PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tam Zeus (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cowboy Henry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zeus comes to the cage accompanied by Open Road. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Zeus
vs
Henry

178 cm
27
199 lbs
8 - 3 - 1

185 cm
29
185 lbs
15 - 10 - 0

BJJ Red Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite 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 8 - 3 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Tam Zeus!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Cowboy Henry!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zeus checks the leg kick nicely there.
Tam Zeus seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zeus keeps the fight on the outside.
Henry gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Zeus with a nice cross.
Zeus fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Henry fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Zeus, pushing him back against the cage.
Henry blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Zeus escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Henry on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Zeus misses with a right hand
and Henry counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Zeus thinking.
Henry throws a one two combo.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Henry fails in his attempt to clinch.
Henry shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Zeus misses with a takedown attempt
and Henry counters with a series of strikes. Zeus will be more careful next time no doubt.
Henry throws a right hand that misses

and Zeus decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Henry's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Zeus slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Henry wants to get back to his feet but Zeus is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Zeus throws a strike but Henry rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Henry throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Zeus works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Zeus is trying to control the position but Henry postures up.
Zeus has a closed guard, preventing Henry from standing up.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Henry accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Henry looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zeus tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Henry working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Zeus wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Zeus working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Henry.
Henry working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Henry postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Henry postures up.
Henry throwing strikes from guard but Zeus blocks nicely.
Henry throwing strikes but missing.
Zeus wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Henry got a little sloppy there for a moment and Zeus has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Henry has managed to get both his arms back between Zeus's legs - danger averted.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Henry connects with a couple of short punches.
Henry throws a strike but Zeus rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Henry really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zeus. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Henry looking to control.
Henry keeping moving, preventing Zeus from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zeus tries to free his leg and advance position but Henry is retaining full guard.
Zeus throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Henry works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Henry being controlled here, momentarily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Zeus throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Zeus shoots in for a double leg but Henry sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tam Zeus. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Henry keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Zeus.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Zeus misses with a straight right.
Nice straight punches there by Henry. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Henry.
Jab by Zeus.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Cowboy Henry will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

An inside leg kick lands from Henry.
Zeus's corner calls for a 1-2. Zeus obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Henry misses with a wild combination.

Henry clinches with his opponent.

Zeus breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Zeus lands the left hand.

Zeus feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Zeus stays in close to Henry's body and controls the position.
Zeus stops Henry from standing up.
Zeus wants to control from the top but Henry keeps moving.
Zeus stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Henry swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry can't keep his opponent in guard - Zeus advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

Zeus seems to be looking for submissions.

Zeus is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Henry still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Henry has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Henry working the ground and pound but Zeus is defending the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henry creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Henry throws an elbow but Zeus slips to the side and avoids it well.
Check out the look on Henry's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Zeus sneaks back into half guard.
Zeus keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Henry throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Henry with the ground and pound but Zeus uses the opportunity to regain guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Henry tries to free his leg and advance position but Zeus is retaining full guard.
Henry is looking to work some ground and pound but Zeus has wrist control.
Henry working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Henry throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Henry throws an elbow that misses. Zeus uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Henry's guard. Nice move by Zeus!
Zeus's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Zeus manages to get himself to full guard.
Henry throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Zeus bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Henry's guard.
Zeus stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Henry swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Henry can't keep his opponent in guard - Zeus advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zeus seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Henry does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Zeus is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Henry is not content to let Zeus control the position.
Henry is trying to stand up here but Zeus is controlling him well.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zeus stalling.
Ground and pound from Zeus.
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 Tam Zeus will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. 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.

Henry tries to close the distance and clinch but Zeus swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Zeus gets a double leg takedown into Henry's guard.
Tam Zeus overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Zeus is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Zeus in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zeus pushes down on Henry's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Zeus controlling the action here.
Zeus trying to pass the guard but Henry defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zeus seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Henry does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Zeus looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Zeus trying to pass the guard but Henry defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Zeus controlling the action here.
Zeus is pressing down on Henry's thigh, looking to free his foot. Henry is holding on for now.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Zeus in particular looking to stall.

Zeus is working for a kimura but Henry is defending it quite comfortably.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zeus keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Zeus is just content to waste time from the top position. Henry takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Zeus is looking to work some ground and pound but Henry has wrist control.
Zeus tries to free his leg and advance position but Henry is retaining full guard.
Zeus trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zeus throws a big elbow that misses.
Henry wants to stand but Zeus is controlling the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Tam Zeus just wasn't active enough.
Henry keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Zeus misses with a takedown attempt - Henry sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tam Zeus showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Zeus has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:28
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tam Zeus!
An out of breath Tam Zeus thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.