PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Harvi Kalaso (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andrey Novikov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kalaso comes to the cage accompanied by shut em down. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Kalaso
vs
Novikov

174 cm
30
159 lbs
17 - 13 - 0

183 cm
23
163 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

[JMFC] 160!

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 17 - 13 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Harvi Kalaso!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Andrey Novikov!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Aleksandr Martynov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Kalaso, right into the meat.
Kalaso throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Novikov tries a head kick but it misses.
Kalaso fails to land the takedown.
Kalaso keeps the fight on the outside.
Novikov throws a right and a left that both miss.
Novikov moves in looking to clinch but Kalaso pushes him off.
Novikov swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Kalaso feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Novikov's calf.

Novikov tries to sprawl but Kalaso drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Kalaso takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Novikov is trying to get back to full guard.
Kalaso tries to pass the half guard into mount. Novikov knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Novikov is trying to stand back up but Kalaso is controlling him
Kalaso prevents Novikov from improving his position.

Kalaso looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Novikov taking some punishment here, with Kalaso in his half guard.
Kalaso wants to free his trapped foot but Novikov is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Novikov tries to get to full guard but Kalaso has control of the leg.
Kalaso not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kalaso takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Kalaso seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Novikov for as long as he can get away with.
Novikov is trying to control but Kalaso manages to pass to mount!
Kalaso lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Kalaso pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kalaso working for a submission but Novikov is keeping him at bay.
Kalaso scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Novikov?
Kalaso can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Novikov is looking to escape.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Kalaso controlling from the full mount.
Novikov takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Novikov is desperately trying to improve his position but Kalaso has a good base and remains in mount.
Kalaso tries to control but Novikov wriggling away.
Kalaso looking to finish Novikov with some ground and pound. This is bad for Novikov!
Kalaso 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.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kalaso landing punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kalaso prevents Novikov from getting the reversal.
Kalaso looking to control but Novikov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Kalaso wants to finish this one by submission but Novikov is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Kalaso.
Novikov keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Novikov looks gassed!
Novikov srikes from the bottom but he's lost position and has given up his back.
Kalaso scores with punches from the back.
Will Kalaso go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Kalaso is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Novikov is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Kalaso is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Kalaso scores with punches from the back.
Kalaso is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Novikov up.
The referee is taking a good look at Novikov as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Kalaso!
Kalaso lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Novikov is trying to roll into a better position but Kalaso has get a rear naked choke and Novikov is forced to tap out! This one is allllll over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Harvi Kalaso!