PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kevin Garbutt (ranked 454 p4p, 69 weight class) and Zsiga Venczel (ranked 761 p4p, 117 weight class). Garbutt's entrance music is Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law. A fine choice. Kevin Garbutt could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Zsiga Venczel's chin.

Garbutt
vs
Venczel

193 cm
31
215 lbs
17 - 8 - 0

192 cm
27
220 lbs
20 - 4 - 0

Great wrestler
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

RAGS of a RONIN
Aspire Clothing

Bullet Proof System

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 17 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Kevin Garbutt!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Zsiga Venczel!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Reed Andrews and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garbutt scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Garbutt throws a shot to the body.

Garbutt closes the distance and clinches.
Garbutt lands with a left to the head.
I was talking to Garbutt's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Venczel struggles to land a body shot inside as Garbutt controls his hands.
Venczel has a couple of punches blocked by Garbutt.
Garbutt can't find room to land a body shot as Venczel controls the action.
Venczel goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Garbutt working aggressively here.
Venczel avoids a wild elbow strike from Garbutt.
Garbutt creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Venczel's defenses.

It looks like Zsiga Venczel has been cut.
Venczel is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Garbutt pulls him back up using the underhooks.
A nice right hand lands inside from Garbutt.
Venczel lands a left hand.
Venczel misses with a knee to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Knees in the clinch landing for Garbutt.
Venczel misses with a hook from the clinch.
Venczel with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Garbutt lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Garbutt scores a nice knee to the body.
Venczel looks winded!
Venczel working aggressively here.
Garbutt goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A right handed body shot lands from Garbutt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Garbutt escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Garbutt cracks Venczel with a good jab.
Kevin Garbutt seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Garbutt connects with a crisp jab.
Garbutt connects with a solid leg kick.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Garbutt.
Garbutt connects with an inside leg kick.
Venczel throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Garbutt counters with a slapping leg kick.
Garbutt lands a jab to the nose.
Garbutt tries a head kick but it misses.
Venczel misses the shot to the body.
Garbutt throws a body kick that misses

and Venczel counters with a nice double leg into side control. Garbutt won't be happy with that.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Who's going to make the next move?
You can see the frustration on Garbutt's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Venczel wants to control but Garbutt is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garbutt is trying to control Venczel's posture but Venczel avoids it.
Garbutt is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Venczel's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Venczel thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Venczel thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Venczel not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Venczel thows a huge punch but Garbutt dodges it nicely.

Venczel is working for a submission of some sort.
Garbutt has his hands clasped together around Venczel's back. He's all about the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garbutt tries to get to full guard but Venczel has control of the leg.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Venczel sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Garbutt defending well though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Garbutt wants to control but Venczel is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Venczel thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Garbutt's head.
Garbutt trying to hold on to Venczel's head to control him but Venczel postures up.
Garbutt moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Venczel is in close to Garbutt's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Venczel throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Venczel throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Garbutt works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Garbutt preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Venczel working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Garbutt looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Garbutt preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Venczel not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Garbutt pulls Venczel in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Venczel on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kevin Garbutt dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Zsiga Venczel's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Venczel looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Garbutt is fending him off so far but Venczel persists. Nope, Garbutt circles away and we're back to standing.
Garbutt is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Venczel can do to turn this around?
Garbutt jabs at Venczel's body.
Venczel has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Garbutt displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Venczel.
Garbutt connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
An inside leg kick lands from Garbutt.
Garbutt swats away the attempt to clinch by Venczel.
Garbutt misses the jab.
Garbutt throws a leg kick but Venczel moved away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Venczel keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Venczel darts in looking for a takedown but Garbutt gets double underhooks and turns Venczel into the cage.
Kevin Garbutt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Zsiga Venczel.
A punch combination from Venczel misses.
A slow jab from Venczel misses its intended target.
Venczel chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Garbutt can pounce on him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Venczel.
Venczel jabs Garbutt right on the nose. Garbutt blinks but takes it well.
Venczel scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Garbutt throws the left hand but Venczel avoids the punch easily.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Venczel! But no joy.
Venczel shoots in for a double leg but Garbutt sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Garbutt attempts a counter takedown but Venczel avoids it well and moves away.
Garbutt lands a nice looking kick to the body. Venczel takes a step back to recover.
Garbutt connects with a leg kick. Venczel looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Garbutt slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Garbutt wants to slow Venczel down by chopping away at his legs.
Venczel has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Garbutt finds it's way round the side to connect with Venczel's head.
Venczel fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Garbutt is out of range.

