PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Sergei Babakov (ranked 1471 p4p, 155 weight class) and Igor Vovchanchyn (ranked 1392 p4p, 149 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Babakov
vs
Vovchanchyn

176 cm
28
154 lbs
9 - 3 - 0

172 cm
23
153 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Sergei Babakov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Igor Vovchanchyn!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Ben Zyskovitsi and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Babakov moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

It looks like Sergei Babakov has been cut.
Vovchanchyn changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Vovchanchyn misses with a wild body shot.
Babakov connects with a right hand. Vovchanchyn shakes it off.
Babakov thuds a left hand into Vovchanchyn's body.

Babakov moves into the clinch successfully.
Vovchanchyn tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Babakov's elbow.
Babakov keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Vovchanchyn's efforts to push away.
Babakov struggles to land a body shot inside as Vovchanchyn controls his hands.
Babakov blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Vovchanchyn fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Babakov digs a right hand underneath Vovchanchyn's ribcage. Vovchanchyn let out a lung full of air as it connected.
A short uppercut from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Babakov prevents a body shot from Vovchanchyn.
Babakov lands with a left to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vovchanchyn swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Vovchanchyn can't find room to land a body shot as Babakov controls the action.
Babakov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Vovchanchyn backwards.
Vovchanchyn blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vovchanchyn blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Babakov blocks a body shot from Vovchanchyn.
I was talking to Babakov's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Vovchanchyn swings wildly with an uppercut but Babakov uses good head movement to avoid it.
Vovchanchyn takes a shot to the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Vovchanchyn.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Babakov.
Babakov lands a shot to the body.
Babakov working aggressively here.
A right hand to the body from Babakov.
A nice left hand lands by Babakov.
Vovchanchyn throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Babakovs head.
Babakov scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Babakov misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Babakov misses with the head strike.
Babakov lands with a light punch inside.
Vovchanchyn throws a head punch that misses.
Vovchanchyn blocks an uppercut.
Vovchanchyn lands a shot to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Babakov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Babakov misses with some punches.
Babakov pushes Vovchanchyn back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Vovchanchyn tries to break free but Babakov pushes him back against the cage.
Babakov lands with a light punch inside.
Babakov swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Vovchanchyn makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Vovchanchyn tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Babakov's elbow.
Vovchanchyn doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Vovchanchyn struggles to land a body shot inside as Babakov controls his hands.
Babakov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Vovchanchyn backwards.
Babakov lands a shot to the body.
Vovchanchyn tries a body shot but Babakov blocks it.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook to the ribs.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook from the clinch.
Babakov pushes Vovchanchyn back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Vovchanchyn prevents a body shot from Babakov.
Babakov lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Vovchanchyn.
Vovchanchyn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Vovchanchyn lands a body shot in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vovchanchyn lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Babakov misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Babakov scores with a hook to the body.
Vovchanchyn tries to work over Babakov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Babakov cracks Vovchanchyn with a nice body shot.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Babakov.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook to the ribs.
Vovchanchyn tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Vovchanchyn struggles to land a body shot inside as Babakov controls his hands.
Babakov lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Vovchanchyn misses with the head strike.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn swings wildly with an uppercut but Babakov uses good head movement to avoid it.
A hook to the body from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn throws a punch but it's blocked by Babakov.
Vovchanchyn can't find room to land a body shot as Babakov controls the action.
Vovchanchyn tries to work over Babakov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Vovchanchyn fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Babakov lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Vovchanchyn or not.
Vovchanchyn swings wildly with an uppercut but Babakov uses good head movement to avoid it.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Babakov.
A short body shot lands from Vovchanchyn as the two fighters clinch.
Babakov works on Vovchanchyn's body with a couple of short punches.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Vovchanchyn lands a nice uppercut.
A hook to the body from Babakov.
Babakov misses with a hook from the clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Babakov.
Babakov scores with a shoulder strike.
Babakov lands a shoulder strike.
Babakov lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
A short right from Babakov on the inside.
Vovchanchyn wants to break the clinch but can't.
Babakov softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Vovchanchyn has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Vovchanchyn blocking some punches.
Babakov lands with a short punch from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sergei Babakov dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Sergei Babakov's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Babakov clinches.
Babakov scores with a shot to the side of Vovchanchyn's head.
Babakov tries to throw a body punch but Vovchanchyn avoids it by throwing Babakov back against the cage.
Vovchanchyn prevents a body shot from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook to the ribs.
Babakov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vovchanchyn can do to turn this around?
Babakov struggles to land a body shot inside as Vovchanchyn controls his hands.
Vovchanchyn tries a body shot but Babakov blocks it.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook to the ribs.
Babakov misses with the head strike.
Babakov throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Vovchanchyns head.
Vovchanchyn struggles to land a body shot inside as Babakov controls his hands.

Vovchanchyn breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vovchanchyn lands a jab to Babakov's midsection.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vovchanchyn comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
A looping hook to the body misses from Vovchanchyn. Babakov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Babakov rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Vovchanchyn moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Vovchanchyn takes a jab right on the kisser.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vovchanchyn closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Babakov throws a hook but Vovchanchyn avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babakov jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Vovchanchyn fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
The crowd cheers as Vovchanchyn lands an impressive looking overhand right. Babakov doesn't seem phased though.
Vovchanchyn throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Vovchanchyn looks to throw the jab but Babakov is out of range.
Vovchanchyn listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Vovchanchyn fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Babakov manages to avoid it.
Babakov misses with a two punch combination.
A looping hook to the body misses from Babakov. Vovchanchyn does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vovchanchyn misses with a wild body shot.
Babakov tries to counter by clinching up but Vovchanchyn breaks away and moves out of range.
Babakov looks to throw the jab but Vovchanchyn is out of range.
Babakov takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Vovchanchyn. Babakov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Babakov throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Vovchanchyn swats away the attempt to clinch by Babakov.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vovchanchyn lands a nice shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Babakov walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.

