PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dirk Damon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ilian Mladenov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Damon comes to the cage accompanied by Grind With Me. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Damon
vs
Mladenov

190 cm
30
205 lbs
9 - 9 - 0

189 cm
21
221 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

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 9 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Dirk Damon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ilian Mladenov!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Johanna Lukiainen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mladenov misses with an uppercut. Damon saw that one coming.
Damon tries to clinch
and Mladenov counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Dirk Damon seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Damon clinches up with Mladenov and pushes him back against the cage.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Damon landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.
Damon working Mladenov over with knees to the body.
Mladenov looks winded!
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Damon using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Mladenov wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Damon has him pressed against the cage.
Damon unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mladenov misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Damon.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Damon working Mladenov over with knees to the body.
Damon scores a nice knee to the body.

Mladenov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Damon keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Damon tries to clinch there but Mladenov circles away.
Mladenov misses with a body kick.
Damon moves in looking to clinch but Mladenov pushes him off.
Damon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mladenov swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Mladenov lands a jab to the nose.
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!
Damon fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Damon pushes Mladenov up against the cage in a clinch.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Mladenov is looking to break free of the clinch but Damon has double underhooks.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon working Mladenov over with knees to the body.
Mladenov is looking to break free of the clinch but Damon has double underhooks.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Mladenov tries to break the clinch but Damon is controlling the position.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov tries to circle away but Damon has him pinned against the cage.
Mladenov is trying to push Damon away but Damon has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damon utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.
Damon lands a knee to the body.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Mladenov breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Mladenov gets tackled into the cage by Damon. Damon maintains the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Mladenov manages to break the clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Damon fails in his attempt to clinch.
Damon is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Nice body kick from Mladenov.
Damon tries to clinch up.
Damon closes the distance looking to clinch
and Mladenov counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Damon thinking.
Damon doesn't manage to clinch there - Mladenov circles away.
Damon takes one on the chin but seems OK.

It looks like Dirk Damon has been cut.
Damon tries to clinch
and Mladenov counters with a big head kick but Damon shrugs it off.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Damon tries to clinch there but Mladenov circles away.
Damon fails in his attempt to clinch.
Damon tries to clinch but Mladenov moves out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dirk Damon dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Dirk Damon's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Damon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mladenov swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Nice shot lands for Mladenov.

Damon clinches up against the cage.
Damon has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Mladenov tries to break free but Damon pushes him back against the cage.
Damon has Mladenov pressed against the cage, preventing Mladenov from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Mladenov tries to break the clinch but Damon is controlling the position.
Mladenov wants to break free but Damon has control.
Mladenov wants to break free but Damon has control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.
Dirk Damon has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.

Mladenov manages to break the clinch.
Damon avoids a kick to the body.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Mladenov scores with a jab.
Damon tries to clinch there but Mladenov circles away.
Damon on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Damon doesn't manage to clinch there - Mladenov circles away.
Mladenov throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mladenov waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Damon.
Mladenov circles away from the clinch attempt.
Damon wants to clinch
and Mladenov connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice straight punches there by Mladenov. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Mladenov.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Damon closes the distance but Mladenov moves to the side
and Mladenov counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Mladenov circles away from the clinch attempt
and Mladenov counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Mladenov swats away the attempt to clinch by Damon.
Damon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mladenov swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Damon tries to clinch up.
Damon tries to clinch
and Mladenov counters with a body kick that stops Damon in his tracks momentarily.
Damon is looking to clinch but Mladenov is avoiding it.

Damon closes the distance and clinches.

Mladenov breaks from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damon moves to clinch but Mladenov breaks away
and Mladenov counters with a left to the body.
Dirk Damon is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Damon is looking to clinch but Mladenov is avoiding it.
Damon wants to clinch up but Mladenov keeps it at a distance.
Ilian Mladenov seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Damon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mladenov swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Damon blocks a head kick by Mladenov.
Mladenov lands with a nice combination. Damon backs away looking to recover.
Mladenov avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Mladenov misses with a head kick.
Damon tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Damon tries to clinch but Mladenov moves away
and Mladenov counters with a nice uppercut.

Damon has closed the distance and engaged Mladenov in a clinch.
Mladenov tries to break free but Damon pushes him back against the cage.
Mladenov is trying to push Damon away but Damon has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Knees in the clinch landing for Damon.
Mladenov is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Damon landing knees to the body.
Mladenov wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.
Mladenov wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.
Damon missing with knees to the body.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.
Damon keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Mladenov's efforts to push away.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Mladenov wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Mladenov is trying to push Damon away but Damon has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Ilian Mladenov will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Dirk Damon's cut.
That's time! Damon's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Damon doesn't manage to clinch there - Mladenov circles away.
Damon is looking to clinch but Mladenov is avoiding it.
Damon tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Mladenov makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Damon really felt that one!
Damon is looking to clinch.
Mladenov avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Mladenov.

Damon takes the fight into the clinch.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Damon tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Mladenov avoids it.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mladenov wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Damon missing with knees to the body.
A frustrated look appears on Mladenov's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Mladenov avoiding damage as Damon throws knees to the body.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mladenov has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Mladenov is trying to force a seperation but Damon has the dominant position.
Damon missing with knees to the body.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mladenov is trying to force a seperation but Damon has the dominant position.
Mladenov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Damon missing with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mladenov tries a knee to the head but Damon blocks it.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
Damon misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mladenov.
Damon trying to land knees to the body.
Damon is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mladenov is defending well for now.
A frustrated look appears on Mladenov's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Mladenov managing to block the knees to the body from Damon.

Mladenov's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Damon rushes Mladenov and presses him up against the cage.

Mladenov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Mladenov connects with a single shot there.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Damon tries to clinch
and Damon takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Mladenov swats away the attempt to clinch by Damon.
Damon takes a head kick and keeps coming.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damon tries to close the distance and clinch but Mladenov swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Damon tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Mladenov throws a head kick that misses.
Mladenov loads up on a big right hand but Damon slips the punch.

Damon forces Mladenov back against the cage and clinches.
Damon tries to land knees in the clinch but Mladenov avoids the damage to the body.
Mladenov blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Mladenov breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Damon doesn't manage to clinch there - Mladenov circles away.
Damon tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Damon moves out of range as Mladenov strikes.
Damon walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Damon wants to clinch but Mladenov slips to the side
and Mladenov counters with a straight right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head kick from Mladenov lands but Damon takes it in his stride.
Damon closes the distance looking to clinch
and Damon takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Damon moves in looking to clinch but Mladenov pushes him off.
Damon moves to clinch but Mladenov breaks away
and Damon takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Mladenov misses with a two punch combination.
Damon is looking to clinch but Mladenov is avoiding it.
Damon is looking to clinch.
Damon takes a head kick and keeps coming.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fighters circle momentarily. Mladenov darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Damon is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Damon closes the distance and clinches.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Ilian Mladenov.
I think Mladenov has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Ilian Mladenov!
Ilian Mladenov bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.