GnP-1 PBP Commentary

Co-main event

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ahmed Koulibaly (ranked 5265 p4p, 533 weight class) and Adebaijo Mukondo (ranked 4258 p4p, 461 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.

Koulibaly
vs
Mukondo

180 cm
24
155 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

180 cm
24
166 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ahmed Koulibaly!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Adebaijo Mukondo!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Vladimir Khabensky and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mukondo ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Koulibaly moves away.
Koulibaly throws a jab when Mukondo was well out of range.
Koulibaly scores with the left hand. Mukondo knows he should have avoided that one.
A looping hook to the body misses from Mukondo. Koulibaly does a little dance to reset his feet.
Koulibaly throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Good standup being displayed there by Mukondo as he connects with a hook.
Koulibaly misses with a hook.
Koulibaly gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Mukondo throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Koulibaly takes a swing at Mukondo's ribcage but misses.
Mukondo tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mukondo takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Koulibaly uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Mukondo.
Mukondo misses with a right hand
and Koulibaly counters with a two punch combo.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Mukondo is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Koulibaly.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Koulibaly finds it's way through Mukondo's defenses.
Mukondo lands the left hand.
A telegraphed right hand from Mukondo misses the target.
Koulibaly takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Koulibaly just misses with a punch to the body.
Koulibaly lands a nice hook to Mukondo's body. Mukondo takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Koulibaly just misses with a punch to the body.
Mukondo falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Koulibaly counter with a right hand.
Mukondo throws a lazy right hand but Koulibaly sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A combination from Koulibaly does no damage.
Mukondo swings for the body but Koulibaly moves out of range.
Mukondo throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Koulibaly sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Mukondo works the jab nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Koulibaly missing with a left hand there. Mukondo was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
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!
Mukondo bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Koulibaly's head backwards.
Mukondo ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
The fighters circling - Mukondo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Koulibaly appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Koulibaly throws a looping overhand right but Mukondo ducks down to avoid it.
Mukondo throws out a counter right but Koulibaly avoids it with no problem.
Adebaijo Mukondo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Mukondo throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Mukondo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A big left from Mukondo misses.
Koulibaly was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Mukondo lands a nice shot that snaps Koulibaly's head back.
Mukondo looks to score with a jab to the body but Koulibaly is just out of range.
Mukondo misses with a shot to the body
and Koulibaly counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Koulibaly jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Mukondo throws a looping overhand right but Koulibaly ducks down to avoid it.
A little feinted left hand from Koulibaly on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Koulibaly lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Mukondo circles away quickly and effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mukondo thows a left - swing and a miss!
A looping hook to the body misses from Mukondo. Koulibaly does a little dance to reset his feet.
A jab from Mukondo misses.
Mukondo ducks under a wild hook from Koulibaly.
Koulibaly cracks Mukondo with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
A looping hook to the body misses from Mukondo. Koulibaly does a little dance to reset his feet.
Koulibaly with a nice cross.
Mukondo throws a left and a right that both miss
and Koulibaly counters with a right hand to the body.
Mukondo slips a jab from Koulibaly.
Koulibaly just misses with a punch to the body.
Mukondo throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Koulibaly scores with a hook to the body. Mukondo takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Mukondo swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Koulibaly gets a clinch.
Koulibaly fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Mukondo lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Koulibaly.
Koulibaly lands a body punch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Koulibaly scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Koulibaly dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Mukondo's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Koulibaly tries to work over Mukondo's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Koulibaly lands a left hand that snaps the head of Mukondo backwards.
Mukondo lands a shoulder strike.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Mukondo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ahmed Koulibaly dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Mukondo ducks under a wild hook from Koulibaly.
Nice defenses there by Mukondo.
Koulibaly takes a swing at Mukondo's ribcage but misses.
Mukondo cracks Koulibaly with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
A big right from Mukondo misses.
Mukondo looks to throw the jab but Koulibaly is out of range.
Koulibaly is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Mukondo can do to turn this around?
Mukondo throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Koulibaly counters with a series of strikes. Mukondo will be more careful next time no doubt.
Mukondo moves forwards but Koulibaly connects with a nice, crisp jab.

Mukondo is rocked!

Koulibaly moves into range and clinches up with Mukondo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Mukondo swings wildly with an uppercut but Koulibaly uses good head movement to avoid it.
Mukondo being controlled against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Koulibaly scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Mukondo misses with a shot to the kidneys.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Koulibaly creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Koulibaly takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Mukondo is trying to stall.
Mukondo stalling in the clinch but Koulibaly improves position.
Koulibaly gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Adebaijo Mukondo has been cut.
Mukondo wants to stall.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Mukondo.
Mukondo has a couple of punches blocked by Koulibaly.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice right hand lands inside from Mukondo.
Koulibaly lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Koulibaly gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Koulibaly stalling in the clinch.
Mukondo goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Koulibaly lands a left hand.
Mukondo is still on wobbly legs! Can Koulibaly finish him?
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mukondo tries a body shot but Koulibaly blocks it.

Koulibaly breaks the clinch.
Mukondo seems to have recovered his senses.
Koulibaly connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Mukondo's hands.
The fighters circling - Mukondo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Koulibaly ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Mukondo fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Koulibaly manages to avoid it.

Mukondo closes the distance and clinches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Koulibaly lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Koulibaly scores with a shot to the side of Mukondo's head.
Koulibaly effectively controlling the action here.
Koulibaly leaning his opponent against the cage.
Koulibaly displaying some good clinch control by pressing Mukondo up against the cage.
Nice elbow from Koulibaly.
Koulibaly has Mukondo pressed against the cage, preventing Mukondo from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Mukondo is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Mukondo lands a left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mukondo misses with a hook from the clinch.
Koulibaly lands with a short shot to the head.
Koulibaly lands a right hand.
Mukondo throws a punch but it's blocked by Koulibaly.
Mukondo tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Koulibaly's elbow.
Koulibaly digs a right hand into Mukondo's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Mukondo's gas tank.
Koulibaly lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Still in the clinch, Koulibaly scores with a nice short uppercut.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Koulibaly.
Mukondo dodges an elbow strike from Koulibaly.
Mukondo goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Mukondo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Koulibaly lands a vicious elbow to the side of Mukondo's head that scrambles his senses and sends him wobbling down to the canvas! Koulibaly tries to finish him with strikes but Mukondo still seems able to defend himself so Koulibaly steps back and lets Mukondo get back to his feet - he wants no part of the ground game.

Koulibaly fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Mukondo, pushing him back against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ahmed Koulibaly dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Adebaijo Mukondo's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

A slow jab from Mukondo misses its intended target.
Mukondo connects with a jab.
Mukondo misses with an uppercut
and Mukondo takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Koulibaly lands hard precision jab right on the jaw that stiffens Mukondo up and sends him tumbling to the mat! The ref grabs Koulibaly from behind before he can pounce. Some folks in the crowd didn't like that stoppage, but I saw Mukondo's eyes roll way back in his head, he was done.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:14 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Ahmed Koulibaly!