PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mirko Emelianenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nicky Salita (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Salita has chosen Lose Yourself by Eminem as his entrance music. Nicky Salita has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Emelianenko
vs
Salita

179 cm
40
185 lbs
31 - 13 - 0

194 cm
36
220 lbs
29 - 16 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 31 - 13 - 0, fighting out of London, Mirko Emelianenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 16 - 0, fighting out of New York, Nicky Salita!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Chad Campbell and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Emelianenko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Emelianenko with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
The fight stays on the outside here - Emelianenko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Salita clobbers Emelianenko with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Emelianenko lands with a nice combination. Salita backs away looking to recover.

Salita shoots in and bounces Emelianenko off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Salita passes Emelianenko's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Salita is keen to just control but Emelianenko is a slippery customer.
Salita is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salita controlling the action here.
Salita looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Nicky Salita wasn't active enough on the ground.
Good standup being displayed there by Salita as he connects with a hook.

It looks like Mirko Emelianenko has been cut.
An inside leg kick from Salita misses.
Emelianenko connects with a high kick.
Emelianenko moves in looking to clinch but Salita pushes him off.
Emelianenko scores with a jab to the jaw.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Emelianenko connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Emelianenko avoids the body shot from Salita.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Emelianenko tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Salita fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Emelianenko manages to avoid it.
Sloppy strikes from Emelianenko. Those never looked like landing.
Salita wants to clinch up but Emelianenko keeps it at a distance.
Mirko Emelianenko seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Emelianenko moves into range and clinches up with Salita.
Emelianenko with an attempt at a knee that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Emelianenko.
A hook to the body from Salita.
Emelianenko on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Emelianenko blocks a body shot from Salita.
Emelianenko looking to throw knees to the head but Salita is blocking nicely.
Salita is trying to maintain a safe position but Emelianenko gets an underhook and turns Salita into the cage.
Emelianenko misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Salita.
Salita lands with a short shot to the head.
Emelianenko lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Emelianenko tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Salita avoids it.
Salita struggles to land a body shot inside as Emelianenko controls his hands.
Salita gets through Emelianenko's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A nice left hand lands by Salita.
Emelianenko stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Emelianenko misses with a knee to the head.
A short right from Salita on the inside.
Emelianenko looking to throw knees to the head but Salita is blocking nicely.
A nice left hand lands by Salita.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Emelianenko throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salita blocks it with crossed arms.
Salita misses with some punches.
Emelianenko tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Salita goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Emelianenko misses with some punches.
A right hook to the body lands for Emelianenko.
Emelianenko keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Salita's efforts to push away.
Emelianenko lands with a short head shot on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice right hand lands inside from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko struggles to land a body shot inside as Salita controls his hands.
Salita being controlled against the cage.
Salita takes a knee right on the jaw!
A nice left hand lands by Salita.
Emelianenko landing knees to the head.
Salita tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Emelianenko's elbow.
Salita can't find room to land a body shot as Emelianenko controls the action.
Emelianenko is leaning against Salita and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Salita looks winded!
Emelianenko lands a good knee to the midsection. Salita won't want to take too many of those.
Knees in the clinch landing for Emelianenko.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Emelianenko lands with a right to the head.
Emelianenko tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Emelianenko throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Salita blocks it with crossed arms.
Emelianenko lands a good knee to the midsection. Salita won't want to take too many of those.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mirko Emelianenko dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Mirko Emelianenko's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Emelianenko lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Emelianenko lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Salita has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Emelianenko.
Emelianenko cracks the inside of Salita's front leg.

Emelianenko moves into range and clinches up with Salita.
Salita takes a knee to the side of the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Emelianenko connects with a knee to the head.
Emelianenko lands with a light punch inside.

Salita is rocked!
Salita has had enough of the clinch but Emelianenko keeps him there for the moment.
Emelianenko using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Salita has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Emelianenko scores a nice knee to the body.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Emelianenko using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Salita has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
I was talking to Emelianenko's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Salita is breathing heavily.
A head punch on the inside from Salita fails to land.
A right handed body shot lands from Emelianenko.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Emelianenko creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Salita is still on wobbly legs! Can Emelianenko finish him?
Emelianenko lands an uppercut in the clinch that drops Salita to his knees! Emelianenko keeps firing more shots against his stricken opponent and the referee jumps in to save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mirko Emelianenko!
A very excited looking Mirko Emelianenko made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.