PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aleksanteri Karelin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jesse Venturia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Karelin comes to the cage accompanied by CCCP. Venturia has chosen Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise as his entrance music. Aleksanteri Karelin could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Jesse Venturia's chin.

Karelin
vs
Venturia

191 cm
27
286 lbs
18 - 11 - 0

210 cm
38
281 lbs
33 - 30 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

GREEN!160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 4 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 11 - 0, fighting out of London, Aleksanteri Karelin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 33 - 30 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jesse Venturia!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karelin misses with a hook
and Venturia counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Karelin throws a big shot that misses.
Karelin fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Venturia manages to avoid it.
Venturia has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Karelin is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Venturia moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.

It looks like Aleksanteri Karelin has been cut.
Venturia lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Karelin circles away quickly and effectively.
Karelin throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Karelin tests Venturia's chin there with a solid looking shot.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Venturia throws a solid leg kick but Karelin takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Venturia.
Karelin seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Karelin waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Venturia.
Karelin uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Venturia.
Karelin throws a jab when Venturia was well out of range.
Nice takedown defense from Venturia. No joy for Karelin on that attempt.
Karelin blocks a jab.
Karelin throws a jab when Venturia was well out of range.
Venturia takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Karelin ducks under a wild hook from Venturia.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Venturia throws a left and a right that both miss
and Karelin connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Venturia looks to throw the jab but Karelin is out of range.
Karelin throws a lazy right hand but Venturia sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Karelin defending well as Venturia loads up on a big left hand.
A looping hook to the body misses from Karelin. Venturia does a little dance to reset his feet.
A leg kick checked by Karelin.
Karelin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Venturia looks to score with a jab to the body but Karelin is just out of range.
Jesse Venturia is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Venturia misses with a head kick.
Karelin misses with a straight left.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Karelin checks a leg kick.
Venturia tries to land a leg kick but Karelin saw it coming and moves away.
Karelin is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Karelin fails with the takedown.
A swing and a miss from Karelin.
A punch combination from Venturia misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karelin lands a nice looking body shot.
A head kick misses from Venturia.
Aleksanteri Karelin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Karelin looks to score with a jab to the body but Venturia is just out of range.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Venturia misses with a head kick.
Karelin on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Venturia. Venturia obviously looking to wear him down.
A shot to the body from Karelin misses
and Venturia counters with a nice uppercut.
Karelin lands a slapping body shot.
Karelin fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Karelin throws a right and a left that both miss.

Venturia gets caught napping as Karelin dives in and scores a takedown. Venturia manages to retain guard.
Karelin wants to control from the top but Venturia keeps moving.
Venturia wants to stand up but Karelin is controlling him.
Karelin sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Venturia's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karelin tries to pass the half guard into mount. Venturia knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Karelin throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Karelin controlling the action here.
Venturia is trying to stand up here but Karelin is controlling him well.
Karelin controlling the action here.
Venturia tries to kick Karelin off but Karelin keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Karelin trying to control the action but Venturia is working from the bottom.
Karelin throwing shots but Venturia is blocking nicely.
Venturia wants to get back to his feet.
Karelin is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Aleksanteri Karelin.
Karelin throws a hook but Venturia blocks it.
Karelin misses with an uppercut.
Karelin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Karelin is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Venturia.
Karelin scores with the left hand. Venturia knows he should have avoided that one.
Venturia lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Venturia tries a head kick but it misses.
Venturia defending well as Karelin loads up on a big left hand.
Venturia uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Karelin.
Karelin ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Venturia moves away.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A big left from Karelin misses.
Venturia looks to throw the jab but Karelin is out of range.
Karelin throws a looping overhand right but Venturia ducks down to avoid it.
Venturia tests Karelin's chin there with a solid looking shot.
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 Aleksanteri Karelin will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Aleksanteri Karelin's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Venturia avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Karelin misses the shot to the body.
Venturia throws a lazy head kick

and Karelin counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Venturia!
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Venturia is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Karelin has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Karelin 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.
Karelin looking to control but instead Venturia has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Karelin is trying to control the action in half guard but Venturia is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Venturia is trying to stand up here but Karelin is controlling him well.
Karelin thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Venturia's head.
Venturia is looking to escape.
Karelin is trying to control the action in half guard but Venturia is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Karelin wants to pass the guard but Venturia is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karelin not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Karelin stops Venturia from getting back to his feet.
Karelin is figuring out what he wants to do next.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Karelin moves into full mount! Venturia won't be happy about that!
Karelin postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Venturia looks a forlorn figure.
Venturia wants to get back to his feet.
Karelin trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Venturia is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Venturia taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Venturia is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Karelin working Venturia over with strikes here.
Venturia is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Karelin lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Venturia is rocked!
Karelin controlling from mount.
Venturia is still in real trouble! Can Karelin finish him?
Karelin seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Venturia for as long as he can get away with.
Karelin unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Venturia wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Karelin celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:45 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Aleksanteri Karelin!
Aleksanteri Karelin was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.