PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Chris Liddle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xander Nimorov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nimorov is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Lose Yourself - Eminem. Xander Nimorov will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Liddle
vs
Nimorov

175 cm
18
170 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

199 cm
18
170 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

•‡• LION Clothing •‡•

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Chris Liddle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Xander Nimorov!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Chris Edwards and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nimorov swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Liddle defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Nimorov.
Nimorov fails to land with a series of punches.
Nimorov rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Liddle moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Liddle throws a quick inside leg kick.
Nimorov will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nimorov connects with a good right hand that stumbles Liddle. Liddle circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Nimorov looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Liddle shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Liddle dives in and grabs Nimorov's left leg, looking for a takedown. Nimorov pushes down on Liddle's head and hops out.
Nimorov sizes up Liddle with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Nimorov scores with a jab to the head.
Nimorov misses with a takedown attempt

and Liddle decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Nimorov's guard.
Chris Liddle has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Xander Nimorov.
Liddle tries to stand but Nimorov is controlling from the bottom.
Liddle working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nimorov is looking to stand up but Liddle isn't so interested in that idea.
Liddle tries to stand but Nimorov is controlling from the bottom.
Liddle wants to control from the top but Nimorov keeps moving.
Nimorov has a closed guard, preventing Liddle from standing up.

Liddle thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

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

Liddle stands up and waves to Nimorov to follow him.
Nimorov shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Liddle as he avoids it easily.
Liddle doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Nimorov throws a series of punches but Liddle moves out of range.
Liddle is trying hard to land a takedown here. Nimorov sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Nimorov displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Liddle.
Nice takedown defense from Liddle. No joy for Nimorov on that attempt.
Nimorov falls off balance throwing a combination
and Liddle counters with a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Liddle misses with a double jab
and Nimorov counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Nimorov with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Nimorov closes the distance looking to clinch

and Liddle counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Liddle.
Nimorov is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Nimorov tries to break free but Liddle pushes him back against the cage.
Nimorov tries to break the clinch but Liddle is controlling the position.
Nimorov wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Liddle escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Nimorov misses with a shot to the body

and Liddle counters with a single leg into guard. Nimorov didn't expect that.

Liddle drops back looking for a leg! Nimorov is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Nimorov manages to kick Liddle off! Liddle jumps back into Nimorov's guard.
Liddle might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Liddle drops back looking for a leg! Nimorov is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Nimorov manages to kick Liddle off! Liddle jumps back into Nimorov's guard.
Nimorov really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Liddle. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Liddle drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Liddle jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Liddle trying to control but Nimorov is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Nimorov throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nimorov with a poor takedown
and Liddle counters with a leg kick.
Nimorov scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Liddle has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Nimorov throws a series of punches but Liddle avoids them all with ease.
Nimorov lands a jab to the nose.
Nimorov is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Liddle gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Nimorov counters with a one-two to the body.
Nimorov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Liddle was well out of range. Poor timing from Nimorov.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Nimorov.
Nimorov slaps away a takedown attempt from Liddle, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Liddle swinging wilding here.
Danga de danga de dang - Nimorov scores with a four punch combination!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nimorov throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Nimorov throws a left and a right that both miss
and Liddle counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Liddle shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Nimorov's guard.
Liddle would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Nimorov working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Liddle.
Nimorov wants to stand and escape but Liddle is having none of it.

Liddle is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Liddle wants to control from the top but Nimorov keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nimorov keeping full guard, as Liddle tries to pass.
Nimorov wants to stand up but Liddle is controlling him.
Nimorov keeping full guard, as Liddle tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Nimorov scores with a shot to the body.
Nimorov throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Nimorov has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Nimorov shoots and misses

and Liddle counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Chris Liddle has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Xander Nimorov.

Liddle drops back looking for a leg! Nimorov is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Nimorov manages to kick Liddle off! Liddle jumps back into Nimorov's guard.

Liddle is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Liddle trying to control the position from guard on top but Nimorov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Liddle postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Nimorov is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Liddle, into his guard.
Nimorov throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Liddle works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Liddle is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Nimorov stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Liddle swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Chris Liddle will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Nimorov displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Liddle darts in and clinches Nimorov up against the cage.
Liddle has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Nimorov is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Nimorov swings wildly with an uppercut but Liddle uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nimorov wants to break free but Liddle has control.

Liddle's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nice uppercut there from Nimorov.
Liddle uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Nimorov.
Liddle needs to keep his hands up - Nimorov had a free shot at his head there.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Liddle is defended easily by Nimorov.
Nimorov tries to clinch but Liddle moves away

and Liddle counters with a takedown into side control.

Liddle tries for a kimura but Nimorov is defending well.

Liddle is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Nimorov has escaped the position, nice work there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Liddle taking a break here but Nimorov is having none of it and regains half guard.

Liddle seems to be looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Liddle is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Nimorov defends it well.
Nimorov is refusing to be controlled, as Liddle sits in half guard.
Liddle is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Nimorov is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Liddle is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, Nimorov has managed to free his arm - good work.
Liddle seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Nimorov does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Nimorov falls off balance throwing a combination

and Liddle counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

Liddle is trying to work for a kimura but Nimorov is defending well.
Xander Nimorov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Liddle seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Nimorov does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Chris Liddle is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Liddle wants to stand but Nimorov has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Liddle is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Nimorov is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Liddle trying to control from Nimorov's half guard. Nimorov has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chris Liddle showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Liddle, 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 William Gold scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chris Liddle!