PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rach Ruch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Craig White (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). White is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Red Nose. Craig White will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Ruch
vs
White

173 cm
24
162 lbs
1 - 3 - 1

180 cm
22
160 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 1 - 3 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rach Ruch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Craig White!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Ivan Kurochkin and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ruch looks to throw the jab but White is out of range.
White lands a leg kick that knocks Ruch off balance momentarily.
Ruch lands a jab.
White avoids the body shot from Ruch.
Ruch throws out a loose jab but White uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ruch rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but White moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ruch throws a right and a left that both miss.
White avoids a punch combination nicely.
Ruch lands an overhand right.
Ruch looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Ruch cracks White with an open hand slap.
Ruch misses with a body shot.
White tries to clinch but Ruch moves away

and Ruch counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White is looking to stand up but Ruch isn't so interested in that idea.

Ruch gets to his feet. White looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Ruch misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Ruch throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and White makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Ruch really felt that one!
Ruch throws a nice looking combination but White bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ruch throws a right and a left that both miss.
A punch lands to the side of White 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Sloppy strikes from Ruch. Those never looked like landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Ruch. Those never looked like landing.
Ruch throws a body punch but White moves out of range.
White wants to clinch.
Ruch misses with a telegraphed body shot
and White counters with a two punch combo.
Ruch misses with a wild combination.
Ruch ducks down and throws a hook to the body but White moves away.
Ruch throws a series of punches but White moves out of range.
White tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ruch was well out of range. Poor timing from White.
White displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Ruch throws out the jab.
Ruch misses the shot to the body.
Ruch throws a big shot that misses.
White tries to clinch up but Ruch circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruch lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
White throws a right and a left that Ruch avoids nicely.
White wants to clinch but Ruch slips to the side

and Ruch holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Ruch wants to break free but White has control.
White throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Ruch blocks it with crossed arms.
White misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Ruch.
Ruch doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A short uppercut from Ruch.
White with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
White tries to land a knee to the head but Ruch blocks with his arms.
White tries to stall but Ruch uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
White throws a punch but it's blocked by Ruch.
White tries to land a knee to the head but Ruch blocks with his arms.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Ruch is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
White keeps control of Ruch as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
White trying to control the position but instead, Ruch has worked for underhooks and has pushed White into the cage.
Ruch blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Ruch looks to land a right hand but White moved out of range.
Ruch bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps White's head backwards.
White closes the distance but Ruch moves to the side
and Ruch counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Ruch misses with a body shot.
White tries to clinch up.
Ruch throws a poor cross that misses
and White counters with a big head kick but Ruch shrugs it off.
Rach Ruch is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ruch misses with a series of wild punches.
Ruch thuds his right hand into White's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Ruch fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
White dodges the punch combination from Ruch.
Jab, jab by Ruch - just one landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Ruch.
White takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
White ducks under a wild hook from Ruch.
Ruch swings for the body but White moves out of range.
Ruch throws a right hand that White ducks under and follows up with a left that White also avoids with ease.
White tries to clinch up but Ruch circles away and keeps his distance.
White takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

White clinches up against the cage.
White fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ruch managing to block the knees to the body from White.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Still in the clinch, Ruch scores with a nice short uppercut.
White lands a knee to the head.
White is trying to stall.
White tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Knees to the body from White.
White lands a nice elbow.
Ruch has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
White utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
White misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Ruch's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Ruch breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
White misses with a double jab.
Ruch throws a right and a left that both miss.
White tries to clinch there but Ruch circles away.
Ruch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ruch misses with the combination.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Ruch throws a hook but White blocks it.
Ruch misses with an uppercut. White saw that one coming.
Ruch throws a hook but White avoids it easily.
Ruch throws a hook but White avoids it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ruch looks to throw the jab but White is out of range.
Rach Ruch is winning the standup battle so far.
Nice shot lands for Ruch.

White gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A bit of stalling here from White.
White misses with a knee to the head.
White gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The referee is keeping an eye on White - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Ruch is trying to break the clinch but White is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rach Ruch dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Ruch tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but White was well out of range. Poor timing from Ruch.
Ruch throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
White throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ruch scores with a jab to the body.
Ruch swinging wildly here.
Ruch throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
White tries to clinch up but Ruch circles away and keeps his distance.
Ruch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ruch throws a jab but it's blocked by White.
A slow jab from Ruch misses its intended target.
Ruch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ruch misses with a straight left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruch just misses with a punch to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Ruch. White does a little dance to reset his feet.
White keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
White misses with a low kick as Ruch jumps back.
Ruch takes a swing at White's ribcage but misses.
Ruch misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Ruch misses with a series of wild punches.
White throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Ruch swinging wildly here.
Ruch is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by White.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ruch tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but White was well out of range. Poor timing from Ruch.
Ruch avoids a punch combination nicely.
Ruch with a jab.
White tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ruch manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Ruch throws a series of punches but White avoids them all with ease.
Ruch loads up on a big right hand but White slips the punch.
Ruch misses with a straight right.
White tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
White doesn't manage to clinch there - Ruch circles away.
Ruch scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
White uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ruch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruch throws a lazy right hand but White sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Ruch scores with a punch to the head.
White works Ruch's body with a nice hook.
A punch combination from Ruch misses.
Ruch throws a combination but it was largely blocked by White.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
White dodges the punch combination from Ruch.
Ruch throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
White fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ruch throws a predictable looking body shot
and White finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
White fails with an attempt to clinch.
Ruch swings widly with a right hand
and White counters with a three punch combo that has Ruch backing up. Ruch nods at White to acknowledge the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Decent striking displayed by Ruch there.
Ruch misses with a straight left.
Ruch misses with a series of wild punches.
Ruch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
White ducks under a wild hook from Ruch.
White avoids the body shot from Ruch.
Ruch swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ruch keeps the fight on the outside.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
White dodges the punch combination from Ruch.
White closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rach Ruch showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ruch, 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rach Ruch!