PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Karelin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fedor Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Karelin comes to the cage accompanied by Russian National Anthem. Sakuraba is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Clubfoot. Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Karelin
vs
Sakuraba

205 cm
25
279 lbs
8 - 5 - 0

190 cm
24
240 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alex Karelin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Fedor Sakuraba!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Illya Tyunina and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karelin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Sakuraba is fending him off so far but Karelin persists. Nope, Sakuraba circles away and we're back to standing.

Sakuraba clinches.
Sakuraba tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Karelin avoids it.
Karelin avoiding damage.
Sakuraba is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Karelin pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Sakuraba drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Karelin gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Karelin avoiding damage as Sakuraba throws knees to the body.
Sakuraba tries for a takedown but Karelin manages to get underhooks.
Alex Karelin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fedor Sakuraba.
Sakuraba has Karelin pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Karelin manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Sakuraba keeps control of Karelin as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Sakuraba has Karelin pressed against the cage, preventing Karelin from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Sakuraba has Karelin pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Karelin manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Sakuraba wants a takedown.
Karelin pressing his opponent against the cage.
Karelin tries to circle away but Sakuraba has him pinned against the cage.
Karelin stops a takedown attempt from Sakuraba.
Sakuraba tries to land a knee to the head but Karelin blocks with his arms.
Sakuraba is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Karelin gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Karelin pushes Sakuraba back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Sakuraba looks gassed!
Sakuraba can't get the takedown.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Sakuraba just misses with a elbow thrown towards Karelin's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Karelin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Karelin shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Sakuraba can't escape the position.
Karelin unloading with bombs!
Karelin looking to control and managing it successfully.
Karelin putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Karelin controlling the position easily from mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Alex Karelin just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Nice uppercut there from Karelin.
Sakuraba keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Sakuraba throws a leg kick but Karelin sees it coming and checks it nicely.

Sakuraba gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Karelin presses Sakuraba against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Karelin leaning his opponent against the cage.
Karelin avoids the elbow strike from Sakuraba, against the cage.
Sakuraba drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Karelin gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karelin lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Karelin lands a hook that snaps the head of Sakuraba backwards.
A hook to the body from Karelin.
Sakuraba can't get the takedown.
Sakuraba throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Karelin'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.
Karelin wants to break the clinch but can't.
Karelin on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Karelin lands a body shot in the clinch.

Karelin manages to break the clinch.
Karelin lands a glancing blow to the side of Sakuraba's head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Karelin fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Sakuraba manages to avoid it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Karelin throws a shot from downtown. Sakuraba moves away and avoids it.

Karelin closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Sakuraba did well to prevent Karelin getting side control.
Sakuraba is trying to maintain the position but Karelin is very close to passing his half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Karelin dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Sakuraba tries to clinch up but Karelin circles away and keeps his distance.
Karelin fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
A big right from Karelin misses.
Karelin misses with a body shot.
Sakuraba bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Sakuraba with a lazy takedown attempt

and Karelin counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Karelin moves nicely into side control.
Karelin works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Sakuraba is breathing heavily.

Karelin stands up and beckons Sakuraba to his feet.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Karelin misses the shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba slips a jab from Karelin.
Karelin looks to score with a jab to the body but Sakuraba is just out of range.
Karelin throws a body punch but Sakuraba moves out of range.
Karelin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Sakuraba was well out of range. Poor timing from Karelin.
Sakuraba slips a straight right by Karelin.
Karelin misses with a hook. Sakuraba ducked under it nicely.
Sakuraba ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Karelin loads up on a big right hand but Sakuraba slips the punch.
Karelin misses with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Karelin ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Sakuraba misses with a takedown

and Karelin counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Karelin lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Karelin seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Sakuraba tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Karelin has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Karelin controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Karelin controlling his opponent.
Sakuraba can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Karelin is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Sakuraba can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Sakuraba can't escape the position.
Karelin sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Sakuraba really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Karelin tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Karelin looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Karelin dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Karelin lands a with a good body shot.

Karelin shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Sakuraba's guard.
Karelin wants to pass the guard but Sakuraba is keeping the position.
Karelin looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karelin makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sakuraba working a defensive guard here.
Sakuraba wants to sweep here but Karelin controlling him for the moment.
Karelin with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Sakuraba trying to keep a closed guard but Karelin is proving a slippery customer.
Karelin not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Sakuraba has his foot on Karelin's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Karelin works his way back into a safe position though.
Fedor Sakuraba has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sakuraba takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sakuraba being controlled here, momentarily.
Karelin will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Sakuraba is looking for a triangle here but Karelin uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Karelin in side control lands a decent elbow.
Sakuraba is looking for a sweep.
Karelin just content to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba is looking to reverse the position.
You can see the frustration on Sakuraba's face as Karelin controls the position.
Sakuraba tries to improve position but can't.
Karelin slows the pace down.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Alex Karelin just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Karelin ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sakuraba moves away.
Sakuraba moves out of range as Karelin strikes.

Karelin shoots in and bounces Sakuraba off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sakuraba looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Karelin passes into side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

Karelin has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Sakuraba slips a straight right by Karelin.
Karelin loads up on a big right hand but Sakuraba slips the punch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Karelin showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Karelin has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:26
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:26
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Karelin!