PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Maksim Nikifor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Harald Loe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nikifor comes to the cage accompanied by Enae Volare Mezzo. The crowd seem to be enjoying Loe's choice of entrance music: RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE "bulls on parade". Harald Loe has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Nikifor
vs
Loe

195 cm
25
205 lbs
9 - 2 - 1

187 cm
23
216 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Tesla Apparel
Tesla Apparel

[†]FALCON CLOTHING[†]
Win Nutritional

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Maksim Nikifor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Harald Loe!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Valeri Chadov and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A punch combination from Nikifor misses.
A swing and a miss from Nikifor.
A big right from Nikifor misses.
Nikifor will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Loe uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Nikifor.
Nikifor throws a series of punches but Loe avoids them all with ease.
Loe throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Loe defending well as Nikifor loads up on a big left hand.
Loe swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Loe tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nikifor looks to land a combination but Loe avoids it well.
Loe slips a jab and a cross from Nikifor.
Loe tries to clinch but Nikifor moves out of range.
Nikifor throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Loe throws a combination that misses
and Nikifor counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Loe tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Nikifor paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Nikifor misses with a jab, cross combination.
Loe lands a nice leg kick that just misses Nikifor's sensitive parts.
Nikifor looks to score with a jab to the body but Loe is just out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nikifor stalks Loe and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Loe's face. Loe staggers backwards, shaken.

It looks like Harald Loe has been cut.
Loe uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Nikifor.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Loe.
Loe displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Nikifor throws out the jab.
Nikifor misses with a looping right.
Loe avoids the body shot from Nikifor.
Maksim Nikifor is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Loe takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Loe tries to clinch up but Nikifor circles away and keeps his distance.
An inside leg kick from Loe misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nikifor lands a right hook to the body.
Loe chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Nikifor looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Nikifor bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Loe's head.
Loe throws a leg kick but Nikifor checks it.
Nikifor misses with a few strikes there.
Nikifor stuns Loe with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Loe throws a sloppy head kick and Nikifor moves out of range easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nikifor with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Loe misses with a body kick.
Nikifor misses with a series of wild punches.
Loe looks to throw the jab but Nikifor is out of range.
Loe tries to work over Nikifor's front leg with a kick but Nikifor checks it.
Loe takes a swing at Nikifor's ribcage but misses.
Nikifor clobbers Loe with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maksim Nikifor dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Harald Loe's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Nikifor lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Loe circles away quickly and effectively.
Nikifor blocks a leg kick.
Nikifor blocks a low kick nicely.
Loe bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Maksim Nikifor is winning the standup battle so far.
A big left from Nikifor misses.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Nikifor, as that shot connected.
A slow jab from Nikifor misses its intended target.
Nikifor lands with a straight right. Loe didn't see that one coming.

Nikifor tries to keep at a distance but Loe has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nikifor is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Nikifor wants to break the clinch but can't.
Nikifor on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Loe misses with a punch on the inside.
Nikifor prevents the takedown attempt.
Loe lands an elbow inside.
Nikifor tries to circle away but Loe has him pinned against the cage.
Loe stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
A short right from Loe on the inside.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Loe just misses with a elbow thrown towards Nikifor's brow.
Loe lands an elbow that stopped Nikifor in his tracks for a moment.
Nikifor working hard to break the clinch.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Loe just misses with a elbow thrown towards Nikifor's brow.
Loe working Nikifor over with knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Nikifor is trying to break the clinch but Loe has him pressed against the cage.
Nikifor is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Loe lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Loe lands an elbow just above Nikifor 's eye.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Loe.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Loe obliges.
Loe throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Nikifor blocks it with crossed arms.
Loe is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Loe manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Loe lands an elbow that stopped Nikifor in his tracks for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Loe utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Loe lands a damaging elbow.
Loe controlling the action here for a moment.
Loe unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Nice elbow from Loe.

Loe manages to break the clinch.
Some wild striking there from Loe.
Loe throws a half hearted mid kick.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Loe lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Nikifor has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Nikifor and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Loe misses with a low kick.
Harald Loe is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nikifor misses with a body shot

and Loe counters by moving into the clinch.
Loe lands a nice knee to the body.
Loe crunches a lovely knee into Nikifor's ribcage.
Nikifor letting Loe take a breather here.
Loe lands an elbow that stopped Nikifor in his tracks for a moment.
Good body shot from Loe.
Stalling in the clinch from Loe.

Loe pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Maksim Nikifor seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Loe throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nikifor chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Loe can pounce on him.
Loe feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Nikifor's calf.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nikifor tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Loe throws a wild body kick that Nikifor sees coming a mile off.
Loe goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Nikifor stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Loe.
Loe shoots in and drives through. Nikifor sprawls well.
Loe throws a nice head kick!
Nikifor thows a left - swing and a miss!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Nikifor blocks a low kick nicely.
Nikifor will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Harald Loe showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Harald Loe'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!

Loe misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nikifor.
A punch combination from Nikifor misses.
Loe scores with a spinning back kick!
Nikifor blocks a head kick by Loe.
Loe lands with a thumping leg kick.
Loe lands a jab to Nikifor's midsection.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Loe dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Nikifor. That did some damage!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Loe moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
A solid body kick from Loe.
The fighters circling - Loe throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Loe with a nice cross.
Loe with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Loe with a body punch. A glancing blow.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Loe lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nikifor circles away quickly and effectively.
A big right from Loe misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Loe shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Loe was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Nikifor wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Loe.
BOOM! Loe connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Loe looking to finish with strikes here!
Loe thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Loe throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Loe landing punches.
Loe has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Loe thowing shots but they're missing.
Loe wants to control the action but instead Nikifor gets a body lock and reverses into Loe's guard! Nice work!
Nikifor wants to stand but Loe has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Loe is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Loe manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nikifor really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Harald Loe comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Loe has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:29
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:29
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Harald Loe!