PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aleksander Shlemenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alexandr Vatin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aleksander Shlemenko could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Alexandr Vatin's chin.

Shlemenko
vs
Vatin

190 cm
21
244 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

187 cm
26
220 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Aleksander Shlemenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alexandr Vatin!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Valeri Chadov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vatin looks to clinch
and Shlemenko cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Vatin tries to clinch but Shlemenko moves out of range.

Vatin gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Shlemenko working hard to break the clinch.
Vatin is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Shlemenko is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Vatin is keeping busy.
Vatin stalling against the cage.
The crowd are getting on Vatin's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

Vatin gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Vatin throws a strike but Shlemenko avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Vatin throws a big right hand that misses.
Shlemenko is breathing heavily.
Shlemenko utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Vatin throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vatin wants to control from the top but Shlemenko keeps moving.
Shlemenko avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Vatin postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Vatin sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Vatin throwing strikes but missing.
Vatin throwing strikes from guard but Shlemenko blocks nicely.
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.
Shlemenko keeping moving, preventing Vatin from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shlemenko avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Vatin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Shlemenko works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Vatin throwing strikes from guard but Shlemenko blocks nicely.
Vatin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Vatin trying to control the position from guard on top but Shlemenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatin throwing strikes but missing.
Vatin trying to control but Shlemenko is working from the bottom.
Vatin in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Vatin throwing strikes from guard but Shlemenko blocks nicely.
Vatin throws a big right hand that misses.
Vatin chips away with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Vatin working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Shlemenko's head.
Vatin makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Vatin postures up in Shlemenko's guard and throws a big left but Shlemenko blocks it.
Shlemenko keeping moving, preventing Vatin from controlling successfully.
Vatin is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Vatin is working Shlemenko over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Vatin scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Vatin working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Vatin trying to control the position from guard on top but Shlemenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Vatin instigates a clinch.
Vatin wants a takedown but no success here.
Vatin stalling the fight.
Vatin digs a right hand underneath Shlemenko's ribcage. Shlemenko let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Vatin lands on the inside with an uppercut.

Vatin is trying to trip Shlemenko. He has hold of a leg but Shlemenko is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Vatin persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Vatin scoring with punches to the head and body.
Vatin lands a couple of elbows.
Vatin content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Vatin with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Vatin is looking to work some ground and pound but Shlemenko has wrist control.
Vatin postures up in Shlemenko's guard and throws a big left but Shlemenko blocks it.
Vatin cracks Shlemenko with a solid left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vatin trying to control but Shlemenko is working from the bottom.
Shlemenko preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Vatin wants to control from the top but Shlemenko keeps moving.
Vatin might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Shlemenko kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Shlemenko avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Vatin accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Shlemenko utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Vatin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Vatin content to stall in guard here.
Vatin working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Vatin drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Vatin jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Vatin must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Vatin is looking to work some ground and pound but Shlemenko has wrist control.
Vatin in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Vatin postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Alexandr Vatin has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shlemenko keeping moving, preventing Vatin from controlling successfully.
Shlemenko utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Vatin is looking to work some ground and pound but Shlemenko has wrist control.
Vatin throws a big right hand that misses.
Vatin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Shlemenko works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Vatin landing some decent shots from guard.
Shlemenko keeping moving, preventing Vatin from controlling successfully.

That's four 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.
Vatin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Vatin trying to control the position from guard on top but Shlemenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Vatin loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Shlemenko 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.
Vatin works over Shlemenko with some ground and pound from guard.
Vatin lands a couple of digs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexandr Vatin showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Shlemenko's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Vatin lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Vatin tries to clinch but Shlemenko is having none of it.
Vatin misses with a wild body shot.
Alexandr Vatin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Vatin instigates a clinch.
Vatin stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Vatin utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Vatin lands a damaging elbow.
Shlemenko being controlled against the cage.
Vatin continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.
Vatin with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Vatin putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Shlemenko in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Vatin dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Alexandr Vatin.
Vatin looks to land a combination. Shlemenko sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Vatin has taken the fight to the clinch.
Shlemenko gets underhooks to prevent Vatin's takedown attempt.
A shot in the inside from Vatin.

Vatin gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Vatin is trying to control. Shlemenko wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Vatin working the head and body with strikes.
Vatin not doing much here.
Shlemenko taking some punishment here, with Vatin in his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vatin is looking to take a break and control but Shlemenko is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Vatin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Shlemenko defending well though.
Alexandr Vatin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Vatin throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Vatin seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Shlemenko does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Vatin controlling the action here.
Vatin is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vatin content just to control the position here.
Vatin landing punches.
Vatin throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Vatin 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.
Vatin lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Vatin controlling from mount.
Vatin postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Shlemenko looks a forlorn figure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vatin landing strikes from the mount and Shlemenko is in trouble!
Vatin lands with some strikes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A nice elbow there by Vatin.
Vatin sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vatin throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Aleksander Shlemenko has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vatin postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Shlemenko looks a forlorn figure.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alexandr Vatin comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Vatin has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 25:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 25:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alexandr Vatin!