PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alexei Katukov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kang Khemmararith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alexei Katukov is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Katukov
vs
Khemmararith

180 cm
20
186 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
188 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Powerful

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alexei Katukov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kang Khemmararith!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khemmararith lands a leg kick that knocks Katukov off balance momentarily.
Khemmararith fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Katukov is out of range.

Katukov rushes Khemmararith and presses him up against the cage.
Khemmararith wants a takedown.
Katukov stalling in the clinch but Khemmararith improves position.

Katukov pulls guard.
Khemmararith throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Katukov works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Khemmararith is looking to work some ground and pound but Katukov has wrist control.
Katukov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Khemmararith can do anything to dispel that myth.
Katukov throwing strikes here but Khemmararith is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

Katukov working for a guillotine from mount but Khemmararith is in no mood to give up.
Khemmararith is working to get back to half guard.
Khemmararith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Katukov. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katukov controlling the pace for now.
Katukov throws some wild stikes that Khemmararith manages to avoid easily.
Katukov throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Katukov sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Khemmararith can't escape the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katukov throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Khemmararith is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Katukov tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Katukov 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.
Khemmararith wants to control but Katukov is having none of it.

Katukov stands up from mount. Strange move.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Khemmararith enables Katukov to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Khemmararith manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Katukov wants to pass the guard but Khemmararith is keeping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katukov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Khemmararith looking to hit a scissor sweep but Katukov is one step ahead there.
Khemmararith keeping moving, preventing Katukov from controlling successfully.

Katukov stands up and waves to Khemmararith to follow him.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Khemmararith shoots in looking for a takedown. Katukov tries to sprawl out of it but Khemmararith keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Katukov manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Katukov closes the distance and clinches.
Katukov tries to land knees in the clinch but Khemmararith avoids the damage to the body.

Katukov jumps into guard, dragging Khemmararith to the mat.
Katukov is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Katukov 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.
Katukov controlling the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Katukov dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Katukov leaves Khemmararith with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Alexei Katukov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Khemmararith tries to clinch but Katukov moves out of range.
Khemmararith avoids the head kick by Katukov.

Katukov drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Katukov with a flurry of punches that miss.

Katukov stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Katukov misses with a two punch combination.

Khemmararith gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Katukov to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Katukov sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Khemmararith's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Katukov is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Katukov wants to work for an arm triangle but Khemmararith is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Katukov looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Katukov is looking to stall here but Khemmararith recovers full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katukov passes Khemmararith's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Khemmararith is trying to get back to full guard.
Katukov throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Khemmararith blocking the ground and pound attempt from Katukov.
Khemmararith is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katukov lands strikes from half guard.
Khemmararith is refusing to be controlled, as Katukov sits in half guard.
Khemmararith is looking to improve his position.
Katukov passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Khemmararith!
Katukov throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katukov is landing with some decent strikes but Khemmararith is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Katukov throws some wild stikes that Khemmararith manages to avoid easily.
Katukov controlling the pace for now.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Khemmararith wants to control but Katukov is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Katukov dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Khemmararith shoots in but Katukov avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Katukov closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Khemmararith is trying to escape the position but Katukov is controlling the position.

Katukov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Katukov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Khemmararith dodges the ground and pound from Katukov.
Khemmararith prevents Katukov from moving into mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Katukov.
Sloppy strikes there by Katukov.
A lull in the action here as Katukov stalls from top position.

Katukov decides to stand up, so the ref orders Khemmararith to his feet.

Katukov closes the distance and clinches.

Katukov gets control of Khemmararith's arms and successfully pulls guard. Katukov will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.

Katukov working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Khemmararith doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Khemmararith manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Katukov controls Khemmararith momentarily but Khemmararith frees himself.
Kang Khemmararith has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Alexei Katukov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Katukov is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Katukov takes an elbow to the forehead.

Khemmararith manages to break the clinch.
Katukov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Khemmararith can do to turn this around?
Katukov leaves Khemmararith with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Khemmararith wants to clinch.
Katukov throws a body kick that misses.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
No luck with that takedown attempt from Khemmararith.
Alexei Katukov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kang Khemmararith.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Katukov drives through with a takedown into guard.
Katukov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Khemmararith has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Katukov can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Khemmararith takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Khemmararith wants to control the position but Katukov says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Katukov in particular looking to stall.
Khemmararith is staying active underneath Katukov, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katukov takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Khemmararith is looking for a sweep. Katukov is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Katukov is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Katukov seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Alexei Katukov.
A decent looking cross lands there for Katukov.
Alexei Katukov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Katukov closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alexei Katukov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Katukov has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alexei Katukov!