PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rashid Magomedov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yuriy Prokopenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Magomedov kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wauzrPn0cfg&feature=related. Prokopenko is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Lisa Miskovsky . Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Magomedov
vs
Prokopenko

176 cm
24
182 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

186 cm
25
180 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rashid Magomedov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yuriy Prokopenko!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Illya Tyunina and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Prokopenko wants to clinch but Magomedov slips to the side

and Magomedov counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Prokopenko!
Magomedov tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Prokopenko is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Magomedov takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Magomedov swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Prokopenko is now in Magomedov's guard. A big mistake from Magomedov there, giving up the dominant position!

Prokopenko postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Magomedov is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Prokopenko, into his guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Magomedov controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Prokopenko looking to hit a scissor sweep but Magomedov is one step ahead there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Prokopenko being controlled here, momentarily.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Prokopenko is trying to control the position from the bottom.

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.
Prokopenko keeping moving, preventing Magomedov from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Rashid Magomedov wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Magomedov circles away from the clinch attempt

and Magomedov decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Prokopenko's guard.
Magomedov sitting in guard here, content to control.
Prokopenko keeping full guard, as Magomedov tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Prokopenko manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Prokopenko tries to free his leg and advance position but Magomedov is retaining full guard.
Prokopenko passes into half guard.

That's four 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.
Prokopenko wants to take a breather but Magomedov is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Prokopenko is thwarting Magomedov's attempts to control the position.

Prokopenko is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Prokopenko wants to pass the guard but Magomedov is defending well.

Prokopenko looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Prokopenko missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Magomedov tries to get to full guard but Prokopenko has control of the leg.
Prokopenko is looking to advance position but Magomedov won't allow it.

That's six 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.

Prokopenko is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Prokopenko seems to be looking for submissions.

Prokopenko is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Prokopenko is pressing down on Magomedov's thigh, looking to free his foot. Magomedov is holding on for now.
Prokopenko wants to take a breather but Magomedov is having none of it.

Prokopenko wants to work for an arm triangle but Magomedov is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Prokopenko is looking to take a break and control but Magomedov is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's eight 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.
Magomedov keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Prokopenko sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Magomedov defending well though.

Prokopenko is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Prokopenko is looking to advance position but Magomedov won't allow it.
Prokopenko wants to lay and pray for a moment but Magomedov keeps working.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov is trying to stand up here but Prokopenko is controlling him well.

Prokopenko is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Magomedov defends it well.
Magomedov is refusing to be controlled, as Prokopenko sits in half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rashid Magomedov 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.

Magomedov moves into the clinch.

Magomedov works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Magomedov is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Magomedov seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Prokopenko for as long as he can get away with.
Prokopenko is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Prokopenko looking to hit a scissor sweep but Magomedov is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Prokopenko is on top in guard.
Magomedov can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Prokopenko controls the pace.
Magomedov is looking to stand up but Prokopenko isn't so interested in that idea.

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.
Prokopenko looking to sit in guard and control but Magomedov gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Prokopenko 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.
Magomedov is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Prokopenko working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Magomedov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov throws a strike but Prokopenko rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Prokopenko accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Magomedov keeping moving, preventing Prokopenko from controlling successfully.
Prokopenko throwing strikes but missing.

Prokopenko drops back, looking for a kneebar! Magomedov looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Magomedov looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Magomedov!

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.

Magomedov is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Prokopenko has escaped the position, nice work there.
Rashid Magomedov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Prokopenko gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Prokopenko manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Magomedov pushes down on Prokopenko's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov prevents Prokopenko from improving his position.

Magomedov is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Prokopenko still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Prokopenko has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Prokopenko trying to control the action but Magomedov is working from the bottom.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Prokopenko is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Magomedov has escaped the position, nice work there.
Prokopenko fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.

Prokopenko is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Magomedov is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Prokopenko working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Magomedov tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Prokopenko wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's eight 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.

Prokopenko swings around for an armbar but Magomedov sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Prokopenko's guard.
Magomedov is looking to work some ground and pound but Prokopenko has wrist control.
Prokopenko keeping moving, preventing Magomedov from controlling successfully.
Magomedov throws and elbow that misses. Prokopenko uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Magomedov's guard. Nice move by Prokopenko!
Magomedov is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Prokopenko is looking to work some ground and pound but Magomedov has wrist control.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov wants to sweep here but Prokopenko controlling him for the moment.
Prokopenko wants to control from the top but Magomedov keeps moving.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

The ref stands the fighters back up. Yuriy Prokopenko was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Magomedov scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Magomedov manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Prokopenko on his heels. He'll look to pass Prokopenko's guard now, I'm sure.
Prokopenko not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Magomedov trying to control but Prokopenko is working from the bottom.
Magomedov has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Magomedov is posturing up here but Prokopenko has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Magomedov tries to roll out but it's too tight and Magomedov has to tap! Slick submission there by Prokopenko!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:40 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Yuriy Prokopenko!