PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alexi Lihakovich (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Averill Bateson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Averill Bateson has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Alexi Lihakovich's chin.

Lihakovich
vs
Bateson

190 cm
20
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
25
215 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Very confident

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 Sydney, Alexi Lihakovich!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Averill Bateson!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Hugh Johnson and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bateson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Lihakovich tries a head kick but it misses.
Lihakovich misses with a few strikes there.
Bateson shoots in for a takedown but Lihakovich shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Lihakovich shoots for a takedown but Bateson saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Lihakovich misses with an attempted mid kick.

Lihakovich closes the distance and clinches.
Bateson avoiding damage as Lihakovich throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lihakovich pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Bateson blocking some punches.
Lihakovich looking to throw knees to the head but Bateson is blocking nicely.
Bateson managing to block the knees to the body from Lihakovich.
Bateson has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Lihakovich avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Alexi Lihakovich has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Averill Bateson.
Lihakovich tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Bateson blocks the elbow strike.
Bateson avoiding damage as Lihakovich throws knees to the body.
Bateson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Lihakovich taking a breather.
Bateson takes an elbow to the temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich pushes off an throws an elbow but Bateson leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Lihakovich with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Bateson takes a knee to the side of the body.
Bateson looks winded!
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!
Bateson blocking some punches.
Lihakovich trying to land knees to the body.
Bateson avoids a wild elbow strike from Lihakovich.
Lihakovich misses with some punches.
Lihakovich can't find room to land a body shot as Bateson controls the action.
Bateson takes a knee right on the jaw!
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Lihakovich landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich looking to throw knees to the head but Bateson is blocking nicely.
Lihakovich tries a knee to the head but Bateson blocks it.
Lihakovich lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Bateson takes an elbow to the forehead.
Lihakovich looking to throw knees to the head but Bateson is blocking nicely.
Lihakovich throws a punch but it's blocked by Bateson.
Lihakovich lands a nice elbow.
Lihakovich softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Lihakovich throws an elbow that misses.
Lihakovich with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Bateson wants a takedown but no success here.
Bateson avoiding damage as Lihakovich throws knees to the body.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Lihakovich.
A head punch on the inside from Lihakovich fails to land.
Bateson takes an elbow to the forehead.
Bateson letting Lihakovich take a breather here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bateson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Lihakovich misses with a knee strike.
Lihakovich with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexi Lihakovich dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A combination from Lihakovich does no damage.
Lihakovich throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Bateson scores with a takedown into Lihakovich's guard.

Lihakovich uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Lihakovich misses with a two punch combination.
Lihakovich with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lihakovich lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Bateson circles away quickly and effectively.
Bateson leaves Lihakovich with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Lihakovich looks to throw the jab but Bateson is out of range.
Lihakovich tries to clinch but Bateson moves out of range.
Bateson misses with a takedown
and Lihakovich counters with a one-two to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bateson sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Bateson is breathing heavily.

Lihakovich closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Lihakovich trying to land knees to the body.
Bateson blocks the elbow strike.
Alexi Lihakovich has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Lihakovich throws a knee to the head but misses.
Lihakovich tries a knee to the head but Bateson blocks it.
Bateson dodges an elbow strike from Lihakovich.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich trying to land knees to the body.
Lihakovich using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Bateson has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Lihakovich taking a breather.
Bateson goes for a takedown attempt but Lihakovich pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Lihakovich explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich throws a leg kick but Bateson sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Lihakovich fails with an attempt to clinch.
Lihakovich throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Bateson showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Lihakovich.
Lihakovich tries to bum rush Bateson with a series of wild strikes but Bateson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexi Lihakovich dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Lihakovich misses with a kick to the body.
Bateson shoots and misses
and Lihakovich counters with a two punch combo.
Bateson avoids the head kick by Lihakovich.
Bateson tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Lihakovich swivels and escapes.
Lihakovich lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Bateson circles away quickly and effectively.
Bateson avoids the head kick by Lihakovich.
Alexi Lihakovich is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bateson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bateson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lihakovich clinches up with Bateson and pushes him back against the cage.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Lihakovich.
Lihakovich is pushing Bateson up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Lihakovich prevents the takedown attempt.
Alexi Lihakovich has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Averill Bateson.
Lihakovich lands an elbow inside.
Lihakovich is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Bateson can do to turn this around?
Bateson blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Lihakovich misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Bateson.
Alexi Lihakovich is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich missing with knees to the body.
Lihakovich throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Lihakovich tries to land knees in the clinch but Bateson avoids the damage to the body.
Bateson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Lihakovich lands a right hand that snaps the head of Bateson backwards.
Bateson tries for a takedown but Lihakovich manages to get underhooks.
Bateson is working for takedown but Lihakovich is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Lihakovich throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Bateson takes an elbow to the forehead.
Lihakovich throws a knee to the head but misses.
Bateson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Lihakovich goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lihakovich prevents a takedown attempt there.
Bateson managing to block the knees to the body from Lihakovich.
Lihakovich content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Lihakovich gets underhooks to prevent Bateson's takedown attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alexi Lihakovich showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Lihakovich, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alexi Lihakovich!