PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Taj al Din (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ilya Kovalchuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Taj al Din had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 186.1lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

al Din
vs
Kovalchuk

187 cm
19
201 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

184 cm
19
189 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Taj al Din!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ilya Kovalchuk!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
al Din staying out of range there.
Kovalchuk shoots in for a double leg but al Din sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Kovalchuk keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Kovalchuk avoids the head kick by al Din.
Kovalchuk swings and misses with a hook to the body.
al Din shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Kovalchuk as he avoids it easily.
al Din showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Kovalchuk.
al Din throws an overhand right that lands on Kovalchuk's shoulder, as Kovalchuk tries to avoid the shot.
Kovalchuk ducks under a wild hook from al Din.
al Din throws a hook but Kovalchuk blocks it.
Taj al Din seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
al Din with a poor takedown
and Kovalchuk counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Taj al Din. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kovalchuk throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Kovalchuk with a hook.

Kovalchuk looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for al Din!
Kovalchuk pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

It looks like Taj al Din has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kovalchuk punishing his opponent with strikes.

al Din is rocked!

Taj al Din's cut is getting worse.
Kovalchuk drops a big elbow. That's hurt al Din! More shots from Kovalchuk and the ref steps in! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:26 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ilya Kovalchuk!