PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Witaliy Michilov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Larson Merkuao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Michilov
vs
Merkuao

186 cm
18
210 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

189 cm
25
220 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Cuts easily

Dangerous GnP
Counter striker
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Witaliy Michilov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Larson Merkuao!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Arvi Lind and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Merkuao throws a hook but Michilov blocks it.

Merkuao decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Merkuao sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Michilov is trying to get back to full guard.
Merkuao scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Michilov looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Michilov has hold of Merkuao's hands but Merkuao slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Merkuao is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Michilov trying to get back to full guard but Merkuao takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Merkuao cracks Michilov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Michilov tries to hold on but Merkuao pushes him away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michilov is desperately trying to improve his position but Merkuao has a good base and remains in mount.
Michilov is breathing heavily.
Merkuao is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Merkuao takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Merkuao connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Merkuao has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Merkuao with shots to the head and body - Michilov looks very uncomfortable down there.
Michilov is squirming around, avoiding Merkuao's attempts to control the action.
Michilov knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Merkuao on the ground.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Merkuao lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Michilov hang on?

Michilov is rocked!
Merkuao pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Oh Michilov is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Merkuao takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Michilov seems to have got his legs back now.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merkuao landing shots from mount.
Michilov wants to hold on but Merkuao pushes him away.
Merkuao putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Merkuao is landing with some decent strikes but Michilov is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Merkuao raining down hammerfists from mount.
Merkuao wants to control the pace but Michilov is squirming around nicely.
Merkuao postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Michilov looks a forlorn figure.
Merkuao connects with a bit shot that sees Michilov covering up! More strikes from Merkuao and the referee jumps in to stop the fight! Merkuao is our winner by TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Larson Merkuao!