PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Bill River (ranked 2277 p4p, 2134 weight class) and Nestor Makhno (ranked 264 p4p, 249 weight class). Makhno has chosen Yablochko as his entrance music. Nestor Makhno told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

River
vs
Makhno

188 cm
22
185
3 - 0 - 0

180 cm
22
192
5 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Conquer
Conviction

Uncle Rufus Clothing .Co
30th Century Beer Store

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Bill River!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Nestor Makhno!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Franklyn Lucas and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Makhno fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with River, pushing him back against the cage.
River using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Makhno has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
River tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Makhno fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
River lands a knee to the body.
River is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
River stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
River misses with some punches.
Knees in the clinch landing for River.
Makhno's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
River fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
River lands a left hand.
River lands a good knee to the midsection. Makhno won't want to take too many of those.
Makhno throws a head punch that misses.
Makhno fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Makhno lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of River backwards.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
River blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Makhno misses with the head strike.
Makhno blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Makhno has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. River seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Makhno can turn it around.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, River creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
River lands with a light punch inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Makhno avoiding damage as River throws knees to the body.
Makhno softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
River using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Makhno has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Makhno throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Rivers head.
Makhno managing to block the knees to the body from River.
Makhno digs a right hand into River's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on River's gas tank.
Makhno takes a shot to the head.
Makhno digs a right hand underneath River's ribcage. River let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Makhno misses with some punches.
River misses with a punch to the body.
River leaning his opponent against the cage.
Makhno on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
River struggles to land a body shot inside as Makhno controls his hands.
Makhno lands a shoulder strike.
River missing with knees to the body.
Makhno digs a right hand into River's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on River's gas tank.
River throws a punch but it's blocked by Makhno.
River misses with the head strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
River blocks an uppercut.
River fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Makhno blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
River blocking some punches.
Makhno misses with some punches.
Makhno lands a body shot.
River has a couple of punches blocked by Makhno.
River lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Makhno lands a body punch.
Makhno goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Makhno misses with a hook from the clinch.
Makhno struggles to land a body shot inside as River controls his hands.
River trying to land knees to the body.
Makhno lands a hook that snaps the head of River backwards.
Makhno has a couple of punches blocked by River.
River lands an uppercut.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Makhno.
Makhno working aggressively here.
Makhno misses with a hook to the ribs.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Makhno.
River unloads a knee to the mid-section. Makhno lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
River struggles to land a body shot inside as Makhno controls his hands.
River is looking to control Makhno's arms but Makhno gets an underhook and turns him. Now River has his back to the cage.
River misses with the head strike.
A short right from Makhno on the inside.
Makhno misses with a body punch.
River blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
River tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Makhno lands with a light punch inside.
River misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Makhno.

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

Makhno clinches.
River fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Makhno scores with a nice hook to the head.
Makhno blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Makhno fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Makhno manages to break the clinch.
River tries to clinch up but Makhno circles away and keeps his distance.
Nestor Makhno seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Makhno moves into range and clinches up with River.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Makhno.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Makhno tried to land a shot to the body but connects with River's elbow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Makhno escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Makhno takes the fight into the clinch.
River working Makhno over with knees to the body.
Makhno tried to land a shot to the body but connects with River's elbow.
A short left from Makhno.
Makhno blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
River trying to land knees to the body.
Makhno tries a body shot but River blocks it.
River trying to land knees to the body.
I was talking to River's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
River scores a nice knee to the body.
Makhno digs a right hand underneath River's ribcage. River let out a lung full of air as it connected.
River tries to throw a body punch but Makhno avoids it by throwing River back against the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from River.
Makhno lands a right hand that snaps the head of River backwards.
River misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Makhno.
Makhno tries to throw a body punch but River avoids it by throwing Makhno back against the cage.
River working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Nestor Makhno will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Makhno keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Makhno clinches with his opponent.
Makhno on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
River lands an uppercut.
A short right from Makhno on the inside.
River lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Makhno is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
River working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Bill River has scored more points in the clinch so far.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Makhno creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Makhno misses with the head strike.
River tries to work over Makhno's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
River prevents a body shot from Makhno.
Makhno lands a body shot.
Makhno misses with a body punch.
River prevents a body shot from Makhno.
Makhno swings away with an uppercut that misses.
River trying to control the position but instead, Makhno has worked for underhooks and has pushed River into the cage.
River lands with a left to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
River slows down the pace here.
River misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Makhno tries to break free but River pushes him back against the cage.
Makhno managing to block the knees to the body from River.
River swings wildly with an uppercut but Makhno uses good head movement to avoid it.

Makhno manages to break the clinch.
River throws a shot to the body.

Makhno takes the fight into the clinch.
A nice left hand lands by Makhno.
River throws a punch but it's blocked by Makhno.
River misses with a body punch.
Makhno is trying to push River away but River has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
A short uppercut from River.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for River.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Makhno lands with a short shot to the head.

Makhno's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

River takes the fight into the clinch.
Makhno tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
River misses with a hook to the ribs.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Makhno is looking to break free of the clinch but River has double underhooks.

Makhno breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

River cracks Makhno with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. River has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Makhno to stand back up!

Makhno is rocked!

River tries to keep at a distance but Makhno has taken the fight into the clinch.
Makhno is still on wobbly legs! Can River finish him?
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for River.

Makhno breaks from the clinch.

Makhno gets a clinch.
Makhno misses with a hook from the clinch.
Makhno blocking some punches.
River working aggressively here.
River stalling.
River jerks Makhno's head down, straight into the path of a devastating knee! Makhno drops to the floor in a crumpled heap! River goes to throw a finishing haymaker but pulls out - good sportsmanship from River because Makhno was completely out of it. That was a nice finish - just the right level of brutality to send everyone home happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Knee). Bill River!
After winning the bout, Bill River thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.