PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ross Tomson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vasilij Zajtsev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Tomson
vs
Zajtsev

172 cm
18
152 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

165 cm
25
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Enjoys gardening

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ross Tomson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Vasilij Zajtsev!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Vladimir Khabensky and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Zajtsev looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tomson throws a combination that misses
and Zajtsev counters with a good, hard body kick but Tomson shrugs it off.
Tomson misses with a straight right.
Zajtsev lands with a kick to the ribs.
Zajtsev connects with a good right hand that stumbles Tomson. Tomson circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

It looks like Ross Tomson has been cut.
Zajtsev slips a jab and a cross from Tomson.

Zajtsev moves into the clinch.
Zajtsev prevents Tomson from breaking the clinch.
Tomson tries to circle away but Zajtsev has him pinned against the cage.

Zajtsev escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Tomson gets caught flat footed, as Zajtsev shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Zajtsev throwing strikes but missing.
Zajtsev postures up in Tomson's guard and throws a big left but Tomson blocks it.
Tomson wants to stand but Zajtsev is controlling the position.
Tomson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Zajtsev on the ground.
Tomson throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Zajtsev has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Zajtsev is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tomson wants to stand and escape but Zajtsev is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Vasilij Zajtsev hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Zajtsev clinches up against the cage.
Tomson is trying to break the clinch but Zajtsev has him pressed against the cage.

Zajtsev pulls Tomson into guard.
Zajtsev seems keen to control Tomson's posture.
Zajtsev is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Zajtsev looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Tomson wants to get back to his feet.
Zajtsev not doing much here.
Tomson scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Zajtsev manages to mount him!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zajtsev cracks Tomson with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Zajtsev landing shots from mount.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tomson srikes from the bottom but he's lost position and has given up his back.

Zajtsev is remaining active here, looking for the choke. The more discerning members of the crowd will appreciate his efforts.
Zajtsev is landing with strikes. Tomson can't take much more of this.
Zajtsev keeps control of the position easily here as Tomson tries to buck him off.
Zajtsev has the hooks in. Tomson is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Zajtsev biding his time, controlling Tomson.

Tomson fending off the submission attempt from Zajtsev.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tomson trying to get back to his feet but Zajtsev is in full control for now.
Zajtsev is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.

Zajtsev is remaining active here, looking for the choke. The more discerning members of the crowd will appreciate his efforts.
Tomson is in bad spot here.
Zajtsev has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Tomson's body.
Tomson is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
I would not like to be Tomson right now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tomson is trying to stand back up.
Zajtsev is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Tomson up.

Zajtsev looking for the choke from the back.
Zajtsev has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Tomson's body.
Tomson trying to get back to his feet but Zajtsev is in full control for now.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zajtsev really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Tomson.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Zajtsev scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Tomson is looking for a way out.
Good control from Zajtsev.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vasilij Zajtsev dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ross Tomson's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Tomson swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Zajtsev cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Zajtsev tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zajtsev tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tomson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tomson lands a jab-cross combination.

Zajtsev pushes Tomson up against the cage in a clinch.
Zajtsev jumps guard but Tomson stands there with Zajtsev around his waist. Zajtsev gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Zajtsev fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Tomson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Tomson misses with a hook from the clinch.

Zajtsev jumps into guard, dragging Tomson to the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tomson wants to control from the top but Zajtsev keeps moving.
Tomson throws a strike but Zajtsev rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Zajtsev trying to control but Tomson is working from the bottom.
Tomson on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Tomson tries to get out of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tomson doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Vasilij Zajtsev has got the better of the ground game so far.
Tomson throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Zajtsev loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Zajtsev wants to control from the top but Tomson keeps moving.
Zajtsev with a nice head shot there.
Tomson looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Zajtsev puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Zajtsev not doing much here.
Tomson is looking for a sweep. Zajtsev is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Zajtsev stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Tomson to get to his feet.
Zajtsev fails with a takedown attempt.
Ross Tomson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Vasilij Zajtsev.
Tomson defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Zajtsev.
Ross Tomson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tomson misses with a few strikes there.
Sloppy strikes from Tomson. Those never looked like landing.
Tomson throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Zajtsev counters with an inside leg kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Zajtsev.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tomson is not content to let Zajtsev control the position.
Tomson is trying to escape the position but Zajtsev is controlling the position.
Tomson is looking to get back to his feet here but Zajtsev is keeping cool and he's managed to take Tomson's back.
Tomson trying to get back to his feet but Zajtsev is in full control for now.

Zajtsev is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Tomson defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tomson is covering up but some of the strikes from Zajtsev are getting through and doing damage.
Tomson is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
Tomson can't escape the position.

Zajtsev working for a choke but Tomson is defending well.
Tomson is trying to stand back up.
Zajtsev controlling well, preventing Tomson from escaping the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tomson trying to get back to his feet but Zajtsev is in full control for now.

Zajtsev tightening his grip on Tomson, looking for the choke.
Zajtsev lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Zajtsev.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Zajtsev lands a shot to the body.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Tomson covers up after that shot from Zajtsev.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zajtsev scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
Zajtsev just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Zajtsev.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vasilij Zajtsev showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ross Tomson's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Zajtsev gets a clinch.

Tomson is rocked!

Zajtsev has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Tomson clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Oh Tomson is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

Zajtsev is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Tomson defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Tomson wants to get back to his feet.
I would not like to be Tomson right now.

Zajtsev working for the rear naked choke here. He's got one arm under but Tomson is defending well. A couple of punches soften him up though and Zajtsev has tightened the hold! This one could be all over! It is! Tomson taps out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:29 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Vasilij Zajtsev!
An out of breath Vasilij Zajtsev thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.