PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Svetislav Pajkic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vitor Belfort (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pajkic comes to the cage accompanied by Dimmu Borgir - Puritania. Belfort is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Delinquent Habits - Tres Delinquentes . These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Pajkic
vs
Belfort

194 cm
23
284 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

183 cm
21
240 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very strong

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

•‡• LION Clothing •‡• [CBK]
•‡• LION Clothing •‡• [CBK]

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Svetislav Pajkic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Vitor Belfort!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Andrew Berry and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Belfort ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Pajkic takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Belfort shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Pajkic pinned against the cage. Pajkic gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Belfort throws the left hand but Pajkic avoids the punch easily.
Belfort changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Pajkic tries to avoid it but Belfort manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Pajkic to the ground. Pajkic escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Belfort shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Belfort thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Pajkic's head.

Belfort wants to work for an arm triangle but Pajkic is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pajkic is staying active underneath Belfort, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Belfort thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Pajkic's head.
Belfort sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pajkic defending well though.
Belfort moves into full mount! Pajkic won't be happy about that!
Belfort misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Belfort wants to control the pace but Pajkic is squirming around nicely.
Pajkic holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Belfort tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

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.
Poor strikes thrown by Belfort there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Pajkic in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Pajkic suckers Belfort into throwing a sloppy strike and uses the momentum to reverse the position beautifully! Pajkic is now in Belfort's guard!

Belfort escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Pajkic gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Pajkic stopping the sweep attempt from Belfort.

Belfort throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Belfort looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Pajkic puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Pajkic tries to stand and escape but Belfort is controlling the position.
Belfort has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Belfort gets full guard.
Pajkic stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Belfort swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Belfort is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Belfort trying to keep a closed guard but Pajkic is proving a slippery customer.
Pajkic has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Belfort wants to sweep but no luck.

Belfort had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Pajkic defends it easily.

Belfort has his foot on Pajkic's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Pajkic works his way back into a safe position though.
Belfort looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vitor Belfort dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Belfort fails to land the takedown.
Belfort throws a jab when Pajkic was well out of range.
Pajkic tries to move into range but Belfort moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Belfort throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Pajkic throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Belfort looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Pajkic is fending him off so far but Belfort persists. Nope, Pajkic circles away and we're back to standing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pajkic throws a hook but Belfort blocks it.
Pajkic looks to land a right hand but Belfort moved out of range.
Pajkic on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pajkic lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Belfort circles away quickly and effectively.
A jab from Belfort finds it's way through Pajkic's defenses.

Belfort closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Pajkic quickly recovers to half guard.
Belfort not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Belfort is trying to work for a kimura but Pajkic is defending well.
Belfort looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Pajkic with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Pajkic avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Belfort.
Belfort is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pajkic is trying to stand up here but Belfort is controlling him well.
Belfort sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pajkic defending well though.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Belfort. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Pajkic blocking the ground and pound attempt from Belfort.
Pajkic regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Belfort.
Pajkic keeping moving, preventing Belfort from controlling successfully.
Belfort thows a big elbow that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Belfort accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pajkic preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Belfort postures up in Pajkic's guard and throws a big left but Pajkic blocks it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Belfort is looking to work some ground and pound but Pajkic has wrist control.
Belfort slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Belfort is trying to get an arm triangle but Pajkic is defending well.
Belfort scores with punches from side control.

Belfort is trying to get an arm triangle but Pajkic is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Belfort seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Belfort postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Belfort advances to full mount.
Belfort throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Belfort sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Belfort looking to finish with strikes here!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vitor Belfort 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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Belfort fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Pajkic manages to avoid it.
Belfort lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Good shot there by Belfort.
Svetislav Pajkic is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Pajkic throws a series of punches but Belfort avoids them all with ease.
Belfort lands a nice looking body shot.
Belfort missing with a left hand there. Pajkic was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Belfort avoids the body shot from Pajkic.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Belfort is defended easily by Pajkic.
Belfort punishes Pajkic's body with a nice straight punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Belfort.
Belfort swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Pajkic uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Belfort.
Belfort throws a shot from downtown. Pajkic moves away and avoids it.
Belfort fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Belfort throws a hook to the side of Pajkic's head but Pajkic sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Vitor Belfort seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Pajkic misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Pajkic throws a sloppy body shot

and Belfort counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Belfort not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belfort looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Belfort thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Pajkic's head.
Belfort is trying to control the action in half guard but Pajkic is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Belfort not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Pajkic blocking the ground and pound attempt from Belfort.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pajkic blocking the ground and pound attempt from Belfort.
Belfort looks to land a strike but Pajkic avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Belfort throws a big right hand that misses.
Belfort trying to control the position from guard on top but Pajkic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pajkic utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Belfort with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Vitor Belfort is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Belfort's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Belfort's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Pajkic will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Belfort looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belfort controls from within his opponent's guard.
Svetislav Pajkic has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Vitor Belfort has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
A swing and a miss from Belfort.
Belfort swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Pajkic counters with a nice body shot.
Pajkic throws out a loose jab but Belfort uses good head movement to avoid it.
Pajkic throws the kick towards the body but Belfort avoids it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vitor Belfort comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Belfort 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 William Gold scores the fight 27:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Vitor Belfort!