PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Beirne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nedim Zekic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Beirne
vs
Zekic

175 cm
25
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, James Beirne!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Nedim Zekic!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Beirne is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Zekic's half guard.
Zekic has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Beirne is working away from the top position though.
Zekic gets full guard.
Beirne won't allow Zekic to sweep him here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Beirne won't allow Zekic to get back to his feet.
Beirne trying to control but Zekic is working from the bottom.
Beirne wants to stand and escape but instead Zekic has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Beirne is pulling down on Zekic's head to control his posture.

Beirne is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Zekic is aware though and is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beirne is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Beirne has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Beirne wants to stand but Zekic is controlling the position.

Zekic gets to his feet - Beirne follows without any prompting.
Beirne swats away the attempt to clinch by Zekic.

Zekic takes the fight into the clinch.

Beirne turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Beirne manages to end up in side control.

Beirne wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Zekic, who protects the arm well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Beirne stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Zekic throws a lazy head kick
and Beirne counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zekic throws a head kick but Beirne moves out of range.

Beirne throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Zekic was covering up waiting for the punch and Beirne finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Beirne is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Zekic wants to sweep here but Beirne controlling him for the moment.

Beirne gets to his feet - Zekic follows without any prompting.
Beirne is breathing heavily.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Zekic lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Beirne has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Beirne and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zekic closes the distance and clinches.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Beirne has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Beirne pulls guard.
Zekic throws a big elbow that misses.
Beirne wants to sweep here but Zekic controlling him for the moment.
Zekic wants to stand but Beirne has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Zekic gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Zekic - that will leave a mark!

Zekic gets caught flat footed, as Beirne shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Zekic wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Beirne is now in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zekic keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zekic is trying to stand up here but Beirne is controlling him well.
Beirne prevents Zekic from improving his position.
Still in half guard, Beirne seems content to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zekic has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Beirne is working away from the top position though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Nedim Zekic hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Zekic misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Beirne dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Beirne shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Zekic is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zekic trying to control from the bottom.
Beirne is looking to take a break and control but Zekic is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Beirne is thwarting Zekic's attempts to control the position.
Zekic strikes from the bottom but Beirne passes into mount!
Beirne lands a heavy elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zekic tries to lock up and control but Beirne gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Zekic might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Beirne haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Zekic is breathing heavily.
Beirne lands a big elbow.
Zekic keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Beirne tries to control but Zekic wriggling away.
Zekic tries to hold on but Beirne postures up.
Zekic sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zekic wants to control but Beirne is keeping busy.
Zekic is looking to get back to full guard here but Beirne has managed to pass to side control instead.
Beirne could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Beirne taking a breather here.
Zekic is not content to let Beirne control the position.

Beirne is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Zekic knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Beirne decides to stand up, so the ref orders Zekic to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zekic tries to sprawl but Beirne drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Beirne looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Zekic is refusing to be controlled, as Beirne sits in half guard.
Zekic trying to control but Beirne postures up.
Beirne has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beirne unloading with bombs!
Zekic tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Zekic is still trying to improve position.
Beirne connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zekic is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zekic can't escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Beirne dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Beirne lands with a kick to the temple. Zekic shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Zekic tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Beirne manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Zekic tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Beirne tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zekic tries to score a power double leg takedown but Beirne sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Zekic somewhat.
Zekic fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Zekic sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.

Beirne 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.
Beirne trying to control the position from guard on top but Zekic is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zekic takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Beirne controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Zekic wants to stand up but Beirne is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zekic keeping moving, preventing Beirne from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of James Beirne.

Beirne dives in and scores a takedown into Zekic's guard.

Zekic is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Zekic wants to get back to his feet but Beirne is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Beirne with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Beirne scoring with punches to the head and body.
Beirne trying to control but Zekic is working from the bottom.
Beirne landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Beirne wants to pass the guard but Zekic is keeping the position.
Beirne sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Zekic's guard.
Zekic is trying to stand back up but Beirne is controlling him
Beirne trying to mount his opponent but Zekic defends it.
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!
Zekic tries to roll over but Beirne keeps him under control.
Zekic is refusing to be controlled, as Beirne sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zekic tries to roll over but Beirne keeps him under control.
Zekic is not content to let Beirne control the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. James Beirne wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Beirne closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Zekic quickly recovers to half guard.
Zekic pushes Beirne off but Beirne dives into side control.
Zekic is looking to regain half guard here but Beirne keeps moving and retains side control.
Beirne cracks Zekic with a big right hand but Zekic just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zekic tries to bench press Beirne off him but Beirne keeps the position.

Beirne tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Zekic can't do much from the bottom here.
Zekic is looking to reverse the position.

Beirne looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Beirne lands some shots froms side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Beirne showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Beirne, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Beirne!