PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Ike Ibeabuchi (ranked 20317 p4p, 255 weight class) and Leman Russ (ranked 22655 p4p, 238 weight class). Russ has chosen disturbed-The Animal as his entrance music. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Ibeabuchi
vs
Russ

188 cm
30
244 lbs
12 - 4 - 0

225 cm
32
250 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

World class boxer
Insanely flexible

World class MT
Good gas tank

Condemned

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ike Ibeabuchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Leman Russ!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, John Kavanagh and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ibeabuchi steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Russ.
Russ throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Ibeabuchi misses with a looping left.
Ibeabuchi looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Ibeabuchi takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Ibeabuchi displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Russ throws out the jab.
Russ takes a swing at Ibeabuchi's ribcage but misses.
Ibeabuchi gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Russ.
The fight stays on the outside here - Russ looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ibeabuchi was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A punch lands to the side of Ibeabuchi 's head but he takes it in his stride.

It looks like Ike Ibeabuchi has been cut.
Russ looks to land a combination but Ibeabuchi avoids it well.
Ibeabuchi throws a hook to the side of Russ's head but Russ sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Russ is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Russ fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Ibeabuchi.
A quick step to the side and Ibeabuchi tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Russ throws a hook but Ibeabuchi blocks it.
Russ lands with a hook. Ibeabuchi tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Ibeabuchi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Ibeabuchi misses with a left hand
and Russ connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Russ scores with a hook.
Russ is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Ibeabuchi swings widly with a right hand
and Russ counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Russ lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Russ might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Russ wants to clinch up but Ibeabuchi keeps it at a distance.
Russ jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Russ fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Ibeabuchi, pushing him back against the ropes.
Russ looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Ibeabuchi pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ibeabuchi uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Russ.
Ibeabuchi throws a head kick that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ibeabuchi moves away from the strike by Russ.
A counter left hand to the body from Ibeabuchi misses its target.
Ibeabuchi uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Russ.
A big left from Ibeabuchi misses.
Russ tries to close the distance and clinch but Ibeabuchi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Russ tries to clinch there but Ibeabuchi circles away.
Ibeabuchi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Russ.
Ibeabuchi slips under a jab from Russ.
Ibeabuchi fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Russ bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Ibeabuchi's head.
Russ just misses with a punch to the body.
Ibeabuchi appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Russ sizes up Ibeabuchi with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Leman Russ seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ibeabuchi takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Russ lands a body shot.
Russ fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leman Russ dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ike Ibeabuchi's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Russ scores with a decent looking hook.
Russ tries to clinch up.
Russ throws the left hand but Ibeabuchi avoids the punch easily.
It looked like Ibeabuchi wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Russ loads up on a big right hand but Ibeabuchi slips the punch.
Ibeabuchi throws a big counter combination but Russ scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Ibeabuchi on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Russ catches Ibeabuchi with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Russ tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ibeabuchi swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Russ misses with a left hand
and Ibeabuchi cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Russ misses with an uppercut.
Russ lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Ibeabuchi backs up against the ropes.
Russ tries to clinch but Ibeabuchi is having none of it.
Russ lands a right hook to the body.
Russ throws a left and a right that both miss
and Ibeabuchi counters with a lovely shot to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A big right from Ibeabuchi misses.
Russ misses with a looping right.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Russ tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Ibeabuchi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
No joy there for Ibeabuchi, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Russ fails with an attempt to clinch.
Russ misses with an uppercut. Ibeabuchi saw that one coming.
Russ with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Ibeabuchi avoids the body shot from Russ.
A swing and a miss from Russ.
Russ fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Ibeabuchi manages to avoid it.
Russ lands with a straight right. Ibeabuchi didn't see that one coming.
Russ misses with a straight left.
Ibeabuchi moves forwards but Russ connects with a nice, crisp jab.
A big left from Ibeabuchi misses.
A telegraphed right hand from Russ misses the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Russ is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ibeabuchi.
Ibeabuchi jinks towards his opponent looking like he wants to counter with a mid kick but doesn't commit.
Russ throws a shot from downtown. Ibeabuchi moves away and avoids it.
Russ connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Ibeabuchi's hands.
Russ pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Russ misses with a body shot.
Ibeabuchi throws a lazy right hand but Russ sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ibeabuchi blocks a jab.
Ibeabuchi lands a right and a left and another right! Russ goes down! Oh, he's in big, big trouble! 3,4,5,6,7,8... he's up to one knee... 9,10! He can't beat the count - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:37 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Ike Ibeabuchi!
During a confident post fight interview, Ike Ibeabuchi thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
Leman Russ was interviewed post fight and said 'I Notice my failure and Will correct it in the future. RAn into a buzzsaw.'.