PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rasaad Bashir (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tomislav Bardic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bardic has chosen Down With The Sickness as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Bashir
vs
Bardic

189 cm
25
189 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

183 cm
19
185 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rasaad Bashir!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tomislav Bardic!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yukihiro Shimada and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A punch combination from Bashir misses.
An inside leg kick lands from Bashir.
Donk. Bashir catches Bardic right on the button with a cross.
Bashir lands a jab.
Bashir tries a head kick but it misses.
Bardic shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Bashir sprawls well. Bashir wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Bardic gets slowly back to his feet.
Bashir feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Bardic's calf.
Horrible takedown by Bardic or perhaps it was just good defense by Bashir which made him look bad.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A good leg kick by Bashir.
Bashir fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Bardic on the side of the head.
Bashir fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Bardic blocks a head kick by Bashir.
Bashir stuffs the takedown.
Rasaad Bashir has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tomislav Bardic.
Bashir throws a low kick, looking for Bardic's leg but Bardic calmly moves out of range.
Bardic blocks a low kick nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Good work by Bardic as he checks the leg kick.

Bardic shoots in and gets a takedown into Bashir's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bashir avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Bashir has momentary wrist control but Bardic slips an elbow through the middle.
Bardic stands up over Bashir, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Bashir preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Bardic working some strikes from top position.
Bardic postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Bardic is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Bardic with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bashir is trying to control the position but Bardic postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Bardic drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bardic jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Bardic drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bardic jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Bardic with a flurry of punches that miss.
Bashir wants to get back to his feet but Bardic is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Bardic drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bardic jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Bardic with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Bardic postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Bashir knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Bardic on the ground.
Bardic postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bardic prevents Bashir from getting back to his feet.
Bashir is breathing heavily.
Bardic is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Bardic is looking to work some ground and pound but Bashir has wrist control.

Bardic drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Bardic seems to have locked his on tight now - Bashir screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Bardic, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:38 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Tomislav Bardic!
Tomislav Bardic was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.