Vovchanchyn gets tackled into the cage by Babakov. Babakov maintains the clinch.
A short uppercut from Vovchanchyn.
Vovchanchyn swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Babakov working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Babakov lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Babakov tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Vovchanchyn misses with a body punch.
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch on the inside.
A right handed body shot lands from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn wants to break the clinch but can't.
Vovchanchyn doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Babakov swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Vovchanchyn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A short right from Babakov on the inside.
Babakov throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Vovchanchyns head.
Vovchanchyn pushes Babakov back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vovchanchyn blocking some punches.
Babakov throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Babakov misses with a shot to the kidneys.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Babakov creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Vovchanchyn tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Sergei Babakov has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Vovchanchyn has a couple of punches blocked by Babakov.
Babakov avoiding damage.
Babakov scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Good body shot from Babakov.
Babakov lands a nice uppercut.
Vovchanchyn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Vovchanchyn throws a head punch that misses.
Babakov struggles to land a body shot inside as Vovchanchyn controls his hands.
Babakov misses with a punch on the inside.
Babakov misses with a body punch.
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch to the body.
Babakov scores with an uppercut up the middle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vovchanchyn lands a right hand that snaps the head of Babakov backwards.
A short right from Babakov on the inside.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Babakov lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Vovchanchyn lands a right hand.
Babakov throws a punch but it's blocked by Vovchanchyn.
Vovchanchyn misses with a body punch.

Vovchanchyn breaks the clinch.
Vovchanchyn fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Babakov tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Vovchanchyn manages to circle out of the way.
The fight stays on the outside here - Babakov looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Vovchanchyn lands a nice looking body shot.

Babakov forces Vovchanchyn back against the cage and clinches.
Babakov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Vovchanchyn.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook to the ribs.
A short uppercut from Babakov.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Vovchanchyn swings away with an uppercut that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Sergei Babakov will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Sergei Babakov's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Vovchanchyn just misses with a punch to the body.
Babakov seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Babakov wants to clinch
and Vovchanchyn counters with a left to the body.
Vovchanchyn scores with a shot to the body.

Babakov gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Babakov working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Babakov tries to throw a body punch but Vovchanchyn avoids it by throwing Babakov back against the cage.
Babakov swings wildly with an uppercut but Vovchanchyn uses good head movement to avoid it.
Babakov misses with a short punch on the inside.
Vovchanchyn misses with a body punch.
Vovchanchyn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A short left from Vovchanchyn.
Babakov blocks a body shot from Vovchanchyn.

Babakov breaks the clinch.

Babakov forces Vovchanchyn back against the cage and clinches.
Babakov blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Come on Babakov - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babakov blocking some punches.
Vovchanchyn blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Babakov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Babakov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Babakov goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Vovchanchyn prevents a body shot from Babakov.
Vovchanchyn blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch on the inside.
Babakov lands with a right to the head.
Vovchanchyn working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Babakov.
Babakov works on Vovchanchyn's body with a couple of short punches.
Vovchanchyn tries to work over Babakov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A shot in the inside from Babakov.
Babakov misses with a short punch on the inside.
Vovchanchyn can't find room to land a body shot as Babakov controls the action.
Vovchanchyn fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Vovchanchyn blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Babakov lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Vovchanchyn is looking to break free of the clinch but Babakov has double underhooks.
Babakov lands a body punch.
Vovchanchyn takes a shot to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vovchanchyn struggles to land a body shot inside as Babakov controls his hands.
Babakov working aggressively here.
Babakov goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Babakov scores with a shoulder strike.
Vovchanchyn goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Babakov lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Vovchanchyn tries to throw a body punch but Babakov avoids it by throwing Vovchanchyn back against the cage.
Babakov lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Vovchanchyn tries to throw a body punch but Babakov avoids it by throwing Vovchanchyn back against the cage.
Vovchanchyn tries to land knees in the clinch but Babakov avoids the damage to the body.
Vovchanchyn working aggressively here.
Vovchanchyn misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Babakov working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Igor Vovchanchyn has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Babakov misses with a punch on the inside.
Babakov makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Babakov scores with a hook to the body.
Babakov digs a right hand underneath Vovchanchyn's ribcage. Vovchanchyn let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Vovchanchyn misses with a body punch.
Babakov doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Babakov.
Vovchanchyn throws a head punch that misses.
Babakov lands with a light punch inside.
Sergei Babakov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Vovchanchyn has a couple of punches blocked by Babakov.
Vovchanchyn working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Babakov misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Vovchanchyn doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Babakov blocking some punches.
Vovchanchyn looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Vovchanchyn working aggressively here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vovchanchyn struggles to land a body shot inside as Babakov controls his hands.
Vovchanchyn can't find room to land a body shot as Babakov controls the action.
Vovchanchyn doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Vovchanchyn goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch to the body.
Babakov blocking some punches.
Vovchanchyn misses with a hook from the clinch.
Vovchanchyn goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Vovchanchyn tries to throw a body punch but Babakov avoids it by throwing Vovchanchyn back against the cage.
Babakov blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Vovchanchyn.
Vovchanchyn misses with a punch to the body.
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!
Vovchanchyn tries a body shot but Babakov blocks it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sergei Babakov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Babakov, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight for Sergei Babakov!
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight for Sergei Babakov!
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight for Sergei Babakov!

Sergei Babakov wins by unanimous decision!