PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Artem Irhin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rupert Blasts (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Artem Irhin has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Irhin
vs
Blasts

180 cm
24
200 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

185 cm
24
195 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Héritage!

Spartan Nutrition

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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Artem Irhin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rupert Blasts!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Alec Ball and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Blasts steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Irhin.
Irhin tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Irhin swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Irhin moves out of range of the strikes.

Blasts closes the distance and clinches.
Irhin tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
I was talking to Irhin's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Blasts tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Blasts lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Irhin tries to stall but Blasts uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Irhin takes a knee to the side of the body.
Blasts's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Irhin trying to land knees to the body.
Irhin managing to block the knees to the body from Blasts.
Blasts misses with a knee to the head.
Blasts lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Irhin backwards.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Blasts lands a knee to the body.
Blasts blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Irhin on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Blasts misses with a punch to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Irhin looking to throw knees to the head but Blasts is blocking nicely.
Irhin working hard to break the clinch.
Blasts misses with some punches.
Blasts tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Irhin avoids it.
Blasts on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Blasts lands a body shot in the clinch.
Blasts misses with a knee to the head.
Irhin wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Blasts has him pressed against the cage.
A short uppercut from Blasts.
Irhin throws a knee to the head but misses.
Blasts avoids the elbow strike from Irhin, against the cage.
Blasts landing knees to the body.
A head punch on the inside from Irhin fails to land.
Blasts lands with a light punch inside.
Blasts using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Irhin has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Blasts has Irhin pressed against the cage, preventing Irhin from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Irhin blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Blasts lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blasts working Irhin over with knees to the body.
Irhin is breathing heavily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Blasts stalling in the clinch.
Blasts tries to land knees in the clinch but Irhin avoids the damage to the body.
Blasts missing with knees to the body.
Irhin throws a head punch that misses.
Blasts with a knee to the head.
Blasts using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Irhin has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Blasts on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Irhin blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Blasts tries to work over Irhin's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Blasts keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Irhin's efforts to push away.
Irhin tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Irhin connects with a nasty looking knee right to Blasts's face.
Blasts pushes Irhin back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Blasts misses with a knee strike.
Irhin tries to land a knee to the head but Blasts blocks with his arms.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blasts on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Irhin tries to throw a body punch but Blasts avoids it by throwing Irhin back against the cage.
Irhin using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Blasts has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Irhin throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Blasts blocks it with crossed arms.
Blasts working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Blasts looking to throw knees to the head but Irhin is blocking nicely.
Irhin takes a knee right on the jaw!
The referee calls for Blasts to work.
Blasts lands a nice knee to the body.
Irhin on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Irhin is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Irhin throws an elbow but it misses.
Blasts taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Blasts tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Irhin tries to circle away but Blasts has him pinned against the cage.
Irhin with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blasts misses with a knee to the head.
Blasts lands a shot to the body.
Blasts taking a breather.
Irhin misses with a knee strike.
Blasts tries to land knees in the clinch but Irhin avoids the damage to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Irhin.
Blasts throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Irhin blocks it with crossed arms.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Irhin tries to land a knee to the head but Blasts blocks with his arms.
Blasts misses with a punch to the body.
Good body shot from Blasts.
Blasts tries to land knees in the clinch but Irhin avoids the damage to the body.
Irhin is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.

Irhin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Blasts closes the distance and clinches.
Blasts swings wildly with an uppercut but Irhin uses good head movement to avoid it.

Irhin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rupert Blasts dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Blasts lands an overhand right.
Blasts dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Irhin takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Irhin slips under a jab.
Blasts shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Irhin tries a head kick but it misses.
Blasts walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Blasts feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Irhin's calf.
Blasts scores with a jab. Irhin acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Rupert Blasts seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Irhin bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Blasts's head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Blasts scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Irhin throws a body punch but Blasts moves out of range.
Irhin misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Blasts fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Good standup being displayed there by Blasts as he connects with a hook.
Irhin pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A nice side step and Blasts releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Blasts's jab looks to have found its range, popping Irhin under the eye.
Irhin takes one to the side of the head.
Irhin throws a sloppy head kick and Blasts moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blasts tries to bum rush Irhin with a series of wild strikes but Irhin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Irhin staying out of range there.
It looked like Irhin wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Blasts has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Blasts throws a predictable looking body shot
and Irhin counters with a nice low kick that buckles Blasts's knee momentarily.
Jab, jab by Blasts - just one landing.
Irhin on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Blasts ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Irhin moves away.
That kick from Blasts tenderised Irhin's leg. Irhin is trying to keep his angry face on.
Irhin misses with a double jab.
Blasts closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Blasts ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A chopping leg kick lands by Irhin.
Blasts misses with a wild body shot.

Blasts clinches.

Irhin escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rupert Blasts seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Irhin lands a really nice looking cross but Blasts seems unphased.
Blasts bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Irhin walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Blasts looks to score with a jab to the body but Irhin is just out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blasts scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Blasts throws a right hand that Irhin ducks under and follows up with a left that Irhin also avoids with ease.
Irhin fires out a quick counter leg kick but Blasts just manages to avoid it.
Blasts does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Blasts swings for the body but Irhin moves out of range.
Irhin throws a sloppy head kick and Blasts moves out of range easily.
Irhin with a jab.
Blasts keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Blasts misses with an uppercut
and Irhin counters with a stiff right hand.
Irhin lands a glancing blow to the side of Blasts's head.
Blasts keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Irhin misses with a few strikes there.
A nice leg kick lands there from Blasts.
Blasts connects with a body shot.
Irhin takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Irhin throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Irhin closes the distance and clinches.
Knees to the body from Irhin.
Irhin lands a nice uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Irhin fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Blasts avoids the elbow strike from Irhin, against the cage.
Blasts misses with a hook from the clinch.
Irhin using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Blasts has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Irhin prevents a body shot from Blasts.
Irhin lands with a right to the head.

Irhin manages to break the clinch.
Blasts throws out a powerful jab.
A jab lands there for Blasts.
Blasts looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Irhin throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Blasts throws a body punch but Irhin moves out of range.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Irhin pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Blasts fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Irhin has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Blasts finds it's way round the side to connect with Irhin's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Blasts feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Irhins jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Irhin misses with a body punch
and Blasts counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Irhin moves forwards but Blasts connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Irhin tries a head kick but it misses.
Blasts goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Blasts's corner calls for a 1-2. Blasts obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Blasts tests Irhin's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Irhin throws a head kick but Blasts moves out of range.
Blasts looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Blasts lands a jab to the nose.
Blasts swings for the body but Irhin moves out of range.
Good exchange - Blasts coming out on top.

Irhin is rocked!
Blasts drops Irhin with a naaaaasty hook - Irhin is in real trouble here! Blasts dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:40 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rupert Blasts!