PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Fedor Mazepin (ranked 3271 p4p, 292 weight class) and Yardbird Knox (ranked 1733 p4p, 177 weight class). Knox comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Tear da Club Up | Three 6 Mafia kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Fedor Mazepin has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Mazepin
vs
Knox

190 cm
29
250 lbs
9 - 8 - 0

207 cm
22
285 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 8 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Fedor Mazepin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Yardbird Knox!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Wagner Zegers and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knox misses with a looping right.
Mazepin gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Mazepin takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like Fedor Mazepin has been cut.
Mazepin throws a series of punches but Knox avoids them all with ease.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Knox! But no joy.
We've been hearing reports that Mazepin has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.

Mazepin moves into the clinch.
Knox lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Knox stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

Knox escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mazepin wants to clinch.
Knox looks like he wants to counter punch here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mazepin has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Knox swats away the attempt to clinch by Mazepin.
Knox's jab looks to have found its range, popping Mazepin under the eye.
Mazepin steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Knox.
Mazepin appears to be looking for a big counter.

Mazepin closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Knox breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mazepin blocks a jab.
Knox swings for the body but Mazepin moves out of range.
Mazepin shoots for a double leg takedown but Knox sprawls well. He's pushed Mazepin's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Knox lands with a right hand.
Mazepin shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Knox connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fedor Mazepin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Knox throws a lazy uppercut
and Mazepin counters with a three punch combo that has Knox backing up. Knox nods at Mazepin to acknowledge the strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Knox throws out a loose jab but Mazepin uses good head movement to avoid it.
A combination from Mazepin does no damage.
Decent striking displayed by Knox there.

Fedor Mazepin's cut is getting worse.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mazepin fails with the takedown
and Knox counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Mazepin is rocked!
Mazepin blocks a jab.

Mazepin shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Mazepin was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Knox can do anything to dispel that myth.

Mazepin is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Knox is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Mazepin working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Knox really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mazepin. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Mazepin is trying to get an arm triangle but Knox is defending well.
Knox tries to improve position but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mazepin lands some shots froms side control.

Mazepin tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Mazepin has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Mazepin working away.

Mazepin is trying to get an arm triangle but Knox is defending well.
Knox tries to buck Mazepin off but Mazepin is having none of it.

Mazepin thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Mazepin is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Knox knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Knox tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Knox manages to work his way to half guard, despite Mazepin's best efforts.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Yardbird Knox will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Fedor Mazepin's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Knox misses with a right hand

and Mazepin counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Knox controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
Mazepin missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Mazepin is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Knox trying to control here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mazepin throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Mazepin is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Knox has managed to free his arm - good work.
Mazepin 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.

Mazepin is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

Mazepin is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Knox is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Fedor Mazepin!
Our winner, Fedor Mazepin, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.