PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Slava Smirnov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Djanki Manki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Smirnov
vs
Manki

194 cm
19
209 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

187 cm
25
212 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Inexperienced

Demonic Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Slava Smirnov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Djanki Manki!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smirnov fails with a takedown attempt.
Smirnov slips a straight right by Manki.
Manki stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Manki wants it to stay on the feet.

Manki changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Smirnov looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Smirnov is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Manki decides to stand back up.
Smirnov shoots in looking for a takedown. Manki tries to sprawl out of it but Smirnov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Manki manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Slava Smirnov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Manki throws a series of punches but Smirnov avoids them all with ease.
Manki fails to land with a series of punches.
Nice sprawl there from Manki as Smirnov shoots in.
Smirnov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Manki shoots in and gets a takedown into Smirnov's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Manki is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Smirnov wants to get back to his feet but Manki is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Manki working some strikes from top position.
Manki must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Smirnov can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Manki controls the pace.

Smirnov has his foot on Manki's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Manki works his way back into a safe position though.

Smirnov is looking for a triangle but Manki pushes his legs off easily.
Manki stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Smirnov swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Manki working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Smirnov escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Manki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Manki prevents Smirnov from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Smirnov is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Manki stays in close to Smirnov's body and controls the position.
Let's hope that Manki has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Djanki Manki.

Manki shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Smirnov napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Smirnov is trying to buck Manki off.
Manki remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manki working the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Manki taking a breather here.
Smirnov is trying to get back to his feet.
Smirnov is looking to reverse the position.
Manki is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Smirnov will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Djanki Manki hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Smirnov is trying hard to land a takedown here. Manki sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Manki shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Smirnov is looking to improve his position but Manki isn't that keen on the idea.
Smirnov's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Manki scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Manki lands a nice shot to the head.
Manki controlling the pace for now.
Manki with good strikes from the mount here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Smirnov wants to try and get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Djanki Manki dominated that round.
That's time! Smirnov's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Smirnov dives in and grabs Manki's left leg, looking for a takedown. Manki pushes down on Smirnov's head and hops out.
Manki swats away the attempt to clinch by Smirnov.
Manki misses with a head kick.
Smirnov shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Manki as he avoids it easily.
Smirnov looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Manki is fending him off so far but Smirnov persists. Nope, Manki circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Slava Smirnov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smirnov looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Smirnov tries to sprawl but Manki drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Manki controlling the pace.
Manki seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Smirnov is trying to stand.
Manki not doing much here.
Manki passes the guard and advances to mount!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smirnov is wriggling around trying to escape.
Manki dominating with strikes here.
Manki sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Manki landing strikes from the mount and Smirnov is in trouble!
Manki with good strikes from the mount here!
Manki controlling from mount.
Smirnov tries to buck Manki off but he can't manage it.
Smirnov is wriggling around trying to escape.
Manki controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Manki won't let Smirnov get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Manki tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Manki is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Smirnov can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Manki lands with some strikes.
Manki lands a heavy elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manki looking to control and managing it successfully.
Smirnov taking shots to the head.
Manki controlling the position easily from mount.
Manki landing shots from mount.
Smirnov can't escape the position.
Djanki Manki has got the better of the ground game so far.
A nice elbow there by Manki.
Manki has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Manki content just to control the position here.
Smirnov can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Manki lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Manki lands a heavy elbow.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Manki takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Manki prevents Smirnov from getting the reversal.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Smirnov is working hard here to advance position.
Manki controlling the pace for now.
Smirnov is in all sorts of trouble here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Djanki Manki showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! 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.

Smirnov showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Manki.
Smirnov looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Slava Smirnov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nice sprawl there from Manki as Smirnov shoots in.

Manki closes the distance and clinches.
Smirnov lands a hook to the side of the head.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Smirnov lands a nice uppercut.
Smirnov misses with some punches.
Manki is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Smirnov pulls him back up using the underhooks.
A head punch on the inside from Smirnov fails to land.
Smirnov lands a left hand.

Smirnov breaks the clinch.
Manki lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

Manki looking to score a takedown here. Smirnov is defending well but Manki drives through and ends up in Smirnov's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Manki passes into half guard.
Manki seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Manki is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Smirnov!
Manki scoring with strikes but Smirnov is staying in there.
Manki looking to control and managing it successfully.
Manki working Smirnov over with strikes here.
Manki controlling from mount.
Smirnov trying desperately to get to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Manki controlling the pace for now.
Manki lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Manki working the ground and pound effectively.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Manki controlling from the full mount.
Manki lands a big shot there that rocks Smirnov but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manki landing strikes from the mount and Smirnov is in trouble!
Manki controlling his opponent.
Smirnov tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Manki tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Manki connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Manki has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Smirnov's face.
Manki controlling from mount.
Smirnov can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smirnov is trying to stand up.
Manki sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Smirnov really wants to buck Manki off and get back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Manki lands a big elbow.
Manki sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Smirnov is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Smirnov wants to get back to his feet.
Slava Smirnov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Djanki Manki is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

And that's the end of the fight!
Djanki Manki comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Manki winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Djanki Manki!