PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Christopher Sexton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Peter Derkuzniak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sexton
vs
Derkuzniak

171 cm
22
279 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

202 cm
24
222 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Likes musicals

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Christopher Sexton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Peter Derkuzniak!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Vladimir Khabensky and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sexton tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Derkuzniak manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Sexton on his heels. He'll look to pass Sexton's guard now, I'm sure.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Derkuzniak stays in close to Sexton's body and controls the position.
Sexton trying to control the position.

Sexton escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Derkuzniak gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Derkuzniak looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Derkuzniak stands up and waves to Sexton to follow him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sexton will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Derkuzniak clinches with his opponent.
Sexton wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Derkuzniak has him pressed against the cage.

Derkuzniak breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Derkuzniak tries a head kick but it misses.
Sexton has a takedown stuffed.
Sexton fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Christopher Sexton. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Sexton clinches with his opponent.

Derkuzniak has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Sexton uses from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Derkuzniak is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Derkuzniak is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Derkuzniak sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Sexton looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Derkuzniak is nestled in close to Sexton, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Derkuzniak controlling the pace.
Derkuzniak lands strikes from half guard.
Derkuzniak wants to pass to mount but Sexton is defending the position.
Sexton has a hand on Derkuzniak's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Derkuzniak takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Derkuzniak looking to control and managing it successfully.

Derkuzniak is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Sexton has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Sexton!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Derkuzniak is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sexton showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Derkuzniak is trying to keep Sexton in close.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sexton trying to stand up but can't free himself from Derkuzniak's guard.
Derkuzniak seems keen to control Sexton's posture.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Peter Derkuzniak dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Sexton blocks a jab.

Derkuzniak feints and as Sexton raises his hands in defense, Derkuzniak changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Sexton pushes Derkuzniak off and gets back to his feet.
Sexton tries to close the distance and clinch but Derkuzniak swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Derkuzniak moves into the clinch.
Derkuzniak throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Derkuzniak decides to pull guard.
Sexton really is a fat lump.
Sexton trying to control the position from guard on top but Derkuzniak is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Derkuzniak can do anything to dispel that myth.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Derkuzniak working a defensive guard here.
Sexton preventing the sweep.
Derkuzniak trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Derkuzniak is controlling Sexton's posture.

We're going to have a standup here because Christopher Sexton wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Derkuzniak shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Sexton is trying to defend but Derkuzniak finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Derkuzniak has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Derkuzniak punishing his opponent with strikes.
Sexton is just holding on here. Derkuzniak manages to take his back.

Derkuzniak is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
A lull in the action here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sexton tries to roll but Derkuzniak sticks to his back.
Derkuzniak cracks Sexton with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Sexton from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Derkuzniak is hanging on to Sexton's back as he tries to escape.
I would not like to be Sexton right now.
Sexton trying to control but not successfully.
Derkuzniak lands with a hammerfist to the side of Sexton's head.
Derkuzniak lands a shot to the head.
Sexton trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Sexton is defending well here and trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Derkuzniak working for a choke but Sexton is defending well.
Sexton turns into Derkuzniak and is now in his guard.
Derkuzniak pulls Sexton in close to prevent any damage.
Sexton has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Derkuzniak 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.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Derkuzniak working for a triangle but Sexton defends it easily.
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!
Derkuzniak wants to stand up but Sexton is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Peter Derkuzniak showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! 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.

Sexton moves in looking to clinch but Derkuzniak pushes him off.
Sexton misses with a wild combination.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Sexton.

Derkuzniak drives through and clinches with Sexton against the cage.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Derkuzniak. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Derkuzniak is working Sexton over against the cage.

Derkuzniak breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sexton tries to clinch but Derkuzniak moves out of range.
Sexton tries to clinch up.
Derkuzniak is looking to clinch.
Derkuzniak lands a two punch combo.

It looks like Christopher Sexton has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Sexton.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sexton throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Derkuzniak lands a jab-cross combination.
Sexton avoids the body shot from Derkuzniak.
Derkuzniak misses the shot to the body.
Derkuzniak tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sexton swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Sexton fails with an attempt to clinch.

Derkuzniak moves into the clinch.
Sexton prevents the takedown attempt.
Derkuzniak tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Sexton drops down looking for an ankle pick but Derkuzniak pulls his leg out and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Christopher Sexton. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown by Derkuzniak or perhaps it was just good defense by Sexton which made him look bad.
Sexton throws a nice looking combination but Derkuzniak bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Derkuzniak slaps away a takedown attempt from Sexton, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sexton tries to clinch but Derkuzniak is having none of it.
Sexton fails with a takedown attempt.
Derkuzniak looks to score with a jab to the body but Sexton is just out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Derkuzniak moves into the clinch successfully.
Derkuzniak tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Derkuzniak pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Derkuzniak will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Derkuzniak fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Sexton sprawls well initially but Derkuzniak persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Derkuzniak drops an elbow to the side of Sexton's head.
Sexton is trying to maintain the position but Derkuzniak is very close to passing his half guard.
Sexton is looking for a sweep. Derkuzniak is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Derkuzniak wants to pass the guard but Sexton is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Derkuzniak is looking for a kimura here.
Derkuzniak perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Derkuzniak throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Derkuzniak is working for a submission of some sort.
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!
Derkuzniak wants to pass to mount but Sexton is defending the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Peter Derkuzniak comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Derkuzniak has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Peter Derkuzniak!