PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mauro Okongwu (ranked 18 p4p, 104 weight class) and Roman Zhdanov (ranked 3 p4p, 12 weight class). Okongwu comes into the arena with Show Stop - REASON blaring out of the sound system. Zhdanov has chosen Малиновая Лада (Raspberry Lada) by Gayazov$ Brother$ as his entrance music. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Okongwu
vs
Zhdanov

206 cm
33
265
29 - 12 - 0

196 cm
32
270
22 - 12 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Heavy handed

Bondi MMA 🏝️
Hoarse Pills

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 29 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mauro Okongwu!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 12 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Roman Zhdanov!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Jack Bonds and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zhdanov dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Okongwu. That did some damage!
Zhdanov paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

It looks like Mauro Okongwu has been cut.

Zhdanov pushes Okongwu up against the cage in a clinch.
Okongwu tries to work over Zhdanov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Okongwu as Zhdanov tries to tie him up.
Zhdanov trying to land knees to the body.
Zhdanov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Okongwu backwards.
Okongwu misses with some punches.
Okongwu lands a shoulder strike.
Zhdanov stalling against the cage.
Okongwu lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Okongwu blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Okongwu misses with a punch to the body.
Okongwu lands a hook that snaps the head of Zhdanov backwards.
Zhdanov tries a body shot but Okongwu blocks it.
Okongwu misses with some punches.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Zhdanov can't find room to land a body shot as Okongwu controls the action.
Okongwu on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Zhdanov using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Okongwu tries to work over Zhdanov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Okongwu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhdanov misses with a body punch.
A short left from Zhdanov.
Okongwu doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Zhdanov is working Okongwu over against the cage.
Okongwu is breathing heavily.
Okongwu working aggressively here.
Zhdanov landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Zhdanov cracks Okongwu with a nice body shot.
Zhdanov throws an elbow but it misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Zhdanov.
Zhdanov lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Okongwu or not.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Zhdanov just misses with a elbow thrown towards Okongwu's brow.
We've been informed that Zhdanov has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
Zhdanov lands an elbow that stopped Okongwu in his tracks for a moment.
Zhdanov lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Zhdanov pushes Okongwu back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Zhdanov slows down the pace here.
Zhdanov lands with a right to the head.
Zhdanov lands with a right to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zhdanov fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Zhdanov misses with a body punch.
Zhdanov tries to land knees in the clinch but Okongwu avoids the damage to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Okongwu misses with a punch on the inside.
Zhdanov throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Okongwus head.

Mauro Okongwu's cut is getting worse.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Zhdanov just misses with a elbow thrown towards Okongwu's brow.
Okongwu misses with a short punch on the inside.
Zhdanov tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Okongwu's elbow.
Zhdanov prevents a body shot from Okongwu.
A short right from Zhdanov on the inside.
Okongwu can't find room to land a body shot as Zhdanov controls the action.
Okongwu swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Okongwu lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Zhdanov or not.
Okongwu scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A nice left hand lands by Zhdanov.
Okongwu blocks the elbow strike.
Okongwu misses with a punch to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Zhdanov obliges.
Okongwu dodges an elbow strike from Zhdanov.
Zhdanov lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Zhdanov misses with a short punch on the inside.
Zhdanov looking to slow down the pace here.
Nice body punch from Zhdanov - that landed with a thud.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Okongwu swings wildly with an uppercut but Zhdanov uses good head movement to avoid it.
A short right from Okongwu.
Okongwu tries a body shot but Zhdanov blocks it.
Okongwu pushes Zhdanov back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Okongwu misses with the head strike.
Okongwu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A short right from Zhdanov.
Zhdanov holding his opponent close, against the cage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Okongwu.
Okongwu lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Zhdanov.
Okongwu has a couple of punches blocked by Zhdanov.
Okongwu lands a hook that snaps the head of Zhdanov backwards.
Okongwu blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Okongwu lands a left hand.
Okongwu misses with a punch on the inside.
Zhdanov is trying to stall.
A head punch on the inside from Okongwu fails to land.
Okongwu lands a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zhdanov blocks an uppercut.
Okongwu tries to throw a body punch but Zhdanov avoids it by throwing Okongwu back against the cage.
Okongwu cracks Zhdanov with a nice body shot.
Okongwu misses with a punch on the inside.
Zhdanov misses with a punch to the body.
Zhdanov working aggressively here.
Okongwu struggles to land a body shot inside as Zhdanov controls his hands.
Okongwu misses with a body punch.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Okongwu.

It looks like Roman Zhdanov has been cut.
Zhdanov struggles to land a body shot inside as Okongwu controls his hands.
Okongwu misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Okongwu lands a left hand.
Okongwu presses Zhdanov against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Okongwu lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Zhdanov backwards.
A short right from Okongwu on the inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A short uppercut from Okongwu.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Okongwu.
Okongwu lands with a short shot to the head.
Still in the clinch, Okongwu scores with a nice short uppercut.
Okongwu tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Mauro Okongwu will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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.

Zhdanov darts in trying to clinch
and Okongwu connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Zhdanov throws a leg kick but Okongwu sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Zhdanov wants to clinch
and Okongwu counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Zhdanov thinking.
Zhdanov swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Zhdanov just misses with a punch to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zhdanov looks to land a right hand but Okongwu moved out of range.
Okongwu looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Zhdanov is looking to clinch.
Okongwu fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Zhdanov misses with a body kick.
Zhdanov is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhdanov throws a leg kick that misses.
Zhdanov misses with a right hand
and Okongwu counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Zhdanov on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Zhdanov misses with a left hand
and Okongwu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Okongwu has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Zhdanov darts in trying to clinch
and Okongwu counters with a thumping low kick.
Zhdanov misses the body punch
and Okongwu makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Okongwu lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Zhdanov throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Okongwu counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Zhdanov gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Okongwu counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Okongwu blocks a leg kick.
Okongwu is looking to counter with a body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zhdanov thows a leg kick but Okongwu checks it
and Okongwu counters with a big right hand! Oh Zhdanov is in trouble here! Okongwu follows up with more strikes and that's it! The ref has stopped it!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:07 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mauro Okongwu!
Mauro Okongwu retains his heavyweight title!
A very excited looking Mauro Okongwu made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.