PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Maksim Taranin (ranked 1365 p4p, 2760 weight class) and Olan Zapina (ranked 124 p4p, 234 weight class). Olan Zapina has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Taranin
vs
Zapina

170 cm
20
146
4 - 2 - 0

174 cm
28
150
5 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Powerful

Warrior Fight Store

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Maksim Taranin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Olan Zapina!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Viktor Lagutenko and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No luck for Taranin with that takedown attempt.
Zapina misses with a body kick.
Taranin changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Zapina tries to avoid it but Taranin manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Zapina to the ground. Zapina escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Zapina misses with a head kick.
Taranin throws a body shot but no joy.
Taranin misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Maksim Taranin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zapina throws a push kick but Taranin slaps the foot to one side.
Zapina moves out of range of the strikes.

Taranin throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Zapina was covering up waiting for the punch and Taranin finishes the takedown easily into guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Taranin slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Taranin drops back looking for a leg! Zapina is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Zapina manages to kick Taranin off! Taranin jumps back into Zapina's guard.
Taranin is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taranin content to control rather than advance.
Taranin seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Zapina for as long as he can get away with.

Taranin is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Zapina sees it coming and defends easily.
Taranin looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's four 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.
Zapina is concentrating on defense, preventing Taranin from advancing position.

Taranin has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can Zapina defend it? Taranin steps over the head and cranks it - Zapina is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Taranin!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:27 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Maksim Taranin!
After winning the bout, Maksim Taranin thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.