PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between StepOn Struve (ranked 3518 p4p, 3914 weight class) and Sergey Sarychev (ranked 391 p4p, 435 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Struve
vs
Sarychev

213 cm
19
265
3 - 2 - 0

187 cm
25
240
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

Conquer
HELLS BALLS RECOVERY

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, StepOn Struve!
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, Sergey Sarychev!
The judges for this bout are Ben Hemmingworth, Damien Edna and Chris Dean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sarychev shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Struve sprawls well. Struve wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Sarychev gets slowly back to his feet.
Struve lunges at Sarychev with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sarychev's hand.
Struve scoring well with a low kick there.
Nice uppercut there from Struve.
Sarychev rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Struve counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Struve delivers a nice body kick.
Nice shot lands for Struve.
Struve misses with a wild combination.

Sarychev closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Struve did well to prevent Sarychev getting side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Struve is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Sarychev's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Sarychev's back!
Sarychev felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Struve is not going to allow Sarychev to sit and survive in this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sarychev manages to reverse the position and now he's in Struve's guard. Nice work there by Sarychev.
Struve will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Sarychev content to stall in guard here.
Let's hope that Sarychev has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Sarychev.
Struve keeping moving, preventing Sarychev from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sarychev content to stall in guard here.
Struve looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sarychev is one step ahead there.
Struve keeping moving, preventing Sarychev from controlling successfully.
Sarychev postures up.
Sarychev sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Struve keeping full guard, as Sarychev tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Struve being controlled here, momentarily.
Sarychev looking to pass the guard.
Struve working a defensive guard here.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
StepOn Struve is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Danga de danga de dang - Struve scores with a four punch combination!
An inside leg kick lands from Struve.
Struve lands with an uppercut that bounces Sarychev off the cage and back into range.
Nice defenses there by Struve.
Struve half committed to a counter leg kick.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Struve!
Struve goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

Struve gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sarychev controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Struve wants to stand up but Sarychev is controlling him.
Sarychev sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Struve is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sarychev engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

StepOn Struve dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Sarychev shoots in for a double leg but Struve sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
A nice leg kick lands there from Struve.
Struve connects with a high kick.
Struve uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Sarychev.
Sarychev misses with a straight right.
Sarychev gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Sarychev with a poor takedown
and Struve counters with a stiff right hand.
Struve is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Struve throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Struve with a hook.
Struve keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
StepOn Struve has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sergey Sarychev.
Sarychev shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Struve pinned against the cage. Struve gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Struve misses with a series of wild punches.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Struve scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Struve fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Sarychev.
Sergey Sarychev seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Struve scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Struve fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
That kick from Struve tenderised Sarychev's leg. Sarychev is trying to keep his angry face on.
Nice sprawl there from Struve as Sarychev shoots in.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Sarychev.
Struve looked to counter with a high kick but didn't commit.
Sarychev is breathing heavily.
Struve connects with a crisp jab.
Struve lands a nice looking body kick.
A chopping leg kick lands by Struve.
Struve throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Struve lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Sarychev at a distance.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Struve moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

Sarychev decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Struve pushes Sarychev off looking to stand but Sarychev dives back in and keeps control.
Sergey Sarychev has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sarychev is keen to just control but Struve is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Struve is looking to escape.
Struve is looking for a sweep. Sarychev is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Sarychev prevents Struve from standing back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Sarychev takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Sarychev crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Struve - the referee stops the clock and Sarychev gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Struve. Sarychev manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Struve is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Struve throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Sarychev throws a jab when Struve was well out of range.
Struve plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Sarychev shoots in for a takedown but Struve shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sarychev with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Struve to score with a decent uppercut.
StepOn Struve is winning the standup battle so far.
Struve throws a head kick that Sarychev semi-blocks.

Sarychev shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Sarychev was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Sarychev wants to control but Struve is keeping him busy.
Struve gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Struve is trying to stand back up but Sarychev is controlling him
Struve tries to get to full guard but Sarychev has control of the leg.
Struve is in trouble now - Sarychev has advanced to mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sarychev controlling the pace for now.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sarychev looking to control but Struve is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

StepOn Struve dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Struve lands with a nice body kick.

Sarychev shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Sarychev was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Struve prevents Sarychev from moving into mount.
Sarychev is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Struve will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Struve sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Struve tries to get to full guard but Sarychev has control of the leg.
Sarychev takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Sarychev wants to take a breather but Struve is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Struve won't allow Sarychev to pass to mount.
Sarychev trying to control the pace.
Sarychev takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Struve is not content to let Sarychev control the position.
Sarychev controlling the action here.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Struve wants to control but Sarychev is keeping busy.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Struve feints and then cracks Sarychev's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Sarychev down.
Struve sizes up Sarychev with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Struve connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Struve throws a nice head kick!
Struve goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Struve is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sarychev can do to turn this around?
Struve throws a good cross that connects.
Sarychev shoots in and drives through. Struve sprawls well.

Struve gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Struve pushes Sarychev off and gets back to his feet.
A good leg kick by Struve.
Sarychev tries for a takedown but Struve circles away easily
and Struve cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sarychev shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Struve counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
StepOn Struve has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sergey Sarychev.
A nice combination there by Struve.
Struve fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Sarychev on the side of the head.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Sarychev.
Struve throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Sarychev on the side of the head.
Struve sizes up Sarychev with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Struve throws a nice inside leg kick.
Sarychev dives in and grabs Struve's left leg, looking for a takedown. Struve pushes down on Sarychev's head and hops out.
A low kick lands for Struve.
Sarychev takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Struve throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
A chopping leg kick lands by Struve.
Struve throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
StepOn Struve is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
StepOn Struve is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A low kick lands for Struve.
Struve swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Sarychev.
Struve throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Sarychev gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Struve counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Struve scoring well with a low kick there.
Struve moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Sarychev has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
A slapping leg kick lands for Struve.
Struve lands a head kick. Sarychev smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Struve scores with a spinning back kick!
Sarychev has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Struve.
Sarychev is trying hard to land a takedown here. Struve sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Sarychev takes a kick to the side of the head.
Sarychev shoots in but no luck this time.
Struve moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Struve connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Sergey Sarychev has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Struve stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Struve wants it to stay on the feet.
Struve lands with a hook. Sarychev tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

And that's the end of the fight!
StepOn Struve showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Struve, 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 Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 30:27
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Dean scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... StepOn Struve!
A victorious StepOn Struve thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.