PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ben Rikko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Petrosyan Emelianenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Rikko
vs
Emelianenko

178 cm
18
168 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
20
165 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ben Rikko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Petrosyan Emelianenko!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Emelianenko closes the distance and clinches up with Rikko, looking for a takedown. Emelianenko pushes Rikko against the cage but Rikko circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Rikko sprawls well. Rikko wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Emelianenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Rikko lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Emelianenko backs up against the cage.
Emelianenko looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Ben Rikko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Petrosyan Emelianenko.
Emelianenko has a takedown stuffed.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Rikko sprawls well. Rikko wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Emelianenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Rikko scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rikko keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Rikko defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Emelianenko.
Rikko tests Emelianenko's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Nice takedown defense from Rikko. No joy for Emelianenko on that attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rikko leaves Emelianenko with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Emelianenko takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Emelianenko tries to clinch up but Rikko circles away and keeps his distance.
A lazy left from Rikko finds it's target.

That's four 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.
Emelianenko will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Rikko leaves Emelianenko with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Emelianenko looks gassed!
Rikko with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Emelianenko shoots for a takedown but Rikko saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Rikko 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.

A punch combination from Rikko misses.
Rikko lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Emelianenko circles away quickly and effectively.
Danga de danga de dang - Rikko scores with a four punch combination!
Rikko cracks a nice hook into Emelianenko's ribs.
Emelianenko misses with a takedown attempt - Rikko sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Emelianenko is breathing heavily.
Emelianenko shoots for a takedown but Rikko saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rikko connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Emelianenko's hands.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Rikko sprawls well. Rikko wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Emelianenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Ben Rikko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Petrosyan Emelianenko.
Some wild striking there from Rikko.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rikko scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Emelianenko dives in and grabs Rikko's left leg, looking for a takedown. Rikko pushes down on Emelianenko's head and hops out.
Ben Rikko is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rikko throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rikko misses with a two punch combination.
Rikko lands a body shot.
Emelianenko shoots in but Rikko avoids the takedown attempt easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Emelianenko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rikko as he jumps to the side.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Danga de danga de dang - Rikko scores with a four punch combination!
Rikko fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Rikko throws a series of punches but Emelianenko avoids them all with ease.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Rikko dominated that second round.
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!

Rikko throws a good cross that connects.
Emelianenko shoots for a takedown but Rikko saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Emelianenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Rikko pinned against the cage. Rikko gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Rikko misses with a two punch combination.
Emelianenko takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rikko throws a series of punches but Emelianenko moves out of range.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rikko as he jumps to the side.
Ben Rikko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Petrosyan Emelianenko.
Emelianenko throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Rikko's waist but Rikko gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Emelianenko off to one side.
Rikko stuffs the takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Emelianenko takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Rikko looks to land a combination. Emelianenko sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
A punch lands to the side of Emelianenko 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Rikko lands a head shot.
Rikko digs a good body shot into Emelianenko's ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rikko fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rikko misses with the combination.
Rikko throws a series of strikes that have Emelianenko backpedaling.
Rikko lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Emelianenko circles away quickly and effectively.

That's four 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.
Rikko lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Emelianenko circles away quickly and effectively.
Decent striking displayed by Rikko there.
Ben Rikko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Emelianenko changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Rikko tries to avoid it but Emelianenko manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Rikko to the ground. Rikko escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Rikko looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Petrosyan Emelianenko has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ben Rikko is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Rikko moves into range and connects with a jab.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ben Rikko showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Rikko has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:26
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ben Rikko!