PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gwarsenio Hall (ranked 2099 p4p, 2727 weight class) and Ilya Muromets (ranked 277 p4p, 359 weight class). Ilya Muromets will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Hall
vs
Muromets

180 cm
19
200
4 - 1 - 0

187 cm
20
199
3 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gwarsenio Hall!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ilya Muromets!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Paul Tew and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Muromets does it's job there.
Hall tries for a takedown but Muromets circles away easily
and Muromets counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Hall keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Muromets.
Hall swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Hall throws out a loose jab but Muromets uses good head movement to avoid it.
Muromets throws out a counter right but Hall avoids it with no problem.

Hall gets a clinch.
Hall misses with a hook from the clinch.
I was talking to Hall's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Hall misses with a hook to the ribs.
Muromets pushes Hall back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Muromets missing with knees to the body.
Muromets lands a body shot in the clinch.
Muromets throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Halls head.
Muromets blocks a body shot from Hall.
Muromets misses with a knee strike.
Hall misses with a punch to the body.
Hall takes an elbow to the forehead.
Muromets wants to break the clinch but can't.
A short right from Muromets on the inside.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A short body shot lands from Muromets as the two fighters clinch.
Hall goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hall has a couple of punches blocked by Muromets.
Hall tries a body shot but Muromets blocks it.
Muromets lands a left hand.
Hall struggles to land a body shot inside as Muromets controls his hands.
Hall blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Muromets lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Hall makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Muromets lands a nice uppercut.
Muromets blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Muromets pushes Hall back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Muromets misses with an elbow strike.
Muromets misses with some punches.
Hall tries to work over Muromets's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Hall blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Muromets makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Hall throws a head punch that misses.
Hall fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A nice right hand lands inside from Muromets.
A nice right hand lands inside from Hall.
Hall throws a punch but it's blocked by Muromets.
Hall blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Muromets takes a shot to the head.
A head punch on the inside from Hall fails to land.
Muromets lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hall backwards.
Hall tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hall can't find room to land a body shot as Muromets controls the action.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Muromets.
Muromets is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hall is defending well for now.
Hall tries to throw a body punch but Muromets avoids it by throwing Hall back against the cage.
Hall tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Muromets's elbow.
Muromets misses with a hook from the clinch.
Muromets has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Hall seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Muromets can turn it around.
Hall on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short uppercut from Muromets.
Muromets throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Muromets lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hall backwards.
Hall misses with some punches.
Hall works on Muromets's body with a couple of short punches.
Hall misses with a hook from the clinch.
Muromets blocks a body shot from Hall.
Hall lands a nice uppercut.
Muromets prevents a body shot from Hall.

Muromets jumps guard and drags Hall to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hall missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Hall throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Hall lands a couple of digs.
Muromets 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.
Muromets avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Muromets controlling Hall's posture.
Hall postures up.
Hall landing some decent shots from guard.
Muromets trying to control the position.
Hall has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Muromets looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Muromets is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Hall defends well.
Muromets keeping full guard, as Hall tries to pass.
Hall missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Muromets working a defensive guard here.
Hall working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Muromets's head.
Hall preventing the sweep.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ilya Muromets dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Muromets throws a good cross that connects.
Muromets ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Muromets with a nice cross.
Gwarsenio Hall seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hall looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Muromets throws a jab but it's blocked by Hall.
Hall is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Muromets.
The fighters circling - Hall throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Muromets throws a one two combo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hall misses with a right hand
letting Muromets counter with a right hand.
Hall is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
It seemed like Muromets was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Hall jabs at Muromets's body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hall misses with a takedown
enabling Muromets to counter with a crisp jab.
Hall takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Hall throws a poor cross that misses
and Muromets counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Hall shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hall tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Muromets was well out of range. Poor timing from Hall.
Muromets looks to land a combination. Hall sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Hall misses with a left hand
letting Muromets counter with a right hand.
Hall is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Muromets's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Hall throws out a loose jab but Muromets uses good head movement to avoid it.
Muromets is looking for the big counter here.
Muromets slaps away a takedown attempt from Hall, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gwarsenio Hall. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hall misses with an uppercut. Muromets saw that one coming.
Decent striking displayed by Hall there.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hall throws a right hand that misses
and Muromets counters with a nice uppercut.
Hall tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Muromets manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Muromets moves forwards but Hall connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Hall is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Hall shoots and misses
and Muromets counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Hall drops his hands momentarily and Muromets takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Muromets has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.

Oooooh!!! Muromets has knocked Hall down with a huge combo! Muromets steps away and waves a wobbly Hall back to his feet! This one might not go much longer!

Hall is rocked!
Hall ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Muromets moves away.

Hall closes the distance and pushes Muromets back into the cage.
Muromets lands a shoulder strike.

Muromets breaks from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hall misses with a left hand
and Hall takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Muromets circles away from the clinch attempt.
Muromets throws a counter combo.
Hall throws a shot from downtown. Muromets moves away and avoids it.
Hall missing with a left hand there. Muromets was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Hall misses with an uppercut.
A little jabbing left from Muromets on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Muromets jabs Hall right on the nose. Hall blinks but takes it well.
Hall misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Muromets.
Muromets swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Muromets swats away the attempt to clinch by Hall.
Hall lands a jab to the head.
Hall waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Muromets.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Muromets looks to land a combination but Hall avoids it well.
Muromets cracks Hall with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Muromets.
Hall throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Muromets counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Muromets stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Oh Hall is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hall is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Muromets.

Hall shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Hall showed some decent athleticism there.
Hall seems to have got his legs back now.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Muromets is positioning himself well to prevent Hall advancing to mount.
Muromets makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Muromets.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ilya Muromets showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Muromets lands a glancing blow to the side of Hall's head.
Hall is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ilya Muromets seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A jab from Hall misses.
Hall shoots in looking for a takedown but Muromets manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Hall's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Hall fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Muromets avoids it really well and circles away.
Muromets throws a counter combo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hall takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hall misses with a body punch

and Muromets counters with a crisp right hand that drops Hall! Muromets lets Hall back up to his feet, looking for a finish!

Muromets cracks Hall with a big right hand that sends him to the floor! Hall looks wobbly but he's sprung back up to his feet straight away… can Muromets finish him?
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Muromets measures up his opponent and throws a superman punch that connects to the jaw! Down goes Hall! The ref steps in, and that's the ball game folks!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:18 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Superman Punch). Ilya Muromets!