PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matteo Minonzio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rashad Evans (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Minonzio
vs
Evans

188 cm
19
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Matteo Minonzio!
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, Rashad Evans!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Evans closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Minonzio quickly recovers to half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Evans connects with a nice short shot to Minonzio's temple.
Evans thows a huge punch but Minonzio dodges it nicely.
Evans controlling the action here.
Minonzio is trying to stand back up but Evans is controlling him
Evans missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Minonzio is looking to escape.
Evans is thwarting Minonzio's attempts to control the position.
Evans lands strikes from half guard.
Evans should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Evans throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Evans winds up and cracks Minonzio with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Minonzio is in trouble now - Evans has advanced to mount!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Evans is in the full mount, landing strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Minonzio is in all sorts of trouble here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Minonzio taking shots to the head.
Evans landing strikes from the mount.
Evans fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evans lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Minonzio hang on?
Evans looking to finish Minonzio with some ground and pound. This is bad for Minonzio!
Evans lands a big elbow.
Minonzio wants to hold on but Evans pushes him away.
Evans lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Evans breaks from Minonzio's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Minonzio is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
BOOM! Evans connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Evans lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Minonzio tries to lock up and control but Evans gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Evans dominating with strikes here.
Evans lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Evans working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Evans landing strikes, looking to finish!
Evans takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Minonzio wants to hold on but Evans pushes him away.
Minonzio is breathing heavily.
Minonzio taking shots to the head.
Evans landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Evans is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Evans scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Minonzio?
Evans working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Evans lands with some strikes.
Evans landing strikes, looking to finish!
Evans with the ground and pound from mount.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Evans landing strikes from the mount and Minonzio is in trouble!
Evans scoring with strikes but Minonzio is staying in there.
Minonzio is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Evans working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Evans looking to finish Minonzio with some ground and pound. This is bad for Minonzio!
Evans unloading with bombs!
Evans tries to control but Minonzio wriggling away.
Evans landing strikes from the mount.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Evans raining down shots from the mount!
Evans is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans lands a heavy elbow.
Evans cracks Minonzio with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Minonzio is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Evans raining down hammerfists from mount.
Evans raining down hammerfists from mount.
Evans looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Evans with a couple of short strikes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Evans landing shots from mount.
Evans looking to control and managing it successfully.
Evans lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Evans is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Minonzio is bucking up trying to escape but Evans cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Evans breaks from Minonzio's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Evans is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Minonzio can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Evans with a couple of short strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Minonzio is in a horrible position here. Evans smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Evans landing strikes from the mount.
Evans putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Evans with a couple of short strikes.
Evans scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Evans lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Evans lands a big elbow.
You get the feeling that Minonzio really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Minonzio takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Evans has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Minonzio's face.
Evans landing strikes, looking to finish!
Evans postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Minonzio looks a forlorn figure.

Minonzio is rocked!
Evans looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Oh Minonzio is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Minonzio is bucking up trying to escape but Evans cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Evans lands a nice shot to the head.
Evans lands a big elbow.
Evans landing punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Evans lands with a massive overhand right! Stick a fork in Minonzio - he's out cold! Ermm... I think I just mixed my metaphors but yeah... That was a nice KO! Big win for Evans!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:05 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Rashad Evans!