly is fending him off so far but st pierre persists. Nope, Crostly circles away and we're back to standing.
Crostly throws a body kick that misses.
Crostly wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
st pierre shoots and misses

and Crostly counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for george st pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.
st pierre scores with a nice shot.
Crostly trying to control the position from guard on top but st pierre is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

st pierre scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Crostly lands a nice looking body kick.

st pierre shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crostly avoiding damage under a succession of punches from st pierre.
Crostly gets back to full guard.
Crostly wants to stand and escape but st pierre is having none of it.
st pierre advances to half guard.

st pierre gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
st pierre avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
st pierre throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Crostly throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent st pierre stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
No luck for Crostly with that takedown attempt.
george st pierre is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Crostly tries to clinch but st pierre is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
st pierre misses with a double jab.
st pierre throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Crostly decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in st pierre's guard.
Crostly wants to control from the top but st pierre keeps moving.
Crostly lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Crostly preventing the sweep.
Crostly trying to control the position from guard on top but st pierre is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
st pierre bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Crostly's guard.
st pierre scoring with some ground and pound.
st pierre thows a big elbow that misses.
st pierre tries to free his leg and advance position but Crostly is retaining full guard.
Crostly tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
st pierre with a flurry of punches that miss.
Crostly lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for st pierre!
george st pierre overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
st pierre is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
st pierre manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Crostly is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so st pierre is just riding it out for now. Crostly eventually gives up the hold.
Crostly is looking to take a break and control but st pierre is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
st pierre gets back to full guard.
Crostly is looking to work some ground and pound but st pierre has wrist control.
st pierre looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

st pierre is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Crostly lands a right hand that snaps the head of st pierre backwards.

st pierre is trying to trip Crostly. He has hold of a leg but Crostly is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. st pierre persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Crostly can't keep his opponent in guard - st pierre advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
st pierre lands strikes from half guard.
Crostly gets full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Marcus Crostly.
I think Crostly 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:29
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Marcus Crostly!