PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ilya Kushnevich (ranked 2200 p4p, 2658 weight class) and Theo Trivette (ranked 278 p4p, 330 weight class). Theo Trivette looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Kushnevich
vs
Trivette

179 cm
22
160
5 - 4 - 0

176 cm
22
155
7 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

Conquer
Conviction

Redemption ink
Conquer

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ilya Kushnevich!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Theo Trivette!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Nard Betker and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Trivette throws a body shot but no joy.
Kushnevich looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kushnevich bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Kushnevich takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Trivette lands with a right hand.
Kushnevich fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Trivette has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Kushnevich moves away from the strike by Trivette.
Kushnevich throws a quick inside leg kick.
Trivette takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Trivette moves away from the strike by Kushnevich.
Kushnevich lands with a kick to the ribs.
Trivette avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Trivette was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
Kushnevich misses the jab.
Trivette tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Trivette takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Trivette ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Trivette let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Trivette throws a head kick that misses.
Trivette on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Kushnevich. Kushnevich obviously looking to wear him down.
Trivette ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kushnevich moves away.
A bone on bone clash there as Trivette blocks the leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kushnevich shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Kushnevich showed some decent athleticism there.
Kushnevich seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Trivette does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Trivette can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kushnevich scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Trivette is refusing to be controlled, as Kushnevich sits in half guard.
Trivette avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kushnevich.
Kushnevich is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Kushnevich is pressing down on Trivette's thigh, looking to free his foot. Trivette is holding on for now.
Trivette has hold of Kushnevich's hands but Kushnevich slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Kushnevich is looking to advance position but Trivette won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Trivette is looking to improve his position.
Kushnevich lands strikes from half guard.
Kushnevich perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Trivette really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kushnevich. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kushnevich trying to control the action but Trivette is working from the bottom.
Kushnevich stalling.
Nice strikes from Kushnevich there.
Kushnevich throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Kushnevich thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kushnevich is keen to just control but Trivette is a slippery customer.
Kushnevich missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kushnevich not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kushnevich throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Kushnevich throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Trivette taking some punishment here, with Kushnevich in his half guard.
Kushnevich trying to control from half guard but Trivette is working away.
Trivette wants to get back to his feet.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kushnevich lands a nice short elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Trivette wants to get back to his feet.
Kushnevich missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kushnevich controlling the action here.
Kushnevich throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Kushnevich passes to full mount!
Kushnevich looking to finish Trivette with some ground and pound. This is bad for Trivette!
Kushnevich controlling the position easily from mount.
Trivette can't escape the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ilya Kushnevich dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Trivette takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Kushnevich tries for a takedown but Trivette sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Kushnevich throws a low kick, looking for Trivette's leg but Trivette calmly moves out of range.
Kushnevich displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Trivette throws out the jab.
Trivette lands a nice hook to Kushnevich's body. Kushnevich takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Trivette is looking to chop away at Kushnevich's legs.
Trivette lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Kushnevich connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Trivette's hands.
Trivette throws a wild body kick that Kushnevich sees coming a mile off.
Kushnevich keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Trivette.
Kushnevich misses with a low kick.

Trivette gets caught flat footed, as Kushnevich shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Trivette can't keep his opponent in guard - Kushnevich advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kushnevich lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Kushnevich drops an elbow to the side of Trivette's head.
Trivette is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Trivette is not content to let Kushnevich control the position.
Kushnevich with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Kushnevich is pressing down on Trivette's thigh, looking to free his foot. Trivette is holding on for now.
Kushnevich has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Kushnevich thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Kushnevich takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Trivette manages to get to full guard.
Kushnevich showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's two 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.
Trivette working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kushnevich.
Kushnevich is working Trivette over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Kushnevich won't allow Trivette to sweep him here.
Ilya Kushnevich overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kushnevich pushes down on Trivette's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Trivette taking some punishment here, with Kushnevich in his half guard.
Kushnevich missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Trivette is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Kushnevich scores with a couple of nice shots.
Kushnevich performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kushnevich sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Trivette defending well though.
Kushnevich seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Trivette does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kushnevich perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Kushnevich looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Trivette avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kushnevich.
Kushnevich is pressing down on Trivette's thigh, looking to free his foot. Trivette is holding on for now.
Trivette is not content to let Kushnevich control the position.
Trivette on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kushnevich 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 four minutes gone in the round.
Kushnevich stalling.
Trivette won't allow Kushnevich to pass to mount.
Trivette blocking the ground and pound attempt from Kushnevich.
Kushnevich thows a huge punch but Trivette dodges it nicely.
Kushnevich working Trivette over with strikes.
Kushnevich drops an elbow to the side of Trivette's head.
Kushnevich is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Kushnevich is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Trivette can do to turn this around?
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Trivette is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Kushnevich scores with a couple of nice shots.
Kushnevich working over Trivette with some ground and pound. Trivette looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Trivette is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Kushnevich scores with a couple of nice shots.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ilya Kushnevich dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Kushnevich tries to land a leg kick but Trivette saw it coming and moves away.
Trivette throws a body kick that misses.

Kushnevich drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Trivette keeping full guard, as Kushnevich tries to pass.
Trivette utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Trivette preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kushnevich showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Kushnevich passes Trivette's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Trivette takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kushnevich with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kushnevich's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Kushnevich wants to control but Trivette is keeping him busy.
Kushnevich passes to full mount!
Kushnevich working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Kushnevich with a couple of short strikes.

Trivette is rocked!
Kushnevich is landing with some decent strikes but Trivette is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Trivette is still in real trouble! Can Kushnevich finish him?
Kushnevich postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Trivette badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of Kushnevich around the waist but Kushnevich pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! Kushnevich is the winner by TKO! Kushnevich jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ilya Kushnevich!
A very excited looking Ilya Kushnevich made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.