PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Gabriel Whitaker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fedor Konuhov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Konuhov has chosen Art of War as his entrance music. Fedor Konuhov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Whitaker
vs
Konuhov

185 cm
22
184 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

179 cm
27
168 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Very confident

Elite Canadian Threads

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Gabriel Whitaker!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Fedor Konuhov!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Albert Achterberg and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Konuhov dives in for a single leg takedown but Whitaker sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Whitaker prevents the takedown attempt.
Konuhov is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Whitaker is defending well.
Gabriel Whitaker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fedor Konuhov.

Whitaker gets control of Konuhov's arms and successfully pulls guard. Whitaker will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Konuhov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Whitaker seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Konuhov is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Konuhov throws a big right hand that misses.
Konuhov postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Konuhov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Konuhov throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Whitaker works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Konuhov stopping the sweep attempt from Whitaker.
Konuhov throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Whitaker works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whitaker is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Konuhov throws an elbow that misses. Whitaker uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Konuhov's guard. Nice move by Whitaker!
Whitaker stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Konuhov swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Whitaker trying to control the position from guard on top but Konuhov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Konuhov punching from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Whitaker stands and throws Konuhov's legs to the side, diving into side control.

Whitaker tries for a kimura but Konuhov is defending well.
Konuhov struggling a bit here.
Konuhov is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Whitaker is staying active.
Whitaker scoring with punches from side control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Whitaker avoids the strikes from the bottom by Konuhov.

Whitaker thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Whitaker taking a breather here.
Konuhov manages to work his way to half guard, despite Whitaker's best efforts.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov trying to hold on to Whitaker's head to control him but Whitaker postures up.
Konuhov avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Whitaker.

Whitaker is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Whitaker blocks the strikes from Konuhov.
Konuhov is trying to get back to full guard.
Whitaker controlling the action here.

Whitaker seems to be working for a kimura but Konuhov defends the submission attempt.
Konuhov trying to control here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov tries to roll over but Whitaker keeps him under control.
Whitaker is looking to advance position but Konuhov won't allow it.
Konuhov wants to improve his position but Whitaker is controlling well.
Whitaker not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Konuhov tries to get to full guard but Whitaker has control of the leg.

Whitaker seems to be working for a kimura but Konuhov defends the submission attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Gabriel Whitaker will probably get the nod.
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.

Whitaker shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Konuhov's guard.
Konuhov not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Konuhov pulls Whitaker in close to his closed guard and prevents Whitaker from doing any damage or advancing position.
Konuhov wants to sweep but no luck.
Konuhov controls Whitaker momentarily but Whitaker frees himself.
Whitaker postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gabriel Whitaker overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Konuhov trying to control the position.

Fedor Konuhov has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Konuhov dives in and grabs Whitaker's left leg, looking for a takedown. Whitaker pushes down on Konuhov's head and hops out.

Konuhov looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Konuhov looking to sit in guard and control but Whitaker gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Konuhov trying to control the position.
Konuhov keeping full guard, as Whitaker tries to pass.
Konuhov looking for a sweep. Not yet Konuhov, not yet.
Whitaker is looking to work some ground and pound but Konuhov has wrist control.

Konuhov is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Whitaker postures up.
Whitaker pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Konuhov is keeping the position for now.
Whitaker is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Konuhov trying to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker won't allow Konuhov to sweep him here.
Whitaker looking to pass the guard.
Konuhov throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Whitaker throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Whitaker trying to control but Konuhov is working from the bottom.
Whitaker postures up in Konuhov's guard and throws a big left but Konuhov blocks it.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Konuhov fails with the takedown

and Whitaker counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Konuhov!
This has been an exciting period of action!

Whitaker tries for a kimura but Konuhov is defending well.
Konuhov is not content to let Whitaker control the position.
Konuhov can't do much from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov parries the strikes from Whitaker easily there. Whitaker is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Konuhov to escape.

Whitaker is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Konuhov has escaped the position, nice work there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Konuhov tries to strike from the bottom but misses.
Konuhov tries to improve position but can't.
Konuhov is trying to control Whitaker's posture but Whitaker avoids it.
Konuhov taking punishment in the form of punches.
Whitaker trying to control the position but Konuhov is working away.
Whitaker is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Konuhov's shoulder. That is not cool.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Whitaker off and has taken his back!
Whitaker covering up well and avoiding damage.
Whitaker just trying to survive but Konuhov is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Whitaker prevents Konuhov from getting a body triangle.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Konuhov misses with a punch to the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Whitaker avoids the strikes from Konuhov.

Konuhov working for the choke.
Whitaker tries to escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Gabriel Whitaker will probably get the nod.
That's time! Whitaker's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Konuhov tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Whitaker swivels and escapes.
Good standup being displayed there by Whitaker as he connects with a hook.

