PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Gregory St Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Petrov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). St Pierre's entrance music is The Rush. A fine choice. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

St Pierre
vs
Petrov

178 cm
23
172 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

177 cm
24
180 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gregory St Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ivan Petrov!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Alec Ball and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Petrov tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but St Pierre paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Petrov moves into the clinch.

Petrov breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Petrov throws a right and a left that St Pierre avoids nicely.

St Pierre instigates a clinch.
St Pierre has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Petrov is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

Petrov is fighting off a takedown attempt but St Pierre is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Petrov to the mat. Petrov regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
St Pierre wants to pass the guard but Petrov is keeping the position.
St Pierre trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
St Pierre throws a strike but Petrov rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Petrov decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Petrov fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petrov shoots in but St Pierre avoids the takedown attempt easily.
St Pierre throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Petrov counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Petrov.
Petrov is stalling in the full guard.
St Pierre wants to stand but Petrov is controlling the position.
Petrov postures up.
Petrov preventing the sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Petrov wants to stand and escape but instead St Pierre has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
St Pierre preventing the sweep.

St Pierre avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Petrov looks gassed!

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Petrov misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
St Pierre lands a head kick. Petrov smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

It looks like Ivan Petrov has been cut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petrov tries to clinch

and St Pierre counters with a nice double leg into guard.
St Pierre thows a big elbow that misses.
St Pierre throwing strikes but missing.
St Pierre landing with the ground and pound.
St Pierre lands a couple of decent looking shots.
St Pierre postures up and lands a big shot to Petrov's brow.
St Pierre wants to control from the top but Petrov keeps moving.
St Pierre landing some decent shots from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre thows a big elbow that misses.
St Pierre cracks Petrov with a solid left hand.
St Pierre throws and elbow that misses. Petrov uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in St Pierre's guard. Nice move by Petrov!

St Pierre is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Petrov is aware though and is defending well.
St Pierre looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
St Pierre is working hard here to advance position.
St Pierre doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gregory St Pierre dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Petrov's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Petrov closes the distance and pushes St Pierre back into the cage.
St Pierre tries to score a body lock takedown but Petrov shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Petrov has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics St Pierre uses from the top position.
Petrov trying to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
St Pierre content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
St Pierre loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
St Pierre passes Petrov's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
St Pierre missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
St Pierre throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
St Pierre wants to control but Petrov is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petrov wants to control but St Pierre is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Petrov is staying active underneath St Pierre, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Nice strikes from St Pierre there.
St Pierre trying to control from half guard but Petrov is working away.
St Pierre content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Petrov leaves St Pierre with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Petrov feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre trying to keep a closed guard but Petrov is proving a slippery customer.
St Pierre wants to sweep but no luck.
St Pierre keeping moving, preventing Petrov from controlling successfully.

St Pierre manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Petrov misses with a takedown attempt

and St Pierre counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by St Pierre.
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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre with a flurry of punches that miss.
Petrov keeping moving, preventing St Pierre from controlling successfully.
St Pierre works over Petrov with some ground and pound from guard.
St Pierre wants to pass the guard but Petrov is keeping the position.
St Pierre thows a big elbow that misses.

St Pierre is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Petrov is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Petrov has escaped and now he's on top!
St Pierre trying to keep a closed guard but Petrov is proving a slippery customer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Petrov stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. St Pierre swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Petrov drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and St Pierre dives on top into guard.
St Pierre cracks Petrov with a solid left hand.
St Pierre throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
St Pierre loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gregory St Pierre dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Petrov'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.

St Pierre tries to clinch up

and Petrov counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
St Pierre wants to get back to his feet but Petrov is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

St Pierre throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Petrov wanted to stand there but St Pierre had control of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre keeping moving, preventing Petrov from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
St Pierre bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Petrov's guard.
St Pierre postures up in Petrov's guard and throws a big left but Petrov blocks it.
St Pierre trying to control but Petrov is working from the bottom.
St Pierre throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
St Pierre stopping the sweep attempt from Petrov.
St Pierre is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Gregory St Pierre overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two 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.
St Pierre landing with the ground and pound.
Petrov trying to keep a closed guard but St Pierre is proving a slippery customer.

Petrov is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
St Pierre rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Petrov moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Excellent takedown into side control there by St Pierre.

Petrov throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petrov misses with a takedown attempt
and St Pierre counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Petrov moves in looking to clinch but St Pierre pushes him off.
St Pierre is looking to land body kicks.
Petrov fails with the takedown
and St Pierre counters with a good, hard body kick but Petrov shrugs it off.
Petrov throws a front kick aimed at St Pierre's knee but St Pierre avoids it well.
St Pierre throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Petrov throws a body kick the misses
and St Pierre counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.

That's four 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.
Petrov darts in trying to clinch

and St Pierre counters with a nice double leg into side control. Petrov won't be happy with that.
St Pierre gets to mount! Petrov was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
St Pierre landing shots from mount.
St Pierre sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
St Pierre putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Ivan Petrov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gregory St Pierre is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
St Pierre raining down shots from the mount!

And that's the end of the fight!
Gregory St Pierre showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for St Pierre, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gregory St Pierre!