PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Michael Joyce (ranked 5597 p4p, 0 weight class) and Slava Kychenkov (ranked 5642 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Joyce
vs
Kychenkov

177 cm
24
161 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

170 cm
24
140 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Experienced

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Michael Joyce!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Slava Kychenkov!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kychenkov shoots in but no luck this time.

Joyce closes the distance and pushes Kychenkov back into the cage.
Kychenkov has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Joyce is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Kychenkov tightens his grip and picks Joyce up, before dumping him to the ground. Joyce manages to land in guard.
Joyce throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Joyce is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Kychenkov is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Kychenkov postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Joyce is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Joyce wants to sweep but no luck.
Joyce is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Joyce wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kychenkov is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Joyce throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kychenkov shoots in but no luck this time.
Joyce changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Michael Joyce has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Slava Kychenkov.

Kychenkov gets a takedown into half guard.
Joyce is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Kychenkov's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Kychenkov's back!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Joyce is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Kychenkov up.
Joyce has Kychenkov flattened out and is raining down punches.
Kychenkov is trying to break free.
Kychenkov really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Joyce. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Joyce has good solid back control here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joyce lands a shot to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Joyce scores with punches and elbows.
Joyce is not going to allow Kychenkov to sit and survive in this position.
Kychenkov rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Joyce slows the pace down in half guard.
Kychenkov is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Joyce scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joyce seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Kychenkov does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kychenkov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Joyce is working away from the top position though.
Joyce works his way into full mount!
Joyce with the ground and pound from mount.
Kychenkov bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Joyce keeping moving, preventing Kychenkov from controlling successfully.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Joyce is on top in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kychenkov controls Joyce momentarily but Joyce frees himself.
Joyce sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Kychenkov's guard.
Joyce content to control rather than advance.
Kychenkov trying to control here.
Ground and pound from Joyce.
Joyce is trying to control the action in half guard but Kychenkov is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Joyce dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Kychenkov uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Joyce.
Kychenkov shoots in looking for a takedown. Joyce tries to sprawl out of it but Kychenkov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Joyce manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Slava Kychenkov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Joyce stuffs the takedown attempt from Kychenkov. Kychenkov gets slowly back to his feet.
Joyce misses with a straight right.

Kychenkov shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Kychenkov showed some decent athleticism there.
Joyce has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Joyce wants to get back to full guard.

Joyce looking for submissions off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Joyce wants to control but Kychenkov is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Kychenkov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Joyce keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joyce is trying to get back to full guard.
Joyce is working hard here to advance position.
The fighters are battling for position here. Joyce manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Kychenkov trying to control but Joyce is working from the bottom.
Joyce manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Kychenkov manages to get himself to full guard.

Kychenkov throws some sloppy strikes off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joyce in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Kychenkov has his hands on Joyce's head, controlling the position.
Joyce seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kychenkov tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Joyce scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joyce trying to control but Kychenkov is working from the bottom.
Joyce works over Kychenkov with some ground and pound from guard.
Kychenkov keeping moving, preventing Joyce from controlling successfully.
Kychenkov managing to control the position.
Joyce sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Kychenkov's guard.
Kychenkov has hold of Joyce's hands but Joyce slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Joyce lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Joyce trying to control the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kychenkov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Ground and pound from Joyce.
Kychenkov trying to control but Joyce postures up.
Joyce with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Joyce is trying to control the action in half guard but Kychenkov is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Joyce dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Joyce misses with a straight right.
And Kychenkov tries to counter it with a takedown but Joyce pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Kychenkov shoots for a takedown but Joyce saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Kychenkov shoots in looking for a takedown. Joyce tries to sprawl out of it but Kychenkov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Joyce manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Joyce is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Kychenkov's half guard.
Kychenkov keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Joyce is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Kychenkov can do to turn this around?

Kychenkov actively working from the bottom here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kychenkov is trying to control but Joyce passes into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joyce lands an elbow.
Joyce has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Kychenkov wants to control but Joyce is having none of it.
Joyce looking to control but Kychenkov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Joyce lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Joyce punishing his opponent with strikes.
Joyce lands a couple of good shots and Kychenkov has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Kychenkov wants to escape the position.
Joyce gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Michael Joyce is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kychenkov is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Kychenkov takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Joyce struggling to keep hold of the position.
Joyce is landing with strikes. Kychenkov can't take much more of this.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
I really don't envy Kychenkov right now.
Joyce just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Joyce is not going to allow Kychenkov to sit and survive in this position.
Joyce scores with punches to the body.
Joyce lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Kychenkov hold on?!

Joyce tightening his grip on Kychenkov, looking for the choke.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joyce lands a shot to the head.
Joyce biding his time, looking for the opening.
Joyce has the hooks in. Kychenkov is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Joyce has good solid back control here.
Joyce is landing with strikes from the back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kychenkov tries to escape but Joyce has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Joyce is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Joyce gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Joyce gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Joyce apologises and we restart here on the feet.

Joyce throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Kychenkov was covering up waiting for the punch and Joyce finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Joyce stays in close to Kychenkov's body and controls the position.
Slava Kychenkov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kychenkov is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Joyce showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Joyce 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight for Michael Joyce!
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight for Michael Joyce!
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight for Michael Joyce!

Michael Joyce wins by unanimous decision!