Konuhov drives through with a takedown into guard.
Konuhov working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Whitaker's head.
Konuhov trying to control the position from guard on top but Whitaker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Konuhov throwing strikes but missing.
Konuhov missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Whitaker utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Konuhov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Whitaker is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Konuhov trying to control but Whitaker is working from the bottom.
Konuhov throws a strike but Whitaker rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Whitaker stopping the sweep attempt from Konuhov.
Konuhov can't keep his opponent in guard - Whitaker advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Whitaker lands strikes from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker is keen to just control but Konuhov is a slippery customer.
Whitaker passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Konuhov!
Konuhov tries to lock up and control but Whitaker gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Konuhov is working to get back to half guard.
Konuhov tries to hold on but Whitaker pushes him away.
Whitaker putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Konuhov tries to hold on but Whitaker pushes him away.
Konuhov takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Konuhov is looking to get to half guard.
Whitaker lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Whitaker is looking to work his way around to Konuhov's back. He needs to be careful though, as he's in danger of losing this dominant position.
Konuhov is squirming around, avoiding Whitaker's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker controlling from mount.
Whitaker mounts Konuhov! Really nice guard pass there!
Whitaker breaks from Konuhov's wrist control and lands an elbow.

Konuhov is rocked!
Whitaker avoids the attempt from Konuhov to control.
Whitaker controlling the position easily from mount.
Whitaker fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
BOOM! Whitaker connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Konuhov is still in real trouble! Can Whitaker finish him?
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Whitaker goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Konuhov turns into him and now he's in Whitaker's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker is pulling down on Konuhov's head to control his posture.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Konuhov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Konuhov seems to have recovered his senses.
Konuhov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Konuhov working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Konuhov with a flurry of punches that miss.
Konuhov throws a strike but Whitaker rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Konuhov not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Whitaker passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Whitaker is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Konuhov's shoulder. That is not cool.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Whitaker clearly takes that 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.

Whitaker scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

Whitaker drives through with a takedown into guard.
Konuhov wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Whitaker is now in half guard.
Whitaker missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Whitaker thows a huge punch but Konuhov dodges it nicely.
Konuhov wants to control but Whitaker is keeping busy.
Konuhov tries to roll over but Whitaker keeps him under control.
Whitaker trying to pass the guard but Konuhov defending well.
Whitaker uses his free foot to push down on Konuhov's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Konuhov.
Konuhov keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Whitaker lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Konuhov hang on?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Konuhov tries to reverse the position but Whitaker maintains control.
Whitaker lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Konuhov is absolutely dripping with sweat - he looks exhausted.
Whitaker scoring with strikes but Konuhov is staying in there.
Whitaker looking to control but Konuhov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Whitaker 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.

Whitaker working for a submission but Konuhov is keeping him at bay.
Konuhov wants to hold on but Whitaker pushes him away.

Whitaker has control of Konuhov's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Konuhov regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Whitaker controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Whitaker fails to take his opponent's back.
Konuhov throwing hammer fists to the chest of Whitaker. What's that going to do exactly?
Whitaker looking to control but Konuhov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Whitaker throwing strikes here but Konuhov is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Konuhov wants to hold on but Whitaker pushes him away.
Konuhov throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Whitaker trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Konuhov regains half guard.

Konuhov looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitaker missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Whitaker wants to lay and pray for a moment but Konuhov keeps working.
Konuhov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Whitaker 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.
Whitaker tries to pass to full mount but Konuhov defends it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov is staying active underneath Whitaker, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The fighters are battling for position here. Konuhov manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Whitaker wants to control from the top but Konuhov keeps moving.
Konuhov bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Whitaker's guard.
Whitaker controlling Konuhov's posture.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Konuhov with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Whitaker had his way with Fedor Konuhov in that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

No luck with that takedown attempt from Konuhov.
Konuhov fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Konuhov will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Gabriel Whitaker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fedor Konuhov.

Whitaker gets caught napping as Konuhov dives in and scores a takedown. Whitaker manages to retain guard.
Konuhov is fighting to break Whitaker's control of his arms but Whitaker is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Whitaker working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Konuhov.
Whitaker pulls Konuhov in close to prevent any damage.
Konuhov trying to control the position from guard on top but Whitaker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Konuhov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Konuhov with a flurry of punches that miss.
Konuhov engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Whitaker closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Whitaker throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Konuhov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Whitaker is working away from the top position though.
Whitaker trying to pass the guard but Konuhov defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Whitaker is working away from the top position though.
Konuhov keeping control of the position.
Konuhov is wobbling all over the place through exhaustion. Will he make it to the final bell?

Whitaker is trying to work for a kimura but Konuhov is defending well.
Whitaker seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Konuhov does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Whitaker is thwarting Konuhov's attempts to control the position.
Konuhov strikes from the bottom but Whitaker uses the opportunity to move to side control.
Whitaker controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov is looking for a sweep.
Konuhov misses with a strike from the bottom.
Konuhov is looking for a sweep.
Whitaker is looking to take a break and control but Konuhov is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Whitaker tries to score with some ground and pound. Konuhov controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Gabriel Whitaker is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Whitaker controls the position from side control.
Konuhov is trying to improve his position.
Konuhov has one of Whitaker's arms on lockdown, trying to prevent him from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Konuhov is trying to escape the position but Whitaker is controlling the position.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Konuhov tries to improve position but can't.
Whitaker controlling from side mount.
Fedor Konuhov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Gabriel Whitaker wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Whitaker decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Konuhov connecting with a few gentle strikes.

Konuhov actively working from the bottom here.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Whitaker in particular looking to stall.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gabriel Whitaker showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Whitaker 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 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 50:45
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 50:45
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 50:45

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gabriel Whitaker!
Gabriel Whitaker retains his welterweight title!
In his post fight interview, Gabriel Whitaker started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.