PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Castle Irons (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Silver Back (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Irons
vs
Back

176 cm
31
168 lbs
20 - 10 - 0

166 cm
31
155 lbs
13 - 3 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Castle Irons!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 3 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Silver Back!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Dmitry Maklakov and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Irons throws an overhand right that lands on Back's shoulder, as Back tries to avoid the shot.
Back shoots in but Irons avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Back shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Irons but Irons pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Back just misses with a punch to the body.
Irons will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Irons bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A left lands for Irons.

It looks like Silver Back has been cut.
Irons displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Back.
Castle Irons has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Silver Back.
Irons stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Irons wants it to stay on the feet.
Irons takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Back rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Irons counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Irons throws a series of strikes that have Back backpedaling.
Back sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Irons misses with a looping left.
A big left from Back misses.
Irons throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Back stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Back thows a body shot but no joy.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Irons, as that shot connected.
Back lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Back clobbers Irons with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Back closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Irons quickly recovers to half guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Irons is refusing to be controlled, as Back sits in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Irons wants to improve his position but Back is controlling well.
Back wants to lay and pray for a moment but Irons keeps working.
Irons knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Back on the ground.
Back wants to pass the guard but Irons is defending well.
Back throwing shots but Irons is blocking nicely.
Back thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Irons's head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Back landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Irons is not content to let Back control the position.
Irons on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Irons tries to get out of the position.
Back not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Back throws a strike but Irons avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Back has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Back throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Irons works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Irons looking for a sweep. Not yet Irons, not yet.
Back wants to control from the top but Irons keeps moving.
Back postures up in Irons's guard and throws a big left but Irons blocks it.
Irons keeping full guard, as Back tries to pass.
Back looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Back tries to free his leg and advance position but Irons is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Irons wants to sweep here but Back controlling him for the moment.
Back throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Irons works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Irons wants to sweep here but Back controlling him for the moment.
Back pushes down on Irons's leg and manages to get into half guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Back is taking a breather. Irons says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Back not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Back not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Back is trying to control the action in half guard but Irons is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Silver Back dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Silver Back's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Back throws a sloppy head kick and Irons moves out of range easily.
Back displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Irons uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Back has time to react.
Irons is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Back bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Irons's head.
Castle Irons is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Irons misses with an uppercut. Back saw that one coming.
Back fails with a takedown attempt.
Back scores with a nice head shot.
Irons turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Back shoots in but no luck this time.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Irons misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Irons slaps away a takedown attempt from Back, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Castle Irons has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Silver Back.
Irons thows a body shot but no joy.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Irons.
Back misses the shot to the body.
Irons takes one to the side of the head.
An inside leg kick lands from Irons.
Back moves forwards but Irons connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Irons lets loose with a powerful body kick. Back will feel that in the morning.
Irons throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Back.
Back on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Irons. Irons obviously looking to wear him down.
A looping hook to the body misses from Back. Irons does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Irons fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Back manages to avoid it.
Irons showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Back.
Castle Irons is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Irons slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Back swats away the attempt to clinch by Irons.
Irons swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Irons wants to clinch up but Back keeps it at a distance.
Back jabs Irons to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Irons lands a nice shot that snaps Back's head back.
Irons throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Irons takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Irons thows a body shot but no joy.
Back fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Irons manages to avoid it.
Irons throws a head kick that half lands.
Back ducks under a wild hook from Irons.
Irons throws a hook to the side of Back's head but Back sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Back just misses with a punch to the body.
A telegraphed right hand from Back misses the target.
Back misses the shot to the body.
Irons feints and then cracks Back's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Back down.
Back shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Irons but Irons pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Irons works Back's body with a nice hook.
Back lands a really nice looking cross but Irons seems unphased.
Castle Irons is winning the standup battle so far.
A swing and a miss from Irons.
Irons scores with a jab. Back acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Back.
Irons is trying to control Back's posture but Back avoids it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Back landing a few strikes.
Back throws an elbow but Irons slips to the side and avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Silver Back will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Silver Back's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Irons slips a jab from Back.
Castle Irons seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Back plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Back throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Irons slips under a jab.
Back fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Back throws a right hand that misses
and Irons counters with a stiff right hand.
Irons ducks under a wild hook from Back.
Back tries to score a power double leg takedown but Irons sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Back somewhat.
Back avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Back dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Back misses.
No joy there for Irons, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Irons chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Irons throws a nice looking combination but Back bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Back scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Back throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Back is trying to ground and pound but Irons uses the momentary lack of control by Back to regain half guard.
Back is keen to just control but Irons is a slippery customer.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Irons trying to control from the bottom.
Castle Irons has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Back thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Back moves into full mount! Irons won't be happy about that!
Back breaks from Irons's wrist control and lands an elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Back working the ground and pound effectively.
Back landing strikes from the mount and Irons is in trouble!
Back lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Irons hang on?
Back prevents Irons from getting the reversal.
Back lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Irons can't escape the position.
Back connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

Irons is rocked!
Irons is in a horrible position here. Back smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Silver Back is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Oh Irons is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Back controlling the pace for now.
Back can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Irons is looking to escape.
Irons seems to have got his legs back now.
Back lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Irons is working to get back to half guard.
Back sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Silver Back was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Irons fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Back manages to avoid it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Silver Back comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Back 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:30
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Silver Back!
A victorious Silver Back thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.