PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tainan Da Costa (ranked 4381 p4p, 4434 weight class) and Nikolay Pletnev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Da Costa
vs
Pletnev

178 cm
25
190
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
25
191
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Tainan Da Costa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Nikolay Pletnev!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Dirk Anderson and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pletnev fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Da Costa, pushing him back against the cage.
Pletnev pushes Da Costa back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tainan Da Costa. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pletnev taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev stands there with Da Costa around his waist. Da Costa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Pletnev creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Pletnev working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Pletnev lands with a short shot to the head.
Da Costa tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Pletnev smiles and moves away.
Pletnev scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

It looks like Tainan Da Costa has been cut.
Pletnev scores with a jab to the body.

Pletnev has closed the distance and engaged Da Costa in a clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Da Costa is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Pletnev to keep the fight standing.
Pletnev has Da Costa pushed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev stands there with Da Costa around his waist. Da Costa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Pletnev lands with a light punch inside.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Pletnev.
Pletnev lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Pletnev creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Pletnev lands a nice uppercut.
Da Costa tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Pletnev smiles and moves away.
Pletnev jabs Da Costa right on the nose. Da Costa blinks but takes it well.

Da Costa gets tackled into the cage by Pletnev. Pletnev maintains the clinch.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev holds him up against the cage and eventually Da Costa drops back down to his feet.
A bit of stalling here from Pletnev.
Pletnev just leaning against Da Costa, taking a breather.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pletnev lands with a short head shot on the inside.
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!
Pletnev scores with a nice hook to the head.
Pletnev lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Da Costa backwards.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Pletnev is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev stands there with Da Costa around his waist. Da Costa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Da Costa's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Pletnev is struggling to control the position.
Pletnev lands a hook to the side of the head.
Da Costa fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Pletnev just leaning against Da Costa, taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pletnev working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Da Costa is trying to pull guard but Pletnev has him pressed against the cage.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Pletnev lands an uppercut.
A right hook to the body lands for Pletnev.
A nice left hand lands by Pletnev.
Pletnev lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Pletnev.
Pletnev working some nice short punches in the clinch.

Da Costa is rocked!
Da Costa jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pletnev walks away with a smile on his face. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Pletnev swinging wildly here.
Pletnev cracks Da Costa with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Da Costa shoots in for a takedown but Pletnev shows good takedown defense.
Nice sprawl there from Pletnev as Da Costa shoots in.
Pletnev cracks Da Costa with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Oh Da Costa is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Pletnev smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Pletnev moves into the clinch.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Pletnev.
A short left from Pletnev.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Da Costa jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pletnev walks away with a smile on his face. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Da Costa seems to have got his legs back now.

Pletnev gets a clinch.
Pletnev scores with a nice hook to the head.
Pletnev digs a right hand into Da Costa's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Da Costa's gas tank.
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Pletnev.
Da Costa fails to pull guard.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev stands there with Da Costa around his waist. Da Costa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Da Costa jumps guard but Pletnev stands there with Da Costa around his waist. Da Costa gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Pletnev working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Pletnev.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolay Pletnev dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Tainan Da Costa's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Da Costa has closed the distance and engaged Pletnev in a clinch.
Da Costa fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Da Costa jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pletnev walks away with a smile on his face. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Pletnev moves into range and clinches up with Da Costa.
Pletnev lands a nice uppercut.
Stalling in the clinch from Pletnev.
A short uppercut from Pletnev.
Da Costa tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Pletnev smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tainan Da Costa. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Da Costa shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Pletnev pinned against the cage. Pletnev gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Pletnev clinches up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pletnev's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Da Costa jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pletnev walks away with a smile on his face. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pletnev gets a clinch.
Pletnev stalls.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike.
Pletnev lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A body shot lands from Pletnev.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Pletnev takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Pletnev scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A shot in the inside from Pletnev.
Pletnev lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Da Costa tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Da Costa fails to pull guard.
A short body shot lands from Pletnev as the two fighters clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Da Costa is trying to pull guard but Pletnev has him pressed against the cage.
Da Costa fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Pletnev.
Pletnev lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
A shot in the inside from Pletnev.
A short left from Pletnev.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev won't allow it.
Still in the clinch, Pletnev scores with a nice short uppercut.
Pletnev taking a breather.
Pletnev lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev won't allow it.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Pletnev.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Pletnev just stands there and leans against the cage.
Pletnev has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Pletnev displaying some good clinch control by pressing Da Costa up against the cage.
Da Costa tries to pull guard but Pletnev holds him up against the cage and eventually Da Costa drops back down to his feet.
Pletnev lands a right hand.
Nikolay Pletnev seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pletnev lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Da Costa backwards.
Pletnev manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Da Costa jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pletnev walks away with a smile on his face. Da Costa gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Pletnev darts in and lands a big hook, right on the button! Da Costa's legs crumble underneath him as he falls to the canvas! The ref tackles Pletnev before he gets to land any more shots to his stricken foe.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Nikolay Pletnev!