PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rodney Couture (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stanislav Ivanov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ivanov is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Muffin man. Stanislav Ivanov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Couture
vs
Ivanov

176 cm
22
192 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

186 cm
20
200 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Tends to cut

Project Mayhem Experimental Treatment
Project Mayhem Experimental Treatment

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rodney Couture!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Stanislav Ivanov!
The judges for this bout are John Kavanagh, Jorge Garcia and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ivanov staying out of range there.
Ivanov misses with a kick to the body.
Couture shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ivanov pinned against the cage. Ivanov gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ivanov looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A slow jab from Couture misses its intended target.
Ivanov tries to clinch up but Couture circles away and keeps his distance.
Ivanov ducks under a wild hook from Couture.
Ivanov throws the kick towards the body but Couture avoids it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Couture. Ivanov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Couture takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ivanov lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Ivanov slips under a jab from Couture.
Ivanov tries to close the distance and clinch but Couture swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Couture looks to land a left hand but Ivanov moved out of range nicely.
Couture blocks a head kick by Ivanov.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Ivanov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Couture cracks a nice hook into Ivanov's ribs.

Ivanov gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Couture to score an easy takedown into full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Couture accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Couture wants to pass the guard but Ivanov is keeping the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Couture slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Couture trying to control the position but Ivanov is working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ivanov is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Couture has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Ivanov can't do much from the bottom here.
Couture scores with a couple of short elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Couture is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Ivanov is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Couture trying to control the position but Ivanov is working away.
You can see the frustration on Ivanov's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Couture wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ivanov keeps working.

Couture tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Couture working away.
Couture lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Couture advances to full mount.
Couture landing punches.
Couture is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ivanov is in all sorts of trouble here.
Couture scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Couture lands a nice shot to the head.
A nice elbow there by Couture.
Couture lands with some strikes.

Couture goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Ivanov is on top in guard.
Couture has a closed guard, preventing Ivanov from standing up.

Couture working for a triangle but Ivanov defends it easily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Couture has Ivanov pulled in close to control his posture.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Couture is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rodney Couture 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.

Ivanov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Couture dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Couture throws a looping overhand right but Ivanov ducks down to avoid it.
Ivanov tries to land a front kick but Couture steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Ivanov tries to clinch up.
Ivanov throws out a loose jab but Couture uses good head movement to avoid it.
Couture misses with the combination.

Couture closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Couture passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Ivanov!

Couture is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Ivanov has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Ivanov!
Couture lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Ivanov!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov taking shots to the head.
Ivanov tries to reverse the position but Couture maintains control.
Couture lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Ivanov tries to hold on but Couture pushes him away.
Couture landing strikes, looking to finish!

Couture is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Ivanov to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Ivanov shrugs it off.
Couture has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Ivanov is working to get back to half guard.

Couture looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Ivanov tries to reverse the position but Couture maintains control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Couture trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Couture is landing with some decent strikes but Ivanov is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Couture looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Ivanov tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Couture looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Couture lands a nice shot to the head.
Couture connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Couture prevents Ivanov from getting the reversal.
Couture pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov is trying desperately to improve position.
A nice elbow there by Couture.
Ivanov tries to reverse the position but Couture maintains control.
Couture cracks Ivanov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Ivanov tries to reverse the position but Couture maintains control.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Couture cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Couture lands with some strikes.
The referee warns Ivanov that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

Ivanov is rocked!
Couture lands with some strikes.
Ivanov is still in real trouble! Can Couture finish him?
Couture looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Couture controlling from the full mount.

Couture is giving the impression that he's looking to ground and pound but he switches suddenly into a beautiful far side armbar! Ivanov is forced to tap! Great finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:01 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Rodney Couture!