PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Liu Bei (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antonio Kovalov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bei comes to the cage accompanied by Hypnotic. Antonio Kovalov acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Bei
vs
Kovalov

186 cm
24
198 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

170 cm
30
196 lbs
12 - 6 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Perkele!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Liu Bei!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Antonio Kovalov!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Arvi Lind and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bei misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kovalov.
Kovalov displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Bei misses with a hook. Kovalov ducked under it nicely.
Kovalov tries to bum rush Bei with a series of wild strikes but Bei uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Bei thows a body shot but no joy.
Kovalov staying out of range there.
Kovalov uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Bei.
Bei scores with a shot to the body.
Bei thows a left - swing and a miss!
Kovalov displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Bei throws out the jab.
Bei fails to land with a series of punches.
Bei throws a shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kovalov looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Bei throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Bei jabs Kovalov to the body, keeping him at a distance.
A looping hook to the body misses from Bei. Kovalov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Kovalov ducks under a wild hook from Bei.
Kovalov scores with a body shot.
Kovalov scores with a jab to the jaw.
Kovalov slips a straight right by Bei.
Liu Bei is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kovalov fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Bei sprawls well initially but Kovalov persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Kovalov trying to control from half guard but Bei is working away.
Bei wants to get back to his feet.

Kovalov is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Kovalov thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Bei to regain full guard.
Kovalov tries to free his leg and advance position but Bei is retaining full guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kovalov scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Kovalov with a flurry of punches that miss.
Bei keeping moving, preventing Kovalov from controlling successfully.
Bei has control of Kovalov's left arm, preventing Kovalov from doing any damage.
Bei lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Kovalov!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bei looking to control and managing it successfully.
Bei looking to control but Kovalov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Bei throwing strikes here but Kovalov is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Kovalov has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Kovalov is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kovalov holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Bei tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Bei prevents Kovalov from getting the reversal.
Bei looking to ground and pound but Kovalov is blocking nicely.
Bei controlling from the full mount.
Bei's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bei avoids the attempt from Kovalov to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liu Bei 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.

Bei throws a lazy right hand but Kovalov sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Liu Bei seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bei moves out of range of the body kick from Kovalov.
Antonio Kovalov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bei lands a right hook to the body.
Bei jabs Kovalov to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Kovalov lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Bei lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

It looks like Antonio Kovalov has been cut.
Kovalov ducks under a wild hook from Bei.
Bei avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kovalov fails to land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bei misses with an uppercut. Kovalov saw that one coming.
A combination from Kovalov does no damage.
Bei paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Liu Bei is winning the standup battle so far.
Kovalov throws a left and a right that both miss
and Bei counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Bei lands a jab to the head.
Bei throws an off balance right hand
and Kovalov counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Kovalov uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Bei.
Bei fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Kovalov uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Bei.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Bei. Kovalov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Kovalov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kovalov takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Kovalov catches Bei with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Kovalov takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Bei jabs at Kovalov's body.

Kovalov closes the distance and clinches.
Bei is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Bei wants to break free but Kovalov has control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bei is trying to push Kovalov away but Kovalov has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Stalling in the clinch from Bei.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Bei wants to get back to striking at distance but Kovalov won't allow it.
Bei gets through Kovalov's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Bei struggles to land a body shot inside as Kovalov controls his hands.
Bei dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Bei doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kovalov's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Kovalov misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Bei.
A frustrated look appears on Bei's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A short body shot lands from Bei as the two fighters clinch.
Bei wants to get back to striking at distance but Kovalov won't allow it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kovalov missing with knees to the body.
Bei tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liu Bei dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Antonio Kovalov's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kovalov throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Bei's waist but Bei gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kovalov off to one side.
Bei bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Kovalov's head backwards.
Bei rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Kovalov counters with a nice body kick.
Donk. Bei catches Kovalov right on the button with a cross.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kovalov looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Bei is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Kovalov bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Bei looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Bei slips under a jab.

Kovalov shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Bei napping and manages to drive through into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Kovalov.
Kovalov misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Kovalov trying to control the position but Bei is working away.

Kovalov is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Bei is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kovalov lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Bei down.
Kovalov working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
An elbow from Kovalov crashes against the mat.
Bei tries to bench press Kovalov off him but Kovalov keeps the position.
Bei wants to control but Kovalov postures up.
Bei is