PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Nate Great (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Branko Popovic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Popovic has chosen None as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Great
vs
Popovic

185 cm
29
180 lbs
8 - 6 - 0

193 cm
29
192 lbs
21 - 15 - 1

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nate Great!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Branko Popovic!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Popovic lands with an uppercut that bounces Great off the cage and back into range.
Popovic throws a right hand that Great ducks under and follows up with a left that Great also avoids with ease.
A looping hook to the body misses from Great. Popovic does a little dance to reset his feet.
Popovic digs a good hook to Great's body.
Great takes a jab right on the kisser.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Great fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Popovic manages to avoid it.
Popovic swings for the body but Great moves out of range.
Great showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Popovic.
Popovic tests Great's chin there with a solid looking shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popovic moves out of range as Great strikes.
Popovic takes a swing at Great's ribcage but misses.
Popovic thows a body shot but no joy.
Popovic just misses with a punch to the body.
Great keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Popovic.
Popovic is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Great rather than just go for the knockout.
Great thows a body shot but no joy.
Great misses with a takedown attempt
and Popovic counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Popovic takes a swing at Great's ribcage but misses.
Popovic looks to score with a jab to the body but Great is just out of range.
Popovic changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Great misses with a wild body shot.
Popovic tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Great was well out of range. Poor timing from Popovic.
Great misses with a wild body shot.
A jab from Popovic misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Popovic misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Great.
Popovic lands with an uppercut that bounces Great off the cage and back into range.
Popovic takes a swing at Great's ribcage but misses.
Popovic swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Branko Popovic seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Great thows a body shot but no joy.
A shot to the body from Great misses
and Popovic makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Great takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The fighters circling - Great throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Popovic closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Great misses with a wild body shot.
Popovic lands with an overhand left.
Great slips a jab and a cross from Popovic.
Popovic misses with an uppercut. Great saw that one coming.
Popovic throws an overhand right that lands on Great's shoulder, as Great tries to avoid the shot.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Popovic misses with a series of wild punches.
Popovic tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Great was well out of range. Poor timing from Popovic.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Branko Popovic 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.

Great takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Popovic throws a right hand that Great ducks under and follows up with a left that Great also avoids with ease.
Popovic swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Popovic throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Popovic closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Great to the mat! Great manages to get full guard.

Great throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Popovic avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Popovic works over Great with some ground and pound from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Great is looking for a triangle but Popovic pushes his legs off easily.

Popovic avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Popovic distracts Great with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Great keeping moving, preventing Popovic from controlling successfully.

Popovic stands and steps away. Great gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Popovic throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A big left from Popovic misses.
Great shoots for a double leg takedown but Popovic sprawls well. He's pushed Great's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Jab by Popovic.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Popovic looks to land a combination. Great sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Popovic dances in with a quick combination. Great is being worked over with jabs and crosses. Oooh, a right straight from Popovic snaps Great's head back. Great stumbles backwards against the cage. Popovic steps forward and delivers a right cross that connects with Great's jaw, simultaneously knocking him out and sending his mouthpiece into the crowd! There's a worthy souvenir for the fans. This one is over folks. Great just didn't come prepared.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:22 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Branko Popovic!
Branko Popovic is the new middleweight champion!