Garbutt looking to score a takedown here. Venczel is defending well but Garbutt drives through and ends up in Venczel's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Venczel working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Garbutt doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Garbutt manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garbutt wants to control from the top but Venczel keeps moving.
Venczel is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Garbutt moves into full guard.
Garbutt trying to control the position here.
Garbutt tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garbutt wants to stand up but Venczel is controlling him.
Garbutt keeping moving, preventing Venczel from controlling successfully.
Venczel scoring with some ground and pound.
Garbutt keeping moving, preventing Venczel from controlling successfully.
Venczel is looking to pass into half guard but Garbutt pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Garbutt is in guard.

Garbutt is in close to Venczel's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Venczel working a defensive guard here.

Venczel has his foot on Garbutt's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Garbutt works his way back into a safe position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Venczel has momentary wrist control but Garbutt slips an elbow through the middle.
Venczel trying to keep a closed guard but Garbutt is proving a slippery customer.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Venczel is on top in guard.

Venczel throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Garbutt trying to control the position.
Garbutt manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Venczel manages to get himself to full guard.

Garbutt advances position into side control!
Venczel is looking to reverse the position.
Garbutt working the body and head with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kevin Garbutt dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Zsiga Venczel's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Garbutt falls off balance throwing a combination
and Venczel cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Venczel missing with a left hand there. Garbutt was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Garbutt throws a shot from downtown. Venczel moves away and avoids it.
Venczel's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Venczel's corner calls for a 1-2. Venczel obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Venczel darts in looking for a takedown but Garbutt gets double underhooks and turns Venczel into the cage.
An attempted straight right counter from Garbutt misses the target.
Garbutt cracks Venczel with a good jab.
Venczel looks to score with a jab to the body but Garbutt is just out of range.
Garbutt misses the shot to the body.
Venczel blocks a jab.
A telegraphed right hand from Venczel misses the target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garbutt lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Garbutt misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Venczel.
Garbutt lands with a kick to the temple. Venczel shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Garbutt connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Venczel's hands.
Garbutt throws a jab but it's blocked by Venczel.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Venczel slips under a jab.
Garbutt misses with an uppercut.
Venczel fails with a takedown attempt.
Garbutt misses with a two punch combination.
Garbutt backing away here, and Venczel unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Garbutt throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Venczel throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Garbutt's waist but Garbutt gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Venczel off to one side.
Kevin Garbutt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Zsiga Venczel.

Garbutt gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A short right from Garbutt on the inside.
Venczel unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Venczel throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Garbutt misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Venczel.
Venczel misses with the head strike.
A shot in the inside from Garbutt.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Garbutt obliges.
Venczel takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Garbutt misses with a body punch.
Kevin Garbutt has scored more points in the clinch so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garbutt lands a nice shot to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Garbutt as Venczel tries to tie him up.
Venczel takes a shot to the head.

Venczel is rocked!

That has opened up Zsiga Venczel's cut even more.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Garbutt creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Venczel prevents the takedown attempt.
Venczel swings wildly with an uppercut but Garbutt uses good head movement to avoid it.
Venczel's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Venczel is still on wobbly legs! Can Garbutt finish him?
Garbutt working Venczel over with knees to the body.
Garbutt dips a shoulder and cracks Venczel with a mighty uppercut! Venczel falls back against the cage and Garbutt unloads with a barrage of strikes! Venczel is completely out with his eyes open, only supported by the cage! Save him ref! Eventually the ref decides to do his job and jumps in - Garbutt screams abuse at the incompetent official before going over to celebrate with his corner. Brutal stuff!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:42 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kevin Garbutt!
Kevin Garbutt thanked the fans post fight for their support.