PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Giril Kovalenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Bruens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Kovalenko might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Judas Priest - Grinder. Bruens has chosen River Below as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kovalenko
vs
Bruens

185 cm
28
195 lbs
12 - 6 - 0

168 cm
26
185 lbs
11 - 7 - 1

Good wrestling
Good knees
KO power

Powerful takedowns
Good kicks
Powerful

Hell's Balls Recovery

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 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Giril Kovalenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Paul Bruens!
The judges for this bout are , and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kovalenko wants to clinch up but Bruens keeps it at a distance.
Kovalenko misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bruens throws a shot from downtown. Kovalenko moves away and avoids it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Kovalenko. Bruens does a little dance to reset his feet.
A nice leg kick lands there from Bruens.
Bruens lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Kovalenko at a distance.
Bruens shoots in for a takedown but Kovalenko shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Bruens tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
A shot to the body from Bruens misses

and Kovalenko counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Bruens wants to get back to full guard.
Kovalenko content to control rather than advance.
Bruens is looking to control Kovalenko's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Bruens avoid being mounted?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bruens wants to improve his position but Kovalenko is controlling well.
Kovalenko scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Bruens tries to roll over but Kovalenko keeps him under control.
Kovalenko not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kovalenko will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Bruens is looking to improve his position.
Kovalenko is trying to control. Bruens wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

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.
Bruens trying to control from the bottom.
Kovalenko is looking to take a break and control but Bruens is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
It looks like Kovalenko is going to stand back up.
Bruens works his way to full guard. Good work.
Bruens wants to sweep here but Kovalenko controlling him for the moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bruens is pulling down on Kovalenko's head. It's preventing any offense from Kovalenko, at least for the moment.
Kovalenko keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Bruens's head.
Bruens working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Bruens has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Kovalenko can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Bruens is trying to keep Kovalenko in close.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Bruens keeping moving, preventing Kovalenko from controlling successfully.
Bruens preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Bruens looking for a sweep. Not yet Bruens, not yet.

Bruens looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Kovalenko passes into side control.
Bruens is looking for a sweep.

That's four 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.
Bruens is trying to control Kovalenko's posture but Kovalenko avoids it.
Bruens sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Bruens keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Bruens gets full guard.
Bruens is trying to keep Kovalenko in close.
Kovalenko makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Bruens utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Bruens keeping moving, preventing Kovalenko from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Giril Kovalenko dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Bruens misses the shot to the body.
Kovalenko misses with a shot to the body
and Bruens counters with a thumping low kick.
Kovalenko takes a swing at Bruens's ribcage but misses.
Giril Kovalenko seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kovalenko moves away from the strike by Bruens.
Bruens shoots in but Kovalenko avoids the takedown attempt easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kovalenko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bruens misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Bruens drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bruens tries to free his leg and advance position but Kovalenko is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kovalenko seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Kovalenko looking for a sweep. Not yet Kovalenko, not yet.
Bruens thows a big elbow that misses.
Kovalenko is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Bruens is controlling him.
Bruens wants to control from the top but Kovalenko keeps moving.
Kovalenko is controlling Bruens's posture.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Bruens drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bruens jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's two 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.
Bruens prevents Kovalenko from getting back to his feet.
Kovalenko pulls Bruens in close to prevent any damage.

We're going to have a standup here because Giril Kovalenko wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Kovalenko works the jab nicely.
Kovalenko misses with an uppercut. Bruens saw that one coming.
A big left from Bruens misses.
Bruens misses with a body kick.
Kovalenko just misses with a punch to the body.
Bruens tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kovalenko paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kovalenko wants to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kovalenko is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kovalenko takes one to the chin there.
Bruens slips a jab and a cross from Kovalenko.
Bruens avoids a kick to the body.
Kovalenko checks a leg kick.
The crowd cheers as Kovalenko lands an impressive looking overhand right. Bruens doesn't seem phased though.
Kovalenko throws a body punch but Bruens moves out of range.
Giril Kovalenko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's four 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.
Bruens throws a jab but it's blocked by Kovalenko.
Kovalenko has his takedown stuffed
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

Bruens shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Kovalenko napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Bruens throwing strikes but Kovalenko manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Bruens manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Bruens throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bruens trying to control the pace.
Kovalenko is looking to escape.
Bruens is keen to just control but Kovalenko is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Bruens showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Bruens throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Kovalenko scores with a jab.
Kovalenko darts in trying to clinch
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Bruens fails to land the takedown.
Kovalenko is trying hard to land a takedown here. Bruens sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Kovalenko misses with a looping right.
Bruens swings for the body but Kovalenko moves out of range.
Kovalenko shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bruens closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Kovalenko did well to prevent Bruens getting side control.
Bruens takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Bruens thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kovalenko's head.
Well, if Bruens is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Bruens missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kovalenko tries to roll over but Bruens keeps him under control.
Bruens lands strikes from half guard.
Bruens is pressing down on Kovalenko's thigh, looking to free his foot. Kovalenko is holding on for now.
Bruens thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kovalenko's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bruens seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Kovalenko scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Bruens manages to mount him!
Kovalenko keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Bruens pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Kovalenko wants to control but Bruens is having none of it.
Bruens putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bruens looking to finish Kovalenko with some ground and pound. This is bad for Kovalenko!
Bruens controlling the position easily from mount.
Kovalenko tries to hold on but Bruens pushes him away.
Kovalenko is looking to get to half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Bruens unloading with bombs!
Bruens cracks Kovalenko with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Bruens pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Kovalenko is working to get back to half guard.
Bruens trying to control but Kovalenko is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kovalenko really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Bruens scoring with strikes but Kovalenko is staying in there.
Bruens lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Kovalenko hang on?
Bruens prevents Kovalenko from getting the reversal.
Bruens lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Paul Bruens has got the better of the ground game so far.
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!
Kovalenko is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bruens looking to finish here with some ground and pound. He lands one big shot that has Kovalenko covering up... and two more big strikes land, forcing the referee to step in and put and end to proceedings! This fight is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Paul Bruens!