PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nikola Popovic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Walter Blanco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Popovic
vs
Blanco

198 cm
18
255 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

195 cm
18
245 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nikola Popovic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Walter Blanco!
The judges for this bout are Donatello Bradman, Bruno Hogan and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Popovic gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Blanco's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Blanco shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Popovic as he jumps to the side.
Nice uppercut lands for Popovic. That snapped Blanco's head back.
Popovic looks to land a combination but Blanco avoids it well.
Popovic throws a series of punches but Blanco moves out of range.

Popovic drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Blanco looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Popovic showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Popovic trying to control but Blanco is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popovic tries to free his leg and advance position but Blanco is retaining full guard.
Popovic is standing up over Blanco. Blanco looks to escape but Popovic dives into side control.
Blanco tries to bench press Popovic off him but Popovic keeps the position.
Popovic remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Blanco can't do much from the bottom here.
Blanco is trying to improve his position.
Popovic gets to mount! Blanco was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Popovic scoring with strikes but Blanco is staying in there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Popovic jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Blanco manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Blanco is being controlled here.
Blanco tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Blanco throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.
Blanco tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Popovic wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Blanco is trying to work for a sweep but Popovic has mounted him!
A nice elbow there by Popovic.
Popovic controlling from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikola Popovic 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.

Blanco misses with a takedown

and Popovic counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Popovic has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Blanco avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Popovic is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Blanco pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Blanco tries to pull guard but Popovic won't allow it.
Popovic gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Blanco.
Nikola Popovic has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Walter Blanco.

Popovic has hold of one of Blanco's legs. Blanco is fighting the takedown attempt but Popovic gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

Blanco isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Popovic stacks Blanco on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Popovic!
Blanco is looking for a sweep.
Blanco is breathing heavily.
Blanco looks to move to half guard but instead Popovic has passed into mount! Damn!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popovic content just to control the position here.
Popovic seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Blanco for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Blanco working to try and regain half guard.
Popovic wants to control the pace but Blanco is squirming around nicely.
Popovic tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Blanco is trying desperately to improve position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Popovic with the ground and pound from mount.
Blanco really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Popovic looking to control and managing it successfully.
Blanco can't escape the position.

That's four 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.
Popovic is landing with some decent strikes but Blanco is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Popovic looking to control and managing it successfully.
Popovic has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Blanco tries to lock up and control but Popovic gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikola Popovic dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Popovic punishes Blanco's body with a nice straight punch.
Popovic misses with a two punch combination.
Blanco swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Popovic counters by clinching up.

Popovic breaks from the clinch.
Popovic throws a right and a left that both miss.
Blanco wants to clinch
and Popovic counters with a left and a right that stings Blanco.
Popovic comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Popovic throws a nice looking combination but Blanco bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Blanco has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Popovic is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Popovic lands a takedown into guard.
Popovic with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Popovic is stalling in the full guard.
Blanco takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popovic forces his way into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Popovic is taking a breather. Blanco says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Blanco tries to roll over but Popovic keeps him under control.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Blanco trying to hold on to Popovic's head to control him but Popovic postures up.

Nikola Popovic has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Popovic throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Popovic throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Blanco.
No joy there for Popovic, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Popovic throws a series of strikes that have Blanco backpedaling.
Popovic scores with a three punch combo!
Nikola Popovic is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Popovic shoots in and bounces Blanco off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Popovic content to stall in guard here.
Nikola Popovic is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nikola Popovic showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Popovic has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Donatello Bradman scores the fight 30:26
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:26
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nikola Popovic!