PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Constantin Niculescu (ranked 1307 p4p, 1648 weight class) and Hafir Dharris (ranked 177 p4p, 218 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.

Niculescu
vs
Dharris

183 cm
23
205
9 - 5 - 0

190 cm
23
205
9 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter

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 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Constantin Niculescu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hafir Dharris !
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Phil Schofield and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dharris blocks a jab.
Dharris feints the counter takedown.
Dharris moves in looking to clinch but Niculescu pushes him off.
Niculescu is looking to counter punch.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Dharris fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Nice defenses there by Dharris .
Niculescu throws a big shot that misses.
Dharris drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Niculescu defends it well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dharris keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Niculescu scores with a nice head shot.
Niculescu misses the jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niculescu circles away from the clinch attempt
and Niculescu counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Niculescu swats away the attempt to clinch by Dharris .
Dharris wants to clinch up but Niculescu keeps it at a distance.
Dharris shoots in looking for a takedown. Niculescu tries to sprawl out of it but Dharris keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Niculescu manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Dharris tries to clinch up.
Dharris changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Niculescu tries to avoid it but Dharris manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Niculescu to the ground. Niculescu escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Constantin Niculescu has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hafir Dharris .
A big left from Niculescu misses.
Niculescu misses with a looping left.
Dharris fails to land the takedown.
Niculescu swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Dharris has managed to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niculescu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Dharris wants a takedown.
Niculescu swings wildly with an uppercut but Dharris uses good head movement to avoid it.
Niculescu working aggressively here.
Niculescu misses with a body punch.
Dharris has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Niculescu is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Dharris blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Niculescu has a couple of punches blocked by Dharris .
Niculescu struggles to land a body shot inside as Dharris controls his hands.
Niculescu misses with a short punch on the inside.
Dharris tries for a takedown. No joy.
Dharris works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Niculescu tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Dharris is looking to take this one to the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Niculescu working aggressively here.
Dharris is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Dharris blocking some punches.
Niculescu digs a right hand into Dharris 's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Dharris 's gas tank.
Dharris goes for a takedown attempt but Niculescu pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Niculescu misses with a left hand

and Dharris decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Niculescu's guard.
Niculescu has his hands on Dharris 's head, controlling the position.
Dharris postures up in Niculescu's guard and throws a big left but Niculescu blocks it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Niculescu controlling Dharris 's posture.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Constantin Niculescu dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Niculescu scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Nice defenses there by Dharris .
Dharris shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Niculescu as he jumps to the side.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big left from Niculescu misses.
Niculescu throws an overhand right that lands on Dharris 's shoulder, as Dharris tries to avoid the shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dharris avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Dharris with the counter takedown but Niculescu avoids it easily.
Niculescu stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Niculescu wants it to stay on the feet.
It looked like Niculescu wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Niculescu throws a lazy right hand but Dharris sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Niculescu looks to land a left hand but Dharris moved out of range nicely.
Dharris changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Dharris on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Niculescu throws a big shot that misses.

Niculescu gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Dharris to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Niculescu tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Niculescu avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Niculescu looking to hit a scissor sweep but Dharris is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dharris scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Dharris throws a big elbow that misses.
Niculescu tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Niculescu throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Dharris tries to close the distance and clinch up but Niculescu swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Dharris tries to clinch but Niculescu moves out of range.
Niculescu swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Niculescu throws an overhand right that lands on Dharris 's shoulder, as Dharris tries to avoid the shot.
Dharris changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Niculescu is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Dharris can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Dharris has taken the fight to the clinch.
Niculescu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Dharris blocks a body shot from Niculescu.
Niculescu scores with a shot to the side of Dharris 's head.
Niculescu misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch on the inside from Niculescu fails to land.
Niculescu misses with a body punch.
Niculescu swings wildly with an uppercut but Dharris uses good head movement to avoid it.
Niculescu swings wildly with an uppercut but Dharris uses good head movement to avoid it.
Niculescu misses with a body punch.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Niculescu doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Niculescu tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Niculescu misses with a body punch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Dharris doesn't manage to clinch there - Niculescu circles away.
Niculescu looks to land a right hand but Dharris moved out of range.

Dharris clinches.
Dharris is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Niculescu scores with a shoulder strike.
Dharris blocks an uppercut.
Niculescu misses with a hook from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Dharris has hold of one of Niculescu's legs. Niculescu is fighting the takedown attempt but Dharris gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Dharris works over Niculescu with some ground and pound from guard.
Niculescu manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Dharris manages to get himself to full guard.

Hafir Dharris has got the better of the ground game so far.
Niculescu slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dharris looks to move to half guard but instead Niculescu has passed into mount! Damn!
Niculescu avoids the attempt from Dharris to control.
Dharris is looking to get to half guard.
Dharris keeps trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Niculescu tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Dharris tries to reverse the position but Niculescu maintains control.
Dharris is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Poor strikes thrown by Niculescu there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Dharris is working to get back to half guard.
Dharris regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dharris wants to get back to full guard but Niculescu has passed into side control.
Dharris tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Dharris sneaks back into half guard.
Constantin Niculescu is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Dharris keeping hold of Niculescu's head, controlling as best he can.
Dharris wants to get back to full guard but Niculescu has mounted him!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Niculescu prevents Dharris from getting the reversal.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Niculescu takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Dharris wants to hold on but Niculescu pushes him away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Constantin Niculescu showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Niculescu, 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 30:27
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Constantin Niculescu!
In his post fight interview, Constantin Niculescu started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.