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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Slavon Emelyanenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rocky Balbacoa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.
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| 176 cm
21
204 lbs
0 - 1 - 0 |
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192 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0 |
BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin |
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BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Enjoys gardening |
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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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Slavon Emelyanenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rocky Balbacoa!
The judges for this bout are John Mangel, Damien Edna and Hugh Johnson.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Emelyanenko checks a leg kick.
Balbacoa takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Balbacoa shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Emelyanenko pinned against the cage. Emelyanenko gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Emelyanenko scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Balbacoa regains half guard.
Emelyanenko wants to stand up but Balbacoa has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Balbacoa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Emelyanenko is working for a kimura but Balbacoa is defending it quite comfortably.
Balbacoa regains full guard. Nicely done.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelyanenko looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Emelyanenko slips nicely into half guard.
Balbacoa keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Emelyanenko not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balbacoa is looking to get back to full guard here but Emelyanenko has managed to pass to side control instead.
Emelyanenko misses with a head shot.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Emelyanenko lands with some strikes.
Balbacoa tries to reverse the position but Emelyanenko maintains control.
Emelyanenko takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Balbacoa is wriggling around trying to escape.
Emelyanenko unloading with bombs!
Emelyanenko is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Balbacoa is squirming around, avoiding Emelyanenko's attempts to control the action.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Balbacoa is trying desperately to improve position.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balbacoa wants to hold on but Emelyanenko pushes him away.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Emelyanenko cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Balbacoa keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Emelyanenko fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Balbacoa keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Emelyanenko 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.
Balbacoa tries to hold on but Emelyanenko postures up.
Balbacoa looks gassed!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Emelyanenko cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balbacoa is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Balbacoa throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Emelyanenko landing strikes from the mount.
Emelyanenko landing strikes from the mount and Balbacoa is in trouble!
Emelyanenko goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Balbacoa turns into him and now he's in Emelyanenko's guard.
Emelyanenko escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Balbacoa gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Slavon Emelyanenko dominated that round.
That's time! Emelyanenko's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.
Balbacoa feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Balbacoa stands up and waves to Emelyanenko to follow him.
Balbacoa tries to clinch there but Emelyanenko circles away.
The fight stays on the outside here - Balbacoa looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Balbacoa fails with an attempt to clinch.
Emelyanenko on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Balbacoa. Balbacoa obviously looking to wear him down.
Emelyanenko misses with a head kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Balbacoa sprawls well. Balbacoa wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Emelyanenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Emelyanenko changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Balbacoa tries to avoid it but Emelyanenko manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Balbacoa to the ground. Balbacoa escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Balbacoa with a poor takedown
and Emelyanenko counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Emelyanenko stops Balbacoa from getting back to his feet.
Emelyanenko wants to stand but Balbacoa has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Emelyanenko wants to take a breather but Balbacoa is having none of it.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balbacoa keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Emelyanenko stands up from half guard.
Rocky Balbacoa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balbacoa throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Emelyanenko.
Balbacoa misses with the combination.
Emelyanenko connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Balbacoa fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko moves into the clinch successfully.
Emelyanenko utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Emelyanenko breaks from the clinch.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch but Balbacoa is having none of it.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Balbacoa.
Slavon Emelyanenko has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rocky Balbacoa.
Emelyanenko showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Balbacoa.
Balbacoa wants to clinch.
Emelyanenko drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko stands up.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Emelyanenko throws a nice looking combination but Balbacoa bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Balbacoa connects with a high kick.
Balbacoa darts in and clinches Emelyanenko up against the cage.
Balbacoa tries to pull guard but Emelyanenko holds him up against the cage and eventually Balbacoa drops back down to his feet.
Balbacoa is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Emelyanenko can't fight it off and eventually Balbacoa manages to take the fight to the floor. Emelyanenko looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close second round but I would say that Slavon Emelyanenko will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!
Emelyanenko doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Balbacoa counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Emelyanenko's guard now.
Emelyanenko can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Balbacoa controls the pace.
Balbacoa slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Balbacoa working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Emelyanenko throws an elbow to the body but it doesn't land.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelyanenko misses with an elbow from the bottom.
Emelyanenko pushes Balbacoa away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Balbacoa gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Emelyanenko wants to control but Balbacoa postures up.
Emelyanenko tries to bench press Balbacoa off him but Balbacoa keeps the position.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Emelyanenko can't do much from the bottom here.
Emelyanenko tries to improve position but can't.
Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Balbacoa tries for a takedown but Emelyanenko circles away easily
letting Emelyanenko counter with a right hand.
Balbacoa clinches with his opponent.
Emelyanenko wants to break the clinch but can't.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Balbacoa.
Balbacoa lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Balbacoa breaks from the clinch.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko circles away from the clinch attempt.
Balbacoa gets a takedown into half guard.
Emelyanenko has hold of Balbacoa's hands but Balbacoa slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Emelyanenko trying to control but Balbacoa postures up.
Emelyanenko tries to kick Balbacoa off in order to stand up. Balbacoa Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
Balbacoa controlling well, preventing Emelyanenko from escaping the position.
Emelyanenko is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Balbacoa scores with strikes from the back.
Rocky Balbacoa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Slavon Emelyanenko is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Emelyanenko covers up after that shot from Balbacoa.
And that's the end of the fight!
Rocky Balbacoa comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Emelyanenko 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 John Mangel scores the fight 29:28
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 29:28
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Slavon Emelyanenko!
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
44% |
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