PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Josef Urrah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lithe Tarzan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Urrah might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Johnny Cash - Oney. The key to victory for Josef Urrah has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Urrah
vs
Tarzan

185 cm
25
171 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

185 cm
29
169 lbs
11 - 8 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Milwaukee's Best 160

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 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Josef Urrah!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Lithe Tarzan!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Konstantin Menshow and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Tarzan is defended easily by Urrah.
Urrah throws a lazy right hand but Tarzan sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Tarzan misses with a takedown
enabling Urrah to counter with a crisp jab.
Tarzan shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Urrah counters with a good low kick that Tarzan was not able to check.
Josef Urrah has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lithe Tarzan.
Urrah throws a leg kick which misses Tarzan's front leg but catches the back leg as Tarzan tries to avoid it.
The fighters circling - Urrah throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Urrah moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Tarzan misses with a takedown attempt
letting Urrah counter with a right hand.
Tarzan doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Urrah counters with a left to the body.
Tarzan gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Urrah counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Tarzan connects with a nice looking jab.
Urrah is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Tarzan.
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!
Urrah stuffs the takedown attempt from Tarzan. Tarzan gets slowly back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarzan with a poor takedown
and Urrah counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Urrah lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Urrah misses with a straight left.
Urrah connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Tarzan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Urrah counters with a one-two to the body.
Urrah throws a big shot that misses.
Tarzan with a lazy takedown attempt
and Urrah counters with a stiff right hand.
Lithe Tarzan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Tarzan has taken the fight to the clinch.
Tarzan drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Urrah gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Tarzan looks winded!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tarzan tries for a takedown but Urrah manages to get underhooks.
Urrah tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Urrah is trying to stall.

Urrah's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Tarzan tries for a takedown but Urrah circles away easily
letting Urrah counter with a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Urrah works Tarzan's body with a nice hook.

Tarzan 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.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Tarzan stopping the sweep attempt from Urrah.
Urrah trying to keep a closed guard but Tarzan is proving a slippery customer.
Urrah pulls Tarzan in close to his closed guard and prevents Tarzan from doing any damage or advancing position.
Urrah wants to sweep here but Tarzan controlling him for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Josef Urrah just wasn't active enough.
Tarzan has his takedown stuffed
and Urrah counters with a nice leg kick.
Tarzan fails with the takedown
and Urrah counters with a big head kick but Tarzan shrugs it off.
Urrah fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Tarzan 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.
Urrah is trying to keep Tarzan in close.
Tarzan cracks Urrah with a solid left hand.
Urrah manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Tarzan is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarzan sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Urrah drops an elbow to the side of Tarzan's head.

Urrah moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Tarzan.
Tarzan felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Urrah is looking to take a break and control but Tarzan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tarzan gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Ground and pound from Urrah.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Urrah throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Urrah controlling the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josef Urrah 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.

A decent looking cross lands there for Urrah.
Urrah throws a hook but Tarzan avoids it easily.
Tarzan with a lazy takedown attempt
letting Urrah counter with a right hand.
Tarzan shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Urrah as he avoids it easily.
Tarzan is looking to clinch but Urrah is avoiding it.
Tarzan has a takedown stuffed.
Josef Urrah has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lithe Tarzan.
Tarzan throws a jab but it's blocked by Urrah.
Tarzan shoots and misses
and Urrah counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

It looks like Lithe Tarzan has been cut.
The fighters circle momentarily. Urrah darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Tarzan changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Urrah tries to avoid it but Tarzan manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Urrah to the ground. Urrah escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Urrah misses with a hook. Tarzan ducked under it nicely.
Tarzan shoots and misses
and Tarzan takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Tarzan is rocked!
Urrah misses with a body shot.
Tarzan is still on wobbly legs! Can Urrah finish him?
Tarzan is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Urrah thows a body shot but no joy.
Tarzan on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Tarzan seems to have recovered his senses.

Tarzan closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Tarzan is breathing heavily.

Urrah looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Urrah moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Urrah bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Tarzan's guard.
Urrah landing with the ground and pound.

Tarzan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Urrah distracts Tarzan with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarzan tries to strike from the bottom.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Urrah trying to control but Tarzan is working from the bottom.
Urrah is looking to work some ground and pound but Tarzan has wrist control.

Tarzan is looking for a triangle but Urrah pushes his legs off easily.
Tarzan is pulling down on Urrah's head to control his posture.
Urrah showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Tarzan is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Urrah's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Urrah is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Urrah got a little sloppy there for a moment and Tarzan has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Urrah has managed to get both his arms back between Tarzan's legs - danger averted.
Urrah trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarzan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Tarzan looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Urrah has picked Tarzan up and slammed him! Tarzan can't keep hold of the triangle and Urrah manages to pass to side control!
Urrah working the head with strikes.
Tarzan is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Tarzan tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Urrah wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Urrah is looking to take a break and control but Tarzan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tarzan tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Urrah wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Urrah working the ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Urrah in side control lands a decent elbow.
Urrah controlling the position from side mount.
Tarzan is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Urrah is thwarting Tarzan's attempts to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josef Urrah dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Lithe Tarzan's cut.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Urrah connects with a jab.
Urrah swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Urrah misses with a two punch combination.
Tarzan has his takedown stuffed
and Urrah makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Tarzan shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Urrah as he jumps to the side.
Tarzan tries to clinch up.

Tarzan throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Urrah tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Tarzan is in Urrah's guard.
Tarzan stopping the sweep attempt from Urrah.
Tarzan advances to half guard.
Tarzan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Urrah is trying to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarzan working the head and body with strikes.

Tarzan is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Urrah is just riding it out for now. Tarzan eventually gives up the hold.
Tarzan not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Urrah blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tarzan.
Urrah moves into full guard.
Urrah is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Urrah tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Josef Urrah overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarzan postures up in Urrah's guard and throws a big left but Urrah blocks it.
Tarzan throwing strikes but missing.
Urrah is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Tarzan landing some decent shots from guard.
Urrah is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tarzan is trying to control but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarzan taking some punishment here, with Urrah in his half guard.
Urrah is nestled in close to Tarzan, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Urrah is looking to take a break and control but Tarzan is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Tarzan is trying to maintain the position but Urrah is very close to passing his half guard.
Tarzan tries to roll over but Urrah keeps him under control.
Urrah not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Urrah slows the pace down in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tarzan looking for submissions off his back.
We've been hearing that Urrah has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Urrah wants to lay and pray for a moment but Tarzan keeps working.
Urrah wants to pass to mount but Tarzan is defending the position.
Lithe Tarzan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Urrah seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Tarzan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tarzan trying to control from the bottom.
Urrah prevents Tarzan from improving his position.
Tarzan strikes from the bottom but Urrah passes into mount!

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Josef Urrah.
Well Urrah has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Josef Urrah!
In his post fight interview, Josef Urrah gave a big smile as he said 'Free Reza!'.