PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Kim Jong Thrill (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Iain Durrant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kim Jong Thrill has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Jong Thrill
vs
Durrant

166 cm
27
146 lbs
11 - 9 - 0

170 cm
28
145 lbs
10 - 8 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kim Jong Thrill!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 8 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Iain Durrant!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thrill misses with a hook.
Durrant fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Thrill missing with a left hand there. Durrant was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Durrant shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Durrant is fighting to break Thrill's control of his arms but Thrill is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Durrant wants to get up but he can't break Thrill's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Durrant trying to control but Thrill is working from the bottom.
Durrant advances to half guard.

Durrant is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Durrant is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Durrant looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Durrant is looking for a kimura but Thrill is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Durrant to get the leverage.
Durrant looks gassed!

Thrill looking for submissions off his back.

Durrant is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Thrill controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Durrant throws a strike but Thrill avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Thrill is pulling down on Durrant's head. It's preventing any offense from Durrant, at least for the moment.

Thrill is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Durrant defends well.
Durrant tries to stand but Thrill is controlling from the bottom.
Thrill is trying to keep Durrant in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Thrill scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Durrant shoots for a takedown but Thrill saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Durrant shoots in for a double leg but Thrill sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Kim Jong Thrill has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Iain Durrant.
Thrill fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A combination from Thrill does no damage.
Durrant misses with a head kick.
Durrant fails to land the takedown.
Thrill thows a left - swing and a miss!
Thrill throws a right and a left that both miss.
No luck for Durrant with that takedown attempt.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Durrant.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Durrant fails with a takedown attempt.
Thrill throws a hook to the side of Durrant's head but Durrant sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Durrant misses with a few strikes there.

Durrant is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Thrill's half guard.
Durrant prevents Thrill from improving his position.
Thrill is refusing to be controlled, as Durrant sits in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Thrill preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Iain Durrant will probably get the nod.
That's time! Thrill's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Thrill misses with a body shot.
Durrant throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Thrill sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Thrill swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Durrant fails to land the takedown.
Thrill works over Durrant's head and body with a nice combination.
Durrant blocks a low kick nicely.
Thrill throws a right and a left that Durrant avoids nicely.
Thrill tries to move into range but Durrant moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Iain Durrant seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Durrant fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Durrant walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Durrant misses with a takedown attempt - Thrill sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Kim Jong Thrill has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Iain Durrant.
Durrant shoots for a takedown but Thrill saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Durrant is breathing heavily.
Durrant has a takedown stuffed.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Thrill. No joy for Durrant on that attempt.
Durrant takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Thrill fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Durrant avoids it really well and circles away.
Thrill fails to land with a series of punches.
Thrill stalks Durrant and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Durrant's face. Durrant staggers backwards, shaken.
Thrill looks to land a combination but Durrant avoids it well.
Durrant blocks a head kick by Thrill.
Durrant misses with a takedown
and Thrill counters with a one-two to the body.
Thrill throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Durrant tries for a takedown but Thrill circles away easily

and Thrill counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Thrill.
Thrill looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrill preventing the sweep.
Thrill wants to control from the top but Durrant keeps moving.
Durrant is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Thrill is refusing to be controlled, as Durrant sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Durrant is just content to waste time from the top position. Thrill takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Thrill pulls Durrant in close to prevent any damage.
Durrant advances to half guard.
Thrill moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Thrill is trying to control the position but Durrant postures up.
Thrill wants to stand but Durrant is controlling the position.

Durrant has gone for a leg lock! Thrill slips out almost immediately though and dives into Durrant's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Thrill drops back, looking for a kneebar! Durrant looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Durrant looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Durrant!

Durrant is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Thrill has escaped the position, nice work there.
Durrant postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kim Jong Thrill dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Durrant fails with the takedown

and Thrill counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Durrant is controlling Thrill's posture.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Thrill wants to control from the top but Durrant keeps moving.
Durrant preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Durrant keeping moving, preventing Thrill from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Thrill is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Durrant looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Thrill is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Thrill advances to half guard.
Durrant is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Thrill is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Durrant keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Thrill works his foot free and advances to mount.
Thrill trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Thrill throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Durrant because Thrill loaded up on that one.
Thrill working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Thrill trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Thrill throws some wild stikes that Durrant manages to avoid easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thrill is stalling here but it's allowed Durrant to get half guard.
Thrill with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Thrill is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Thrill throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Thrill landing strikes from the mount.
Thrill looking to control and managing it successfully.
Thrill trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Thrill looking to finish with strikes here!
Thrill lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kim Jong Thrill showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Thrill has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:28
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kim Jong Thrill!