PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Dragonov (ranked 1899 p4p, 24026 weight class) and Cathal O Doherty (ranked 212 p4p, 564 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Dragonov
vs
O Doherty

170 cm
29
148
10 - 9 - 0

172 cm
23
150
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

PWNAGE™

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Ivan Dragonov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Cathal O Doherty!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Bruno Hogan and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Doherty lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
O Doherty with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
O Doherty cracks Dragonov with a good jab.
A jab from O Doherty does it's job there.
Dragonov tries to clinch but O Doherty is having none of it.
O Doherty swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Dragonov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but O Doherty manages to avoid it.
O Doherty feints and then cracks Dragonov's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Dragonov down.
Jab by O Doherty.
O Doherty with a nice calf kick.
Dragonov takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
O Doherty jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
O Doherty has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
O Doherty gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Dragonov counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
O Doherty can't find room to land a body shot as Dragonov controls the action.

O Doherty manages to break the clinch.
O Doherty swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Dragonov.
O Doherty avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Dragonov takes one to the chin there.
Dragonov fails in his attempt to clinch.
O Doherty lands a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Doherty connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
O Doherty throws a good cross that connects.
Dragonov tries to clinch but O Doherty moves away
letting O Doherty counter with a right hand.
Dragonov tries to clinch but fails miserably
and O Doherty counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
O Doherty swats away the attempt to clinch by Dragonov.

Dragonov instigates a clinch.
Dragonov tries to land knees in the clinch but O Doherty avoids the damage to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, O Doherty creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for O Doherty.
O Doherty tries a body shot but Dragonov blocks it.
O Doherty's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Dragonov tries to work over O Doherty's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A hook to the body from O Doherty.
Dragonov's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dragonov prevents a body shot from O Doherty.
Dragonov tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and O Doherty avoids it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Doherty doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
O Doherty lands a nice uppercut.

O Doherty manages to break the clinch.
A decent looking cross lands there for O Doherty.
Dragonov misses the shot to the body.
Dragonov wants to clinch up but O Doherty keeps it at a distance.
Cathal O Doherty seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
An inside leg kick from O Doherty misses.

Dragonov closes the distance and pushes O Doherty back into the cage.

O Doherty manages to break the clinch.
Dragonov doesn't manage to clinch there - O Doherty circles away.
O Doherty scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Dragonov looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Dragonov scores with a shot to the body.
O Doherty is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Dragonov had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
Dragonov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
O Doherty lets loose with a powerful body kick. Dragonov will feel that in the morning.
O Doherty misses with the combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Doherty displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Dragonov throws out the jab.

Dragonov clinches up with O Doherty and pushes him back against the cage.
Dragonov blocks an elbow strike.
O Doherty misses with an elbow over the top.
O Doherty lands a nice uppercut.
Dragonov tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
A right handed body shot lands from Dragonov.
O Doherty blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Dragonov throws an elbow but it misses.
Dragonov tries to land knees in the clinch but O Doherty avoids the damage to the body.
Dragonov slows down the pace here.
Dragonov misses with a hook to the ribs.
O Doherty tries to pull guard but Dragonov holds him up against the cage and eventually O Doherty drops back down to his feet.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, O Doherty creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A short uppercut from O Doherty.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dragonov landing knees to the body.
O Doherty working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Dragonov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Dragonov tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

O Doherty successfully pulls guard.
O Doherty is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

O Doherty pushes a forearm under Dragonov's chin to create some space. He's escaped his hips and pivoted quickly for an armbar! Can he extend the arm? Yes, Dragonov is tapping out! Damn, that was fast!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:43 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Cathal O Doherty!
A relieved looking Cathal O Doherty thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.