PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Javier Domonicko (ranked 1725 p4p, 217 weight class) and Asu Kuren (ranked 4100 p4p, 422 weight class). Asu Kuren is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Domonicko
vs
Kuren

178 cm
23
170 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

178 cm
29
179 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Javier Domonicko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Asu Kuren!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Illya Tyunina and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Domonicko cracks Kuren with a right hand to the side of the head.
Kuren slips a jab from Domonicko.
Domonicko swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Domonicko ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Domonicko stuns Kuren with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.

Kuren moves into the clinch.
Domonicko misses with a shot to the kidneys.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Domonicko.

Kuren works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Domonicko is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Kuren dives into side control.

Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A lull in the action here as Kuren stalls from top position.
Domonicko can't do much from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuren throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Kuren happy to just control the position for now.
Domonicko on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Domonicko tries to get out of the position.
Domonicko tries to buck Kuren off but Kuren is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Kuren has control of an arm but Domonicko manages to advance to Kuren's back!
Domonicko has the hooks in. Kuren is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Domonicko avoiding Kuren 's attempts to control his hands.
Kuren is trying to break free.
Kuren breaks Domonicko's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuren throwing strikes from guard but Domonicko blocks nicely.
Kuren throwing strikes from guard but Domonicko blocks nicely.
Domonicko trying to keep a closed guard but Kuren is proving a slippery customer.
Domonicko knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Kuren on the ground.
Kuren not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Kuren's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kuren trying to control the position from guard on top but Domonicko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kuren throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Domonicko works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Domonicko is trying to control the position but Kuren postures up.
Kuren's corner is telling him to maintain position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Kuren tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Domonicko manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Kuren instigates a clinch.
Kuren being controlled against the cage.
Kuren goes for a takedown in the clinch but Domonicko prevents it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A left hand lands to the body for Domonicko.
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 Javier Domonicko will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Domonicko throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Domonicko loads up on a big right hand but Kuren slips the punch.

Kuren pushes Domonicko up against the cage in a clinch.
Domonicko throws a head punch that misses.
Domonicko lands with a right to the head.
Domonicko swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Kuren has hold of one of Domonicko's legs. Domonicko is fighting the takedown attempt but Kuren gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
My spies in Heart Cave (8 elites, 4 double-elites, 1 triple) inform me that Kuren has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Domonicko looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kuren is fighting to break Domonicko's control of his arms but Domonicko is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Domonicko wants to control the position but Kuren says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Kuren seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuren works his foot free and advances to mount.
Kuren takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Kuren trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Kuren lands a couple of good shots and Domonicko has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Kuren keeps control of the position easily here as Domonicko tries to buck him off.
Kuren softening up his opponent with strikes here.
Kuren gets his hands free as Domonicko looks to control.
Kuren trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Domonicko doesn't escape.
Kuren is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Kuren gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Kuren gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Kuren apologises and we restart here on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A low kick from Domonicko misses

so Kuren counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Kuren is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Kuren tries to free his leg and advance position but Domonicko is retaining full guard.
Kuren is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Domonicko trying to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuren postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Kuren passes Domonicko's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Kuren is taking a breather. Domonicko says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Domonicko holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Kuren takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Asu Kuren showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Domonicko scores with the left hand. Kuren knows he should have avoided that one.
Domonicko scores with a jab. Kuren acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Kuren tries to close the distance and clinch up but Domonicko swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Domonicko fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Kuren looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Domonicko uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
A jab from Domonicko misses.
Domonicko keeps the fight on the outside.
A jab from Domonicko misses.
Domonicko swings widly with a right hand

and Kuren counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Kuren controlling the action here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Domonicko is trying to control but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuren wants to lay and pray for a moment but Domonicko keeps working.
Domonicko wants to control but Kuren is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Still in half guard, Kuren seems content to control.
Domonicko pushes Kuren off but Kuren dives into side control.
Kuren controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kuren fails to land a wild elbow strike.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kuren slips a straight right by Domonicko.
Domonicko cracks Kuren with a good jab.
Domonicko throws a jab but it's blocked by Kuren.
Domonicko is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Kuren displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Domonicko throws out the jab.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Kuren.
A jab from Domonicko misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuren has his takedown stuffed
and Domonicko counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Domonicko missing with a left hand there. Kuren was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Kuren tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Kuren moves out of range as Domonicko strikes.
Kuren with the counter takedown but Domonicko avoids it easily.
Domonicko throws a hook to the side of Kuren's head but Kuren sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Kuren with the counter takedown but Domonicko avoids it easily.
Domonicko just misses with a punch to the body.
Kuren with the counter takedown but Domonicko avoids it easily.
Javier Domonicko seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Kuren clinches up against the cage.
Domonicko misses with the head strike.
Domonicko misses with a punch on the inside.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Domonicko misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuren has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Domonicko is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Javier Domonicko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Asu Kuren.
Domonicko misses with a punch on the inside.
Domonicko scores with a shoulder strike.
A head punch on the inside from Domonicko fails to land.
A head punch on the inside from Domonicko fails to land.
Kuren blocks a punch to the side of the head.
I was talking to Domonicko's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Domonicko avoiding damage.
Kuren tries for a takedown but Domonicko manages to get underhooks.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Domonicko swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Kuren blocks an uppercut.

And that's the end of the fight!
Javier Domonicko showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Domonicko has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Javier Domonicko!
Javier Domonicko 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.