PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Mongrel (ranked 548 p4p, 498 weight class) and Ruslan Karelin (ranked 78 p4p, 69 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Mongrel
vs
Karelin

191 cm
25
200
17 - 7 - 0

190 cm
32
206
14 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Carnage Clothing

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 17 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Mongrel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ruslan Karelin!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Taro Takaoka and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mongrel misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Karelin has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Mongrel misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Karelin connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Mongrel momentarily.
Karelin lunges at Mongrel with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Mongrel's hand.
Mongrel seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
A head punch on the inside from Karelin fails to land.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Karelin.
Mongrel misses with a body punch.
Karelin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Karelin tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Mongrel just stands there and leans against the cage.
Karelin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Karelin jumps into guard, dragging Mongrel to the mat.

Karelin looking for a guillotine here but Mongrel defends easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mongrel is looking to work some ground and pound but Karelin has wrist control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mongrel trying to control but Karelin is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mongrel has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Karelin is proving hard to escape from.
Mongrel trying to control but Karelin is working from the bottom.
Karelin lands a couple of shots from the bottom.
Karelin throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Karelin avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Mongrel wants to control from the top but Karelin keeps moving.
Karelin thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Karelin utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Mongrel wants to get up but he can't break Karelin's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Karelin has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Karelin is trying to control the position but Mongrel postures up.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Mongrel has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Mongrel there as he acknowledges the shot.

Karelin changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Mongrel looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Mongrel tries to improve position but can't.

Karelin tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Karelin has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Karelin is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Mongrel has escaped the position, nice work there.

Karelin working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Karelin wants to lay and pray for a moment but Mongrel keeps working.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Karelin is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Mongrel is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Karelin advances to mount.
Mongrel is squirming around, avoiding Karelin's attempts to control the action.

Karelin has control of Mongrel's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Mongrel regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Mongrel is trying to escape the mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mongrel is working hard here to advance position.
Mongrel is squirming around, avoiding Karelin's attempts to control the action.
Mongrel tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Karelin is dominating on the ground here - he's now on his opponent's back, looking to sink in the hooks. Mongrel is in real trouble.
Mongrel turns into Karelin and is now in his guard.

Karelin has his foot on Mongrel's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Mongrel works his way back into a safe position though.
Mongrel missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Mongrel postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Mongrel has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Mongrel throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Karelin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Mongrel is sitting in close to Karelin's body. Karelin has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Mongrel is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Mongrel is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Karelin.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Ruslan Karelin!
Ruslan Karelin spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.