PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nikola Zrinski (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sebastiaan Rutten (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sebastiaan Rutten acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Zrinski
vs
Rutten

185 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Nikola Zrinski!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Sebastiaan Rutten!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rutten dodges the punch combination from Zrinski.
Zrinski pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Zrinski pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A punch combination from Zrinski misses.
Rutten shoots in and drives through. Zrinski sprawls well.
Rutten showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Zrinski.
Rutten fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Zrinski avoids it really well and circles away.

Zrinski clinches with his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zrinski takes a knee to the side of the body.
Zrinski has had enough of the clinch but Rutten keeps him there for the moment.
Zrinski wants to break the clinch but can't.
Zrinski wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Rutten has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rutten looking to stall.
Rutten keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Zrinski's efforts to push away.
Zrinski is trying to force a seperation but Rutten has the dominant position.

Zrinski pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Zrinski throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Zrinski throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Rutten shoots for a takedown but Zrinski saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Nikola Zrinski has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sebastiaan Rutten.
Rutten shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Zrinski pinned against the cage. Zrinski gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rutten shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Zrinski as he jumps to the side.
Zrinski plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Nikola Zrinski seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zrinski throws a half hearted mid kick.
Zrinski leaves Rutten with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Rutten looks gassed!
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Zrinski - that will leave a mark!
Zrinski throws a good cross that connects.
Zrinski throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Zrinski throws a right and a left that Rutten avoids nicely.
Rutten showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Zrinski.
Zrinski keeps Rutten at a distance using the push kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Crunch! Zrinski slams his shin into Rutten's torso.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zrinski shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Rutten napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Rutten pushes Zrinski away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Zrinski gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Zrinski wants to stand but Rutten is controlling his arm.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rutten is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Zrinski trying to control the position but Rutten is working away.
Rutten pushes Zrinski away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Zrinski gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

Zrinski stands up.
Zrinski misses with a two punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zrinski misses with a jab, cross combination.
Rutten with a poor takedown
and Zrinski counters with a big head kick but Rutten shrugs it off.
Rutten fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Zrinski avoids it really well and circles away.

Zrinski is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Rutten's half guard.
Zrinski wants to pass the guard but Rutten is defending well.
Zrinski knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rutten on the ground.

Rutten is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Zrinski pulls his head out easily.

Zrinski stands up out of the half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikola Zrinski dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Zrinski tries to clinch up.
Zrinski misses with an uppercut.
Zrinski throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Rutten.
Zrinski misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Horrible takedown by Zrinski or perhaps it was just good defense by Rutten which made him look bad.
Rutten fails with the takedown
and Zrinski counters with a leg kick.
Rutten shoots for a double leg takedown but Zrinski sprawls well. He's pushed Rutten's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Rutten is defended easily by Zrinski.
Nikola Zrinski has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sebastiaan Rutten.
Zrinski throws the left hand but Rutten avoids the punch easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zrinski throws a head kick but Rutten moves out of range.
Zrinski shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Rutten but Rutten pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Zrinski closes the distance and clinches up with Rutten, looking for a takedown. Zrinski pushes Rutten against the cage but Rutten circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Zrinski wants to slow Rutten down by chopping away at his legs.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Zrinski.
Rutten fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Zrinski throws a combination. Rutten tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

Rutten scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Rutten is working to tighten is grip on Zrinski's neck. He's isolated an arm and is working for an arm triangle. Zrinski has recognised the danger and is trying to turn with the submission but Rutten is really squeezing tight and eventually Zrinski passes out! Rutten breaks the hold and jumps onto the cage to celebrate! Submission of the night, I'd say!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:03 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Sebastiaan Rutten!