PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zaid Abdul Karim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Aleksander (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aleksander is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Backbone - Gojira. Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Abdul Karim
vs
Aleksander

185 cm
27
215 lbs
7 - 6 - 1

184 cm
26
215 lbs
10 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Wolfpack Threadz

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 7 - 6 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Zaid Abdul Karim!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 12 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ivan Aleksander!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Ivan Kurochkin and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Abdul Karim is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Aleksander.

It looks like Zaid Abdul Karim has been cut.

Abdul Karim closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Aleksander to the mat! Aleksander manages to get full guard.
Aleksander utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Abdul Karim with a flurry of punches that miss.
Aleksander wants to sweep here but Abdul Karim controlling him for the moment.
Abdul Karim postures up and lands a big shot to Aleksander's brow.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Abdul Karim accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Aleksander preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Abdul Karim postures up in Aleksander's guard and throws a big left but Aleksander blocks it.
Abdul Karim trying to control but Aleksander is working from the bottom.
Abdul Karim throwing strikes but missing.
Abdul Karim throwing strikes but missing.
Abdul Karim pushes down on Aleksander's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abdul Karim stops Aleksander from getting back to his feet.
Abdul Karim throwing shots but Aleksander is blocking nicely.
Aleksander tries to get to full guard but Abdul Karim has control of the leg.
Abdul Karim thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Aleksander's head.
Abdul Karim thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Aleksander's head.
Aleksander avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Abdul Karim.
Aleksander wants to control but Abdul Karim is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Abdul Karim slips a nice elbow through Aleksander's hands, connecting with Aleksander's forehead.

Abdul Karim 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.
Aleksander is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abdul Karim lands strikes from half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Abdul Karim wants to control but Aleksander is keeping him busy.
Abdul Karim prevents Aleksander from improving his position.
Abdul Karim lands with a punch from half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Aleksander is trying to maintain the position but Abdul Karim is very close to passing his half guard.
Abdul Karim drops an elbow to the side of Aleksander's head.
Abdul Karim prevents Aleksander from standing back up.
Aleksander taking some punishment here, with Abdul Karim in his half guard.
Aleksander is not content to let Abdul Karim control the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Aleksander can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aleksander trying to control from the bottom.
Abdul Karim wants to lay and pray for a moment but Aleksander keeps working.

Abdul Karim seems to be working for a kimura but Aleksander defends the submission attempt.
Aleksander taking some punishment here, with Abdul Karim in his half guard.
Abdul Karim scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Aleksander is looking for a sweep. Abdul Karim is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Abdul Karim looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Aleksander with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Abdul Karim trying to control from half guard but Aleksander is working away.
Aleksander really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Abdul Karim. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Abdul Karim frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Abdul Karim lands with some strikes.
Aleksander can't escape the position.
Aleksander takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Abdul Karim cracks Aleksander with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

Abdul Karim jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Aleksander is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Aleksander and Abdul Karim has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Aleksander takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Abdul Karim in side control lands a decent elbow.

Abdul Karim tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Abdul Karim has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Abdul Karim is working for what looks like an arm triangle here. Aleksander is trying to escape and Abdul Karim transitions quickly into an armbar! He's slapped it on tight and Aleksander is forced to tap! Nice work there by Abdul Karim! Very nice indeed!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Zaid Abdul Karim!
A pretty intense looking Zaid Abdul Karim took the opportunity post-fight to ask for a shot at the title.