PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dave Handerson (ranked 1219 p4p, 2950 weight class) and Surkho Dratchev (ranked 154 p4p, 323 weight class). Dave Handerson has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Handerson
vs
Dratchev

198 cm
20
255
6 - 1 - 0

194 cm
20
265
3 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

White Gorilla
PWNAGE Elite

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 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Dave Handerson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Surkho Dratchev!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Handerson misses with a straight left.
A slapping leg kick lands for Dratchev.
Handerson misses with a hook.
Dratchev moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Dratchev staying out of range there.
Nice shot by Dratchev.

Handerson fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Dratchev sprawls well initially but Handerson persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Dratchev looks like he's trying to stand up.
Handerson trying to control from half guard but Dratchev is working away.
Handerson is stalling here. Dratchev is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Handerson seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Dratchev has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Dratchev decides to stand up, so the ref orders Handerson to his feet.

Handerson drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Handerson throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
We've been hearing that Handerson has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.

Handerson tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Check out the look on Handerson's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Handerson wants to control but Dratchev is keeping him busy.
Handerson is really struggling to control Dratchev but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Handerson tries to score with some ground and pound. Dratchev controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Handerson is trying to ground and pound but Dratchev uses the momentary lack of control by Handerson to regain half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Handerson lands a nice short elbow.
Handerson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Dratchev does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Handerson prevents Dratchev from standing back up.

Handerson is looking for a kimura but Dratchev is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Handerson to get the leverage.
Handerson prevents Dratchev from standing back up.
Dratchev avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Handerson.
Dratchev 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.
Handerson looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Dratchev on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Handerson slips a nice elbow through Dratchev's hands, connecting with Dratchev's forehead.
Handerson not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Handerson is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Handerson is working for a submission of some sort.

Handerson looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Handerson trying to control from Dratchev's half guard. Dratchev has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Handerson throwing strikes but missing.
Handerson trying to control but Dratchev is working from the bottom.
Handerson 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.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Handerson dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Handerson bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
An attempted straight right counter from Handerson misses the target.
Surkho Dratchev has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Handerson takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Good shot there by Dratchev.
Dratchev fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Handerson on the side of the head.
Dratchev with a nice calf kick.
Handerson misses with an uppercut. Dratchev saw that one coming.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Dratchev! But no joy.
Handerson fails with the takedown.
Dratchev cracks Handerson with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Dratchev sizes up Handerson with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.

Handerson changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Dratchev looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Handerson cracks Dratchev with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Handerson wants to control but Dratchev is keeping him busy.
Handerson scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Dratchev to see if he's OK.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Handerson is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Dratchev is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Handerson with the ground and pound but Dratchev regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Dratchev avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Handerson.

Handerson is looking for submissions but instead, Dratchev has regained full guard.

Dratchev manages to escape and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Handerson misses.
Handerson looks to score with a jab to the body but Dratchev is just out of range.

Handerson throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Dratchev was covering up waiting for the punch and Handerson finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Handerson trying to control the position from guard on top but Dratchev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dratchev really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Handerson. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Handerson throwing strikes but missing.
Handerson keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Dratchev's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Handerson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Handerson lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Dratchev utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Handerson trying to control but Dratchev is working from the bottom.
Handerson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Handerson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Dratchev wants to get back to his feet but Handerson passes into half guard.
Handerson lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Dave Handerson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Handerson is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Dratchev is just riding it out for now. Handerson eventually gives up the hold.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Handerson is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Dratchev avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Handerson.
Handerson is looking to take a break and control but Dratchev is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Handerson thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Handerson sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Dratchev defending well though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Dave Handerson will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Handerson looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Handerson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Dratchev's head.
Handerson lands with a punch from half guard.
Handerson scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Handerson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Dratchev does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Handerson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Dratchev defends it well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Handerson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dratchev is trying to stand up here but Handerson is controlling him well.
Handerson looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

Handerson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Dratchev defends it well.
Handerson is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

Handerson looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Dratchev wants to try and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Handerson looking to finish Dratchev with some ground and pound. This is bad for Dratchev!
Handerson with a couple of short strikes.
Handerson in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Handerson landing punches.
Handerson cracks Dratchev with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Handerson cracks Dratchev with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Handerson controlling from the full mount.
Handerson in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Dratchev wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Handerson.
Handerson throws some wild stikes that Dratchev manages to avoid easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dratchev in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Handerson controlling from the full mount.
Handerson landing shots from mount.
Handerson cracks Dratchev with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Handerson thowing shots but they're missing.
Handerson working the ground and pound effectively.

Handerson is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Dratchev has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Dratchev!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Handerson is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Handerson looking to control.

Handerson throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Handerson trying to control the position.

Handerson working for submissions but it's allowed Dratchev to get to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Handerson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Handerson, 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Dave Handerson!
An out of breath Dave Handerson thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.