PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Van Dinh Nguyen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cat Kifo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nguyen comes to the ring accompanied by Rolling Stones - Paint it Black . Van Dinh Nguyen has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Dinh Nguyen
vs
Kifo

173 cm
20
146 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

168 cm
25
142 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Powerful

BALCO UNIFORM
Balco Boys - Hilo

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Van Dinh Nguyen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Cat Kifo!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kifo gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Nguyen cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Nguyen delivers a nice body kick.
Kifo shoots and misses
and Nguyen counters with a straight right hand.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Nguyen throws a body kick that misses.
Nguyen thuds his shin into the meat of Kifo's side.
Nguyen is looking to land body kicks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nguyen punishes Kifo's body with a nice straight punch.
Nguyen throws a wild body kick that Kifo sees coming a mile off.
Nguyen throws a sloppy head kick and Kifo moves out of range easily.
Nguyen pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Kifo shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Nguyen counters with a nice leg kick.
Van Dinh Nguyen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Cat Kifo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Nguyen looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Kifo shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Nguyen counters with a left and a right that stings Kifo.
Kifo with a lazy takedown attempt
and Nguyen counters with a low kick, right behind Kifo 's knee.
Nguyen scoring well with a low kick there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Nguyen. That's going to slow Kifo down.
Nguyen looks for the body kick but Kifo saw that one coming.
Van Dinh Nguyen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nguyen misses with an attempted mid kick.

Nguyen has managed to clinch.
Nguyen creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Kifo's defenses.
Nguyen using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Nguyen working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Kifo is defending well for now.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Nguyen throws an elbow but misses.
Nguyen tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Nguyen tries to land knees in the clinch but Kifo avoids the damage to the body.
Nguyen scores with a shoulder strike.
Nguyen scores with a shoulder strike.
Nguyen tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kifo avoids it.
Kifo has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Nguyen is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Kifo is working for takedown but Nguyen is calmly controlling the position for now.
Nguyen misses with the head strike.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kifo has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Nguyen avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nguyen softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Nguyen lands with a short punch from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Van Dinh Nguyen dominated that 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.

Kifo takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.

Kifo looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

Kifo is working for a kimura but Nguyen is defending it quite comfortably.

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

Kifo seems to be looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kifo trying to work for an americana but Nguyen has managed to regain full guard.

Kifo drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Nguyen manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Kifo has Nguyen in his guard.
Nguyen throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kifo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Nguyen postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Kifo is proving hard to escape from.
Kifo looking to control.
Nguyen throws an elbow that misses. Kifo uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Nguyen's guard. Nice move by Kifo!

Kifo has gone for a leg lock! Nguyen slips out almost immediately though and dives into Kifo's guard.
Nguyen with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen throwing strikes from guard but Kifo blocks nicely.
Nguyen postures up and lands a big shot to Kifo's brow.
Nguyen is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Kifo is pulling down on Nguyen's head to control his posture.
Nguyen throwing strikes but missing.
Nguyen throws an elbow that misses. Kifo uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Nguyen's guard. Nice move by Kifo!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kifo postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Nguyen is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Kifo, into his guard.
Nguyen missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Nguyen postures up in Kifo's guard and throws a big left but Kifo blocks it.
Nguyen throws a strike but Kifo rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Kifo drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Nguyen dives on top into guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Van Dinh Nguyen will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A slapping body kick lands there for Nguyen.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Nguyen.
Nguyen is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Kifo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Nguyen.

Kifo scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kifo is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Nguyen has escaped the position, nice work there.

Kifo goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Nguyen rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Kifo's guard! Nice work there by Nguyen!
Nguyen throws a strike but Kifo rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen throws a strike but Kifo rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Kifo drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Nguyen dives on top into guard.
Nguyen landing some decent shots from guard.
Kifo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Nguyen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nguyen postures up in Kifo's guard and throws a big left but Kifo blocks it.
Kifo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Nguyen throws an elbow that misses. Kifo uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Nguyen's guard. Nice move by Kifo!

Kifo has gone for a leg lock! Nguyen slips out almost immediately though and dives into Kifo's guard.
Van Dinh Nguyen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kifo not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Nguyen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kifo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Nguyen throws an elbow that misses. Kifo uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Nguyen's guard. Nice move by Kifo!

Kifo has gone for a leg lock! Nguyen slips out almost immediately though and dives into Kifo's guard.
Nguyen throws a big right hand that misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nguyen throws a big right hand that misses.
Nguyen in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Van Dinh Nguyen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Nguyen 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight for Van Dinh Nguyen!
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight for Van Dinh Nguyen!
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight for Van Dinh Nguyen!

Van Dinh Nguyen wins by unanimous decision!
Van Dinh Nguyen decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.