PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Aleksander Ivanov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Whonjon William (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Ivanov
vs
William

182 cm
31
199 lbs
20 - 9 - 0

170 cm
26
200 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Very quick

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Brute

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 20 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Aleksander Ivanov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Whonjon William!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Fedor Mirinova and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Ivanov misses.
William shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ivanov pinned against the cage. Ivanov gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

William moves into the clinch successfully.
Ivanov softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
William takes a knee right on the jaw!

Ivanov's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A jab from Ivanov misses.
Ivanov throws a nice inside leg kick.
Ivanov takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Ivanov checks a leg kick.
A leg kick checked by Ivanov.
Ivanov digs a good hook to William's body.
William uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Ivanov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Aleksander Ivanov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fighters circle momentarily. William darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
William tests Ivanov's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Ivanov misses with a low kick.
William lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Ivanov throws a nice head kick!
William takes a body punch but keeps moving.
William looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Ivanov is fending him off so far but William persists. Nope, Ivanov circles away and we're back to standing.
Ivanov misses with a low kick.
William lands a jab to the head.
William misses with a wild body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov is looking to score with low kicks.
William connects with a leg kick. Ivanov looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Ivanov blocks a head kick by William.
Ivanov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but William was well out of range. Poor timing from Ivanov.

William looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
William is thwarting Ivanov's attempts to control the position.
Ivanov taking some punishment here, with William in his half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. William lands a nice short elbow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ivanov is doing well to control the position and prevent William from advancing to side control.

William wants to work for an arm triangle but Ivanov is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
William content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Ivanov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

William seems to be looking for submissions.
William wants to free his trapped foot but Ivanov is holding on for dear life with his legs.
William lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov won't allow William to pass to mount.
Nice strikes from William there.
William has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
William is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Ivanov can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
William trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The referee warns Ivanov that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
William fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ivanov wants to control but William is having none of it.
William looking to control and managing it successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Whonjon William dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Ivanov pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ivanov does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
William checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Nice body punch from Ivanov.
Ivanov slips a straight right by William.
William thuds a left hand into Ivanov's body.
William fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Ivanov moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Whonjon William seems to be getting the better of the standup.
William avoids the head kick by Ivanov.
Ivanov misses with a leg kick

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

That's one minute gone in the round.

William drops back looking for a leg! Ivanov is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Ivanov manages to kick William off! William jumps back into Ivanov's guard.
William postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Ivanov keeping moving, preventing William from controlling successfully.
Ivanov will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
William is fighting to break Ivanov's control of his arms but Ivanov is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Ivanov trying to keep a closed guard but William is proving a slippery customer.
William wants to control from the top but Ivanov keeps moving.
Ivanov trying to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
William sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Aleksander Ivanov just wasn't active enough.
William throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.

William looking to score a takedown here. Ivanov is defending well but William drives through and ends up in Ivanov's guard.
William is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
William looking to sit in guard and control but Ivanov gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
William working a defensive guard here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now William is on top in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Ivanov controls William momentarily but William frees himself.
William trying to control but Ivanov is working from the bottom.

Ivanov has an active guard here but William has managed to pass into half guard.
Ivanov is trying to get back to full guard.
William lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov wants to get back to full guard.

William seems to be working for a kimura but Ivanov defends the submission attempt.
Ivanov tries to get to full guard but William has control of the leg.

William 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.
Ground and pound from William.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Whonjon William showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

William lands with an uppercut that bounces Ivanov off the cage and back into range.
Ivanov avoids the body shot from William.
William lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Ivanov keeps the fight on the outside.

William has Ivanov up against the cage in a clinch.
Ivanov is looking to break free of the clinch but William has double underhooks.

Ivanov escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Ivanov scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

William throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ivanov was covering up waiting for the punch and William finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Ivanov trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
William wants to control from the top but Ivanov keeps moving.
Ivanov seems keen to control William's posture.
William trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
William postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
William wants to control from the top but Ivanov keeps moving.
William makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
William throwing strikes from guard but Ivanov blocks nicely.
William wants to control from the top but Ivanov keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov trying to control the position here.
Ivanov working a defensive guard here.

We're going to have a standup here because Aleksander Ivanov wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Ivanov blocks a low kick nicely.

William fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Ivanov, pushing him back against the cage.
Ivanov pushes William back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Ivanov has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
William has Ivanov pressed against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Ivanov manages to break the clinch.
Ivanov throws a leg kick but William sees it coming and moves out of range.
William bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Ivanov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Aleksander Ivanov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
William throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Ivanov lands with a thumping leg kick.
Ivanov cracks William with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

William closes the distance and pushes Ivanov back into the cage.
William jumps guard but Ivanov stands there with William around his waist. William gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Ivanov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov misses with a telegraphed body shot
and William counters with a stiff right hand.

Ivanov gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows William to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Ivanov utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
William loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
William keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Ivanov's head.
William loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
William trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Ivanov has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but William can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Whonjon William is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Ivanov keeping moving, preventing William from controlling successfully.

And that's the end of the fight!
Whonjon William comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got William 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Whonjon William!
Our winner, Whonjon William, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.