PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Kirill Petrov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Kreese (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kreese has chosen Saw Theme (Dubstep) as his entrance music. John Kreese acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Petrov
vs
Kreese

176 cm
23
154 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

170 cm
24
147 lbs
10 - 3 - 1

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kirill Petrov!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, John Kreese!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Illya Tyunina and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kreese fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Petrov manages to avoid it.

Kreese tries to sprawl but Petrov drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Kreese is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Petrov looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Kreese with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Petrov is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Kreese avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Petrov.
Petrov throwing shots but Kreese is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kreese blocking the ground and pound attempt from Petrov.
Kreese avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Petrov.
Petrov not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Petrov sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Kreese defending well though.
Petrov wants to pass the guard but Kreese is defending well.
Petrov wants to control but Kreese is keeping him busy.

Petrov 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.
Petrov not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Petrov throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Petrov is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Petrov lands with a punch from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Petrov is working for a submission of some sort.
Kreese tries to get to full guard but Petrov has control of the leg.
Petrov throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

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.
Kreese gets full guard.
Petrov trying to control but Kreese is working from the bottom.
Petrov is really struggling to control Kreese but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kirill Petrov dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Petrov is looking to clinch but Kreese is avoiding it.
Kreese avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
John Kreese seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Petrov tries to clinch but Kreese is having none of it.
Petrov uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Kreese.
Petrov throws a front kick aimed at Kreese's knee but Kreese avoids it well.
Kreese fails with the takedown
and Petrov cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Petrov fails with the takedown

and Kreese counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Petrov is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Kreese is aware though and is defending well.
Kreese wants to pass the guard but Petrov is keeping the position.

Petrov looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Kreese has picked Petrov up and slammed him! Petrov can't keep hold of the triangle and Kreese manages to pass to side control!
Petrov gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Petrov is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Kreese's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Kreese's back!
Petrov throws a big right hand but he misses and hits the mat. Ouch.
Kreese wriggles onto his back under a barage of strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Petrov looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Kreese is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Kreese in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Petrov has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Kreese's face.
Petrov avoids the attempt from Kreese to control.
Petrov unloads with some shots from mount but Kreese bucks and avoids them well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kreese takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Petrov throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
The referee warns Kreese that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Petrov trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kreese tries to lock up and control but Petrov gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Petrov wants to control the pace but Kreese is squirming around nicely.
Petrov thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Petrov sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Petrov looking to finish with strikes here!
Petrov unloads with some shots from mount but Kreese bucks and avoids them well.
Petrov lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Petrov misses with a head shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kirill Petrov dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Petrov finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Petrov throws an overhand right that lands on Kreese's shoulder, as Kreese tries to avoid the shot.
Kreese just misses with a punch to the body.
Kreese misses with a telegraphed body shot
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Kreese checks a leg kick.
Kreese misses the shot to the body.
Petrov jabbing away but nothing is landing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Good work by Kreese as he checks the leg kick.
Kreese is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Petrov rather than just go for the knockout.
Petrov bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Kreese's head.
Kreese blocks a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kreese takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Petrov lands with a cross.
Kreese shoots in and drives through. Petrov sprawls well.
Kreese misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Petrov counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Kreese's guard now.
Petrov wants to control from the top but Kreese keeps moving.
Petrov is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Petrov 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.
Petrov is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Petrov is looking to advance position but Kreese has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Petrov tries to reverse the position but Kreese maintains control.
Kreese really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Petrov. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Petrov regains half guard.
Petrov makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Petrov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Petrov is trying to control the position from the bottom.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Petrov is on top in guard.
Petrov is stalling in the full guard.
Kirill Petrov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Petrov loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four 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.
Petrov throws a strike but Kreese rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Kreese got a little sloppy there for a moment and Petrov has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Kreese has managed to get both his arms back between Petrov's legs - danger averted.

Petrov working for submissions but it's allowed Kreese to get to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kirill Petrov clearly takes that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Petrov takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Kreese chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Petrov can pounce on him.
Petrov keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kreese misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Petrov.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kreese fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Petrov manages to avoid it.
Petrov throws a leg kick but Kreese sees it coming and moves out of range.
Kreese misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Petrov.
Petrov throws a good cross that connects.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petrov uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Kreese.
Kreese misses with a wild body shot.
Petrov with a poor takedown
and Kreese makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Kreese looks to score with a jab to the body but Petrov is just out of range.
Kreese swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Petrov throws a low kick, looking for Kreese's leg but Kreese calmly moves out of range.

Kreese shoots in and gets a takedown into Petrov's guard.
Petrov not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Petrov is on top in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Petrov looking to pass the guard.
Petrov missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Petrov trying to move into half guard but instead Kreese has managed to sweep!

Petrov looking for a guillotine here but Kreese defends easily.

Kreese avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kreese postures up.
Petrov is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Kreese trying to control but Petrov postures up.

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.
Kreese slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Petrov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Petrov scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Petrov throws and elbow that misses. Kreese uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Petrov's guard. Nice move by Kreese!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Petrov has his foot on Kreese's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Kreese works his way back into a safe position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close fourth round but I would say that Kirill Petrov will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Kreese misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Petrov.
Petrov throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Kreese sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Petrov fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A nice inside leg kick there by Petrov. That's going to slow Kreese down.
Kreese looks to score with a jab to the body but Petrov is just out of range.
Petrov throws a low kick but Kreese moves out of range easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kreese has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Petrov is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kreese with a lazy takedown attempt
and Petrov counters with an outside leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Petrov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Kreese looks to land a right hand but Petrov moved out of range.
Petrov misses with a low kick.
Kreese swings and misses with a shot to the body
letting Petrov counter with a right hand.
A shot to the body from Kreese misses
letting Petrov counter with a right hand.
Kreese takes a swing at Petrov's ribcage but misses.
Petrov shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
letting Kreese counter with a right hand.
Kreese takes a swing at Petrov's ribcage but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Kreese looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kreese postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Kreese looking to pass the guard.
John Kreese has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Petrov looking for subs off his back but Kreese has passed one foot through into half guard.
Petrov gets back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kreese working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Petrov had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Kreese defends it easily.
Petrov bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Kreese's guard.
Petrov looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Petrov throws and elbow that misses. Kreese uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Petrov's guard. Nice move by Kreese!
Kirill Petrov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Petrov is looking for a triangle but Kreese pushes his legs off easily.
Kreese looking to pass the guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Petrov wants to sweep here but Kreese controlling him for the moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Kirill Petrov.
Well Petrov has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 50:45
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 50:45
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 50:45

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kirill Petrov!
Kirill Petrov is the new lightweight champion!