PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ilya Kushnevich (ranked 1631 p4p, 2006 weight class) and Jacob White (ranked 219 p4p, 261 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Kushnevich
vs
White

179 cm
22
160
6 - 4 - 0

177 cm
23
155
9 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Conviction
Conquer

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 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ilya Kushnevich!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jacob White!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, William Gold and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kushnevich throws a body punch but White moves out of range.
White is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
White throws out a loose jab but Kushnevich uses good head movement to avoid it.
White slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
White lands a lovely overhand right.
White will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kushnevich throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Kushnevich darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Kushnevich dodges the punch combination from White.
Kushnevich fakes high and swings low for a body shot but White manages to avoid it.
White swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Nice straight punches there by Kushnevich. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Kushnevich.
Kushnevich swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and White counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by White.
White lands an elbow just above Kushnevich 's eye.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kushnevich misses with a hook to the ribs.
Kushnevich wants a takedown but no success here.
White misses with an elbow strike.

Kushnevich turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kushnevich tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
White is looking to reverse the position.
Kushnevich in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
White is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Kushnevich wants to lay and pray for a moment but White keeps working.
Sloppy strikes there by Kushnevich.
Kushnevich controlling the position.
White takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on White's face as Kushnevich controls the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
White looks to move to half guard but instead Kushnevich has passed into mount! Damn!
Kushnevich throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
The referee warns White that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Kushnevich thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
White wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Kushnevich.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kushnevich thowing shots but they're missing.
Kushnevich throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Kushnevich lands with some strikes.
White tries to get back to half guard but can't.
White suckers Kushnevich into throwing a sloppy strike and uses the momentum to reverse the position beautifully! White is now in Kushnevich's guard!
Kushnevich is pulling down on White's head to control his posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kushnevich looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Kushnevich has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Kushnevich lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kushnevich controls from within his opponent's guard.
Kushnevich trying to control the position from guard on top but White is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

White tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kushnevich was well out of range. Poor timing from White.
White misses with a head kick.
White stuffs the takedown attempt from Kushnevich. Kushnevich gets slowly back to his feet.
Kushnevich smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Kushnevich misses with a low kick as White jumps back.
Kushnevich scores with a decent looking hook.
Kushnevich tried to score with a low kick but White checks it.
Kushnevich cracks a nice hook into White's ribs.
Kushnevich blocks a head kick by White.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
White fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
White throws a right and a left that both miss.
White misses with a hook.
Kushnevich feinted with a counter takedown.
Kushnevich swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
White takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Kushnevich. White does a little dance to reset his feet.
Kushnevich ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Kushnevich throws a leg kick that misses.
Kushnevich throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
White takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
White misses the shot to the body.
White fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
White walks into a left hand.
No joy there for White, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
White is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kushnevich works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
White has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Kushnevich finds it's way round the side to connect with White's head.
A decent looking cross lands there for Kushnevich.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
White avoids the body shot from Kushnevich.
This has been an exciting period of action!
An inside leg kick lands from White.
White ducks under a wild hook from Kushnevich.
White throws a right hand that Kushnevich ducks under and follows up with a left that Kushnevich also avoids with ease.
White swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Kushnevich looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kushnevich misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
White misses with a double jab.
Jacob White is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts White, as that shot connected.
A jab from Kushnevich finds it's way through White's defenses.
White closes the distance looking to clinch

and Kushnevich counters with a single leg into guard. White didn't expect that.
Kushnevich postures up and lands a big shot to White's brow.
Kushnevich controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kushnevich won't allow White to get back to his feet.
White pulls Kushnevich in to control the position.
Kushnevich content to stall in guard here.
Kushnevich throws a big right hand that misses.
Kushnevich showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

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.
Kushnevich avoids a punch combination nicely.
White will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Ilya Kushnevich is winning the standup battle so far.
White misses with a low kick.
A jab lands there for White.
White misses with a jab, cross combination.
Kushnevich scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Jacob White is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

White has closed the distance and engaged Kushnevich in a clinch.
White pushes off an throws an elbow but Kushnevich leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Kushnevich gets through White's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

Kushnevich gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Kushnevich wants to pass to mount but White is defending the position.
White is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ilya Kushnevich dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - White looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kushnevich misses with a low kick as White jumps back.
Kushnevich fails with a takedown attempt.
White throws a right hand that Kushnevich ducks under and follows up with a left that Kushnevich also avoids with ease.
White misses with a few strikes there.
Kushnevich feinted with a counter takedown.
Kushnevich throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
White throws a right and a left that both miss.
Kushnevich throws a right and a left that White avoids nicely.
Kushnevich cracks White with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
White misses with a double jab

and Kushnevich counters with a shoot takedown. White fights it but they end up in guard.
White can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kushnevich controls the pace.
Kushnevich wants to control from the top but White keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kushnevich controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Kushnevich throws a big right hand that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kushnevich accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kushnevich trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Kushnevich missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
White throws a sloppy body shot

and Kushnevich counters with a takedown into side control.
Kushnevich looking to punish the body of his opponent here but White is avoiding damage well.
White takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
The referee asks Kushnevich politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Kushnevich prefers to stall for the moment though.
Kushnevich is looking to take a break and control but White is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
White seems a little lost for a moment, as Kushnevich dominates the positioning.
Kushnevich misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Kushnevich is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down White's shoulder. That is not cool.
White is not content to let Kushnevich control the position.
Kushnevich moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Jacob White has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White is looking to reverse the position.
Ilya Kushnevich is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Kushnevich wants to control for a moment but White uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Kushnevich keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
White is trying to get back to full guard.
Kushnevich is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kushnevich misses with a straight right.
No joy there for White, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A shot to the liver by Kushnevich. Beautiful body shot.
White ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
White throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
White misses with a combination

and Kushnevich decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in White's guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kushnevich looking to pass the guard.
Kushnevich is stalling in the full guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ilya Kushnevich showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Kushnevich, 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27
Judge William Gold scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ilya Kushnevich!
An out of breath Ilya Kushnevich thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.