PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev (ranked 3149 p4p, 369 weight class) and Evan Better (ranked 2314 p4p, 284 weight class). Better is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Mother by Danzig. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hamidovich Saitiev
vs
Better

183 cm
36
185 lbs
20 - 20 - 1

188 cm
36
181 lbs
26 - 22 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Fast

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 20 - 20 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Buvaisar Hamidovich Saitiev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 22 - 0, fighting out of New York, Evan Better!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Steve Montenegro and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Better forces Hamidovich Saitiev back against the cage and clinches.
Hamidovich Saitiev has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Better avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Better lands a body shot in the clinch.

Better tightens his grip and picks Hamidovich Saitiev up, before dumping him to the ground. Hamidovich Saitiev manages to land in guard.
Better is standing up over Hamidovich Saitiev. Hamidovich Saitiev looks to escape but Better dives into side control.

Better throws a strike aimed at the side of Hamidovich Saitiev's head but Hamidovich Saitiev avoids it well.
Better scores with a couple of short elbows.
Better prevents Hamidovich Saitiev from escaping the position.
Hamidovich Saitiev tries to improve position but can't.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Better working his ground and pound in the gym.
Hamidovich Saitiev knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Better on the ground.
Hamidovich Saitiev takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Hamidovich Saitiev is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Better thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamidovich Saitiev tries to improve position but can't.
Better scoring with punches from side control.

Better working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Better trying to control the action but Hamidovich Saitiev is working from the bottom.
Hamidovich Saitiev is looking to regain half guard here but Better keeps moving and retains side control.
Better has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Better sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Hamidovich Saitiev is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Better working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Hamidovich Saitiev avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Better.
Better lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

Better tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Better has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Better in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Better cracks Hamidovich Saitiev with a big right hand but Hamidovich Saitiev just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Better tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Better has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Hamidovich Saitiev is looking to reverse the position.

Better working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Better tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

Better thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Better throws an elbow but Hamidovich Saitiev slips to the side and avoids it well.
Better lands a decent elbow from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hamidovich Saitiev manages to work his way to half guard, despite Better's best efforts.

Hamidovich Saitiev is looking to regain full guard. He's left an arm up in the air though and Better has latched onto it... Big trouble! Better pivots for an armbar - it's in tight and it Hamidovich Saitiev is tapping in no time flat! Great counter grappling there from Better!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:27 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Evan Better!
Evan Better seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.