PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Olegar Gavira (ranked 7534 p4p, 0 weight class) and Entin Zulu (ranked 5849 p4p, 0 weight class). Entin Zulu will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Gavira
vs
Zulu

170 cm
16
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
25
163 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Decent boxing
Determined

Helsinki Xtreme Fightwear
Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Olegar Gavira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Entin Zulu!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Zulu gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Gavira to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Zulu scrambles and gets back to his feet.

Gavira fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Zulu to the ground. Gavira is now in Zulu's guard.
Gavira lands a couple of digs.
Zulu wants to get back to his feet but Gavira is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Gavira lands a couple of elbows.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gavira is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Gavira won't allow Zulu to get back to his feet.
Gavira knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Zulu on the ground.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Zulu manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Gavira goes for a takedown in the clinch but Zulu prevents it.
Gavira can't get the takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zulu is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Gavira gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Zulu's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Zulu misses with a two punch combination.
Gavira leaves Zulu with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Gavira lands a slapping body shot.

Gavira throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Zulu was covering up waiting for the punch and Gavira finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Gavira content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Zulu is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Gavira trying to control but Zulu is working from the bottom.
Gavira won't allow Zulu to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zulu pushes Gavira off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Zulu jabs at Gavira's body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gavira uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Zulu.

Gavira feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Zulu is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Gavira is controlling him.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gavira content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Gavira connects with a couple of short punches.
Zulu is looking to stand up but Gavira isn't so interested in that idea.

Zulu uses the cage to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gavira shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Zulu is trying to stand.
Gavira working Zulu over with strikes.
Zulu tries to kick Gavira off but Gavira keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Gavira wants to take a breather but Zulu is having none of it.
Gavira working the head and body with strikes.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Zulu can do anything to dispel that myth.
Zulu is trying to stand up here but Gavira is controlling him well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gavira passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Zulu!
Gavira with good strikes from the mount here!
Gavira lands a heavy elbow.
Zulu's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Gavira scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Gavira looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zulu wants to get back to his feet.
Gavira looking to finish Zulu with some ground and pound. This is bad for Zulu!
Gavira is landing with some decent strikes but Zulu is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Zulu is trying to stand up.
Gavira has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Zulu's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Olegar Gavira dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Gavira ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

Zulu gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Zulu wants to get back to his feet but Gavira is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gavira stands up over Zulu, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Olegar Gavira overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gavira postures up and lands a big shot to Zulu's brow.
Gavira is working Zulu over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Gavira postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Gavira prevents Zulu from getting back to his feet.
Gavira is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Zulu can do to turn this around?
Gavira is in close to Zulu's body, working some short punches and elbows.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gavira lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Zulu wants to stand up but Gavira is controlling him.
Gavira landing with the ground and pound.
Gavira trying to control the position from guard on top but Zulu is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zulu wants to stand but Gavira is controlling the position.
Gavira controlling from the top position.
Gavira trying to control but Zulu is working from the bottom.
Gavira connects with a couple of short punches.
Zulu can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Gavira controls the pace.
Zulu is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Gavira is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Gavira trying to control the position from guard on top but Zulu is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Zulu fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Zulu misses with a takedown attempt - Gavira sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Gavira drives through with a takedown into Zulu's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Zulu has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Gavira off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Zulu misses with a wild combination.
Entin Zulu is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Gavira fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Zulu sprawls well initially but Gavira persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Gavira lands a nice short elbow.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

Zulu pushes Gavira off and gets back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zulu misses with an uppercut.
Zulu misses with an uppercut. Gavira saw that one coming.
Gavira fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Zulu manages to avoid it.
Zulu throws out a counter right but Gavira avoids it with no problem.
Zulu has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Zulu there as he acknowledges the shot.
Zulu looks to score with a jab to the body but Gavira is just out of range.
Zulu fails to land with a series of punches.
A jab from Gavira does it's job there.
Entin Zulu seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Zulu throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Gavira avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Zulu shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Gavira lands a slapping body shot.
Zulu lands with an overhand left.
Zulu is breathing heavily.
Zulu takes a swing at Gavira's ribcage but misses.
Zulu throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Gavira's waist but Gavira gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zulu off to one side.
Nice defenses there by Gavira.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zulu.
Olegar Gavira has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Entin Zulu.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Gavira shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Zulu is trying to defend but Gavira finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zulu is refusing to be controlled, as Gavira sits in half guard.
Zulu on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Gavira looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Zulu with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Gavira drops an elbow to the side of Zulu's head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Gavira connects with a nice short shot to Zulu's temple.
Zulu is staying active underneath Gavira, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Gavira working the head and body with strikes.
Gavira wants to take a breather but Zulu is having none of it.
Zulu is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Gavira scores with a couple of nice shots.
Gavira is keen to just control but Zulu is a slippery customer.
Gavira stops Zulu from getting back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Olegar Gavira dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Zulu looking to score a takedown here. Gavira is defending well but Zulu drives through and ends up in Gavira's guard.
Gavira looking to hit a scissor sweep but Zulu is one step ahead there.
Zulu is stalling in the full guard.
Gavira looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Zulu controlling from the top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gavira tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Zulu is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Gavira working a defensive guard here.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Gavira lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Zulu is looking to stand back up but Gavira counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Zulu.
Zulu is trying to stand up here but Gavira is controlling him well.
Gavira working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gavira prevents Zulu from standing back up.
Gavira slips a nice elbow through Zulu's hands, connecting with Zulu's forehead.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Gavira connects with a nice short shot to Zulu's temple.
Gavira wants to pass the guard but Zulu is defending well.
Zulu looks like he's trying to stand up.
Gavira lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Zulu has hold of Gavira's hands but Gavira slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Ground and pound from Gavira.
Olegar Gavira is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Zulu tries to kick Gavira off but Gavira keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Zulu takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zulu taking some punishment here, with Gavira in his half guard.
Gavira drops an elbow to the side of Zulu's head.
Gavira is just content to waste time from the top position. Zulu takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Gavira working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Zulu keeping moving, preventing Gavira from controlling successfully.
Gavira's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Gavira chips away with some ground and pound.
Zulu has momentary wrist control but Gavira slips an elbow through the middle.
Gavira trying to control the position from guard on top but Zulu is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gavira postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gavira stands up over Zulu, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gavira prevents Zulu from getting back to his feet.
Gavira trying to control but Zulu is working from the bottom.
Gavira scoring with some ground and pound.
Gavira prevents Zulu from getting back to his feet.
Zulu keeping moving, preventing Gavira from controlling successfully.
Zulu wants to stand up but Gavira is controlling him.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gavira scoring with punches to the head and body.
Entin Zulu has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gavira stops Zulu from standing up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Olegar Gavira showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Gavira, 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Olegar Gavira!