PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between James Alan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sergey Burkatovskiy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Alan
vs
Burkatovskiy

165 cm
21
155 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

182 cm
28
162 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, James Alan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Sergey Burkatovskiy!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Aafke Stam and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Burkatovskiy cracks Alan with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Alan misses with a takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a nice uppercut.
Alan takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Alan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Alan takes one to the chin there.
Alan fails with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a nice body shot.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Alan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Burkatovskiy scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
A lazy left from Burkatovskiy finds it's target.
Alan fails with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a stiff right hand.
Burkatovskiy scores with a jab to the head.
Alan tries for a takedown but Burkatovskiy circles away easily
and Burkatovskiy counters with a straight right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burkatovskiy lands a right hook to the body.
Burkatovskiy is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Alan had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Alan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Burkatovskiy with a nice cross.
Alan fails with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A punch lands to the side of Alan 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Alan misses with a takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a left to the body.

Burkatovskiy clinches up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burkatovskiy lands with a short shot to the head.
A short right from Burkatovskiy.
Alan tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Burkatovskiy smiles and moves away.
Burkatovskiy lands a jab to Alan's midsection.
Burkatovskiy dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Burkatovskiy throws a series of punches but Alan moves out of range.
Alan misses with a takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a nice uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Burkatovskiy catches Alan with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a nice body shot.
Sergey Burkatovskiy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Burkatovskiy connects with a body shot that sends Alan's belly button to the back.
Alan fails with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

Burkatovskiy fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Alan, pushing him back against the cage.
Burkatovskiy lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Burkatovskiy scores with a shoulder strike.
Burkatovskiy scores with a shoulder strike.
Burkatovskiy lands a right hand.
Burkatovskiy digs a right hand underneath Alan's ribcage. Alan let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Burkatovskiy lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Burkatovskiy lands a right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alan fails to pull guard.
Burkatovskiy is leaning against Alan and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Burkatovskiy lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
A short left from Burkatovskiy.
Alan is trying to pull guard but Burkatovskiy turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Alan fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Burkatovskiy is leaning against Alan and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Burkatovskiy pushes Alan back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Still in the clinch, Burkatovskiy scores with a nice short uppercut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Burkatovskiy creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Burkatovskiy lands an uppercut.
Burkatovskiy lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Burkatovskiy lands with a short head shot on the inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Alan tries a head kick but it misses.
Alan doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Alan misses with a takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a stiff right hand.
Alan walks into a stiff left hand from Burkatovskiy.
Alan takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Burkatovskiy has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Burkatovskiy closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Burkatovskiy is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Burkatovskiy bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Alan's head.
Alan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a stiff right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Alan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Burkatovskiy lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Alan at a distance.
Alan walks into a straight right hand from Burkatovskiy.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Alan fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Burkatovskiy sprawls well initially but Alan persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Alan trying to control from half guard but Burkatovskiy is working away.

Alan 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.
Burkatovskiy controlling the position for now.
Burkatovskiy wants to control but Alan is keeping busy.
Burkatovskiy keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Burkatovskiy is defending against the submission attempts here by Alan.
Burkatovskiy keeping control of the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Sergey Burkatovskiy was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Alan fails with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a straight right hand.
Burkatovskiy scores with a decent looking hook.
Alan closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Alan shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a stiff right hand.
Burkatovskiy works the jab nicely.
James Alan is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Burkatovskiy counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Burkatovskiy wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Burkatovskiy lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Alan at a distance.
Alan with a poor takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Burkatovskiy cracks Alan with a right hand to the side of the head.
Burkatovskiy lands a right hook to the body.
Alan walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Burkatovskiy lands a nice shot to the body.
Alan doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Burkatovskiy counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Burkatovskiy finds it's way through Alan's defenses.
Burkatovskiy works the jab nicely.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Burkatovskiy jabs at Alan's body.
Alan takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Burkatovskiy lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Burkatovskiy jabs Alan to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Burkatovskiy lands with a shot to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Alan takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Burkatovskiy connects with a body shot.
Sergey Burkatovskiy seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Alan throws a left and a right that both miss
and Burkatovskiy counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sergey Burkatovskiy showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Alan's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Burkatovskiy lands a jab-cross combination.
Alan on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Alan doesn't succeed with the takedown
enabling Burkatovskiy to counter with a crisp jab.
Burkatovskiy sizes up Alan with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Burkatovskiy fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Burkatovskiy ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Burkatovskiy has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Burkatovskiy scores with a punch to the head.
A shot to the liver by Burkatovskiy. Beautiful body shot.
Alan shoots and misses
and Burkatovskiy counters with a series of strikes. Alan will be more careful next time no doubt.

Burkatovskiy forces Alan back against the cage and clinches.
Alan looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burkatovskiy lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Burkatovskiy lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Burkatovskiy has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. So far he's outscoring his opponent in the clinch so it seems to have been worthwhile.
Burkatovskiy lands with a light punch inside.
A right hook to the body lands for Burkatovskiy.
Burkatovskiy lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Alan jumps guard but Burkatovskiy turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Alan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A nice left hand lands by Burkatovskiy.
A short right from Burkatovskiy on the inside.
Burkatovskiy is leaning against Alan and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Burkatovskiy.
Burkatovskiy lands a left hand.
Sergey Burkatovskiy is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Burkatovskiy.
A hook to the body from Burkatovskiy.
Burkatovskiy lands an uppercut.
Burkatovskiy working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Burkatovskiy lands with a left to the head.
Burkatovskiy scores with a shot to the side of Alan's head.
James Alan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burkatovskiy lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Alan misses with a hook from the clinch.
A left hand lands to the body for Burkatovskiy.
Burkatovskiy lands with a short shot to the head.
Sergey Burkatovskiy seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Burkatovskiy lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Alan backwards.
Burkatovskiy digs a right hand underneath Alan's ribcage. Alan let out a lung full of air as it connected.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alan fails to pull guard.
Alan tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Burkatovskiy just stands there and leans against the cage.
Burkatovskiy gets through Alan's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Burkatovskiy makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Alan is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Burkatovskiy to keep the fight standing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Burkatovskiy lands with a right to the head.
Alan pushes off an throws an elbow but Burkatovskiy leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sergey Burkatovskiy comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Burkatovskiy 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 Paul Aken scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 27:30
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sergey Burkatovskiy!