PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Pavel Katasonov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Europha Emanuel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Katasonov comes to the cage accompanied by In Extremo - Wind. Emanuel comes into a darkened arena with his song building. I'm Not Jesus - Apocalyptica kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Europha Emanuel acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Katasonov
vs
Emanuel

175 cm
25
164 lbs
11 - 1 - 0

170 cm
20
163 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Good elbows
Granite chin

Knock Out Artistry
Tesla Apparel [Everything $15]

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Pavel Katasonov!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Europha Emanuel!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Emerson Jorge and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Emanuel tries to clinch there but Katasonov circles away.
Katasonov moves out of range of the strikes.
Emanuel misses with a looping right.
Emanuel fails in his attempt to clinch.
Katasonov misses with a straight left.
The fight stays on the outside here - Emanuel looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Emanuel wants to clinch up but Katasonov keeps it at a distance.
Emanuel tries to clinch up.
Katasonov avoids the body shot from Emanuel.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Emanuel tries to clinch but Katasonov moves out of range.
Emanuel moves in looking to clinch but Katasonov pushes him off.
Katasonov staying out of range there.

Emanuel clinches up against the cage.
A right hand to the body from Katasonov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katasonov blocks an uppercut.

Katasonov is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Emanuel can't fight it off and eventually Katasonov manages to take the fight to the floor. Emanuel looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Katasonov preventing the sweep.
Emanuel is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Katasonov drops back, looking for a kneebar! Emanuel looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Emanuel looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Emanuel!
Both fighters take a look at the clock.
Katasonov is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Emanuel off and has taken his back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emanuel manages to reverse the position and now he's in Katasonov's guard. Nice work there by Emanuel.

Emanuel avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Emanuel tries to free his leg and advance position but Katasonov is retaining full guard.
Emanuel trying to control the position from guard on top but Katasonov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Katasonov is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Emanuel in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katasonov looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Katasonov is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Katasonov keeps the fight on the outside.
Emanuel just misses with a punch to the body.
Katasonov moves out of range of the strikes.
Emanuel tries to clinch there but Katasonov circles away.
Emanuel tries to clinch but Katasonov moves out of range.
Katasonov keeps the fight on the outside.
Emanuel misses with a looping right.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Katasonov.
Katasonov connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Emanuel some visible discomfort.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Katasonov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Katasonov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Emanuel is not content to let Katasonov control the position.

Katasonov is trying to get an arm triangle but Emanuel is defending well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Emanuel is trying to control Katasonov's posture but Katasonov avoids it.
Emanuel is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pavel Katasonov dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Emanuel looks to land a left hand but Katasonov moved out of range nicely.
Emanuel tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Katasonov paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A swing and a miss from Katasonov.

Katasonov feints and as Emanuel raises his hands in defense, Katasonov changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Emanuel trying to keep a closed guard but Katasonov is proving a slippery customer.
Emanuel is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Emanuel keeping moving, preventing Katasonov from controlling successfully.
Emanuel lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Katasonov!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katasonov is looking to get to half guard.
Emanuel thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Katasonov is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Emanuel has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Katasonov's face.
Katasonov is working to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Emanuel is landing with some decent strikes but Katasonov is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

It looks like Pavel Katasonov has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emanuel misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Emanuel cracks Katasonov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Emanuel with the ground and pound from mount.

Katasonov is rocked!
Emanuel landing punches.
Oh Katasonov is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Katasonov is squirming around, avoiding Emanuel's attempts to control the action.
The referee warns Katasonov that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

Pavel Katasonov's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Katasonov slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Katasonov seems to have got his legs back now.
Emanuel not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Katasonov moves into full guard.
Katasonov is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emanuel in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Katasonov controls Emanuel momentarily but Emanuel frees himself.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Emanuelis looking to pass into half guard but Katasonov pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Katasonov is in guard.
Emanuel looking to control.

Katasonov drops back, looking for a kneebar! Emanuel looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Emanuel looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Emanuel!
The strikes coming from Emanuel are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Europha Emanuel has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four 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.
Katasonov is looking for a sweep.
Katasonov managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Emanuel.
Katasonov is looking to regain half guard here but Emanuel keeps moving and retains side control.
Katasonov manages to get back to half guard.
Emanuel is trying to control. Katasonov wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Katasonov tries to get to full guard but Emanuel has control of the leg.
Emanuel missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Katasonov gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Europha Emanuel showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Pavel Katasonov's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Emanuel is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Emanuel needs to keep his hands up - Katasonov had a free shot at his head there.
Emanuel throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Emanuel ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Katasonov moves away.
Emanuel misses with an uppercut. Katasonov saw that one coming.
Emanuel tries to close the distance and clinch but Katasonov swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Emanuel throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Katasonov shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Emanuel but Emanuel pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Emanuel is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Katasonov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emanuel misses with a body shot.
Emanuel fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Katasonov on the side of the head.

Katasonov shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Katasonov was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Katasonov looking to control but Emanuel is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Katasonov scoring with strikes but Emanuel is staying in there.
Katasonov scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Emanuel?
Emanuel really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Katasonov controlling from the full mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katasonov breaks from Emanuel's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Emanuel wants to hold on but Katasonov pushes him away.
Katasonov looking to control and managing it successfully.
Emanuel is trying desperately to improve position.
Emanuel has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Katasonov landing shots from mount.
Katasonov can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Emanuel is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emanuel is in all sorts of trouble here.
Katasonov controlling the pace for now.

Katasonov goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Emanuel turns into him and now he's in Katasonov's guard.
Emanuel advances position into side control!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Katasonov tries to buck Emanuel off but Emanuel is having none of it.
Emanuel scores with a couple of short elbows.

Jeez, Pavel Katasonov's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Pavel Katasonov's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Europha Emanuel!
Europha Emanuel is the new lightweight champion!