PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Gregory St Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shefki Kuqi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

St Pierre
vs
Kuqi

178 cm
21
176 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

172 cm
20
178 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Gregory St Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Shefki Kuqi!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Donald Grub and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kuqi shoots in for a takedown but St Pierre shows good takedown defense.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts St Pierre, as that shot connected.
St Pierre lands with a shot to the body.

St Pierre tries to sprawl but Kuqi drives through with a takedown into half guard.
St Pierre wants to get back to full guard.
Kuqi is trying to control. St Pierre wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Still in half guard, Kuqi seems content to control.
Kuqi thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed St Pierre's head.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Kuqi thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed St Pierre's head.
St Pierre is refusing to be controlled, as Kuqi sits in half guard.
St Pierre trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kuqi.
Kuqi trying to control the action but St Pierre is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Kuqi swinging wildly here.
St Pierre has his takedown stuffed

and Kuqi counters with a nice double leg into side control. St Pierre won't be happy with that.
St Pierre is looking for a sweep.
Kuqi trying to control the position but St Pierre is working away.
St Pierre wants to get back to his feet but Kuqi drags him back down.
Kuqi wants to control but St Pierre is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuqi working the ground and pound but St Pierre is defending the strikes.
St Pierre manages to get back to half guard.
Kuqi thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed St Pierre's head.
Kuqi sitting and controlling from the half guard.
St Pierre wants to get back to full guard.
St Pierre blocking the ground and pound attempt from Kuqi.
St Pierre is not content to let Kuqi control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuqi looks to land a strike but St Pierre avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Kuqi lands a couple of decent looking shots.
St Pierre is trying to keep Kuqi in close.
Kuqi in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Kuqi stays in close to St Pierre's body and controls the position.
Kuqi trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kuqi looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

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.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
St Pierre has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Gregory St Pierre.
St Pierre jabbing away but nothing is landing.
St Pierre doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Kuqi counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in St Pierre's guard now.
Kuqi throws and elbow that misses. St Pierre uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Kuqi's guard. Nice move by St Pierre!
Kuqi working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from St Pierre.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shefki Kuqi dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Kuqi tries to score a power double leg takedown but St Pierre sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Kuqi somewhat.

Kuqi looking to score a takedown here. St Pierre is defending well but Kuqi drives through and ends up in St Pierre's guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kuqi accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kuqi tries to free his leg and advance position but St Pierre is retaining full guard.
Kuqi stopping the sweep attempt from St Pierre.
Kuqi throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as St Pierre works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
St Pierre working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kuqi.
Kuqi loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuqi throws a big right hand that misses.
St Pierre seems keen to control Kuqi's posture.
Kuqi wants to control from the top but St Pierre keeps moving.
Kuqi thows a big elbow that misses.
Kuqi is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Kuqi shoots in but no luck this time.
St Pierre stuffs the takedown attempt from Kuqi. Kuqi gets slowly back to his feet.
Gregory St Pierre has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shefki Kuqi.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
St Pierre lands with a shot to the body.
St Pierre shoots in but Kuqi avoids the takedown attempt easily.
St Pierre gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Kuqi counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Kuqi stops St Pierre from standing up.
Kuqi is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Kuqi trying to control the position from guard on top but St Pierre is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

St Pierre pushes Kuqi off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuqi shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts St Pierre as he jumps to the side.
Kuqi misses with a takedown attempt
and St Pierre counters with a stiff right hand.
St Pierre misses with a takedown

and Kuqi counters with a single leg into guard. St Pierre didn't expect that.
St Pierre wants to sweep but no luck.
Kuqi with a flurry of punches that miss.
Kuqi working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Kuqi lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Kuqi stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. St Pierre swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Kuqi trying to control but St Pierre is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuqi with a flurry of punches that miss.
Kuqi pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. St Pierre is keeping the position for now.
Kuqi preventing the sweep.
Shefki Kuqi has got the better of the ground game so far.
Kuqi is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Kuqi postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shefki Kuqi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

St Pierre lunges at Kuqi with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Kuqi's hand.
St Pierre defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Kuqi.
Kuqi misses with an uppercut
and St Pierre counters with a nice body shot.

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

Kuqi pushes St Pierre off and scrambles back to his feet.
Kuqi fails with the takedown.
Kuqi with a lazy takedown attempt

and St Pierre counters with a single leg into guard. Kuqi didn't expect that.
Gregory St Pierre has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shefki Kuqi.
St Pierre trying to control but Kuqi is working from the bottom.
Kuqi is looking to stand back up but St Pierre counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Kuqi.
St Pierre throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Kuqi has one foot on St Pierre's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

St Pierre scores a takedown into full mount!
St Pierre pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Kuqi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
St Pierre looking to finish Kuqi with some ground and pound. This is bad for Kuqi!
St Pierre breaks from Kuqi's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Kuqi is trying to stand up.
The referee warns Kuqi that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
St Pierre scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Kuqi?
St Pierre lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
St Pierre lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Kuqi is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by St Pierre.
You get the feeling that Kuqi really doesn't like being in this position too much.
St Pierre lands a big shot there that rocks Kuqi but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
St Pierre is landing with some decent strikes but Kuqi is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Kuqi squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
BOOM! St Pierre connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Kuqi tries to buck St Pierre off but he can't manage it.
St Pierre is landing with some decent strikes but Kuqi is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
St Pierre working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Kuqi has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
St Pierre fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Kuqi is rocked!
St Pierre is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Kuqi can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Kuqi is still in real trouble! Can St Pierre finish him?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Kuqi's face.
St Pierre lands a big shot there that rocks Kuqi but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
St Pierre unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Kuqi wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! St Pierre celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:30 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Gregory St Pierre!