PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Shoei Braz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Iosue Nicu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nicu has chosen It's Dark and Hell Is Hot as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Shoei Braz has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Braz
vs
Nicu

175 cm
34
205 lbs
21 - 12 - 0

190 cm
28
216 lbs
18 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

KAISER Nutrition - Q160

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 21 - 12 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Shoei Braz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Iosue Nicu!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Illya Tyunina and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nicu delivers a nice body kick.
Nicu displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Braz.
Nicu flicks out a counter leg kick but Braz steps away.
Braz blocks a head kick by Nicu.

Braz gets a takedown into half guard.

Braz is working for a kimura but Nicu is defending it quite comfortably.
Nicu wants to get back to his feet.

Braz is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Nicu defends it well.
Nicu is looking to improve his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Braz is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Nicu doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Braz.

Braz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Nicu sees it coming and defends easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Braz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Nicu sees it coming and defends easily.
Nicu is looking to escape.

Braz is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Nicu is trying to stand up here but Braz is controlling him well.

Braz is working for a submission of some sort.
Nicu is trying to stand.

Braz is trying to work for a kimura but Nicu is defending well.

Nicu is defending against the submission attempts here by Braz.

Braz is working for a submission of some sort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Nicu regains full guard. Nicely done.
Nicu controlling the position.

Nicu pushes Braz off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Braz closes the distance and clinches up with Nicu, looking for a takedown. Braz pushes Nicu against the cage but Nicu circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A solid body kick from Nicu.
Nicu dips to his left and cracks Braz with an uppercut!

It looks like Shoei Braz has been cut.
Braz shoots in for a takedown but Nicu shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Shoei Braz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Braz is breathing heavily.
Nicu thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Braz if he has to take too many more of those.
Nicu goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Nicu scoring well with a low kick there.
Nicu lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Braz shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Nicu sprawls well. Nicu wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Braz gets slowly back to his feet.
Nicu digs a good body shot into Braz's ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicu scores with a nice strike.
Nicu lands with a kick to the ribs.
Braz has been working on his balance at Russian Bears Training Center, so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by Nicu.
Braz has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Nicu finds it's way round the side to connect with Braz's head.

Nicu lands a big head kick that sends Braz tumbling to the mat! Nicu takes a step backwards and waves Braz back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Braz is rocked!

Shoei Braz's cut is getting worse.
Nicu scores with a leg kick.
Oh Braz is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Braz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Nicu circles away.
We've been informed that Nicu has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Braz fails with the takedown
and Nicu counters with a crisp right that sends Braz to the canvas! Nicu follows up with punches from the mount and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:28 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Iosue Nicu!
An out of breath Iosue Nicu thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.
The defeated Shoei Braz had this to say: 'I`ll be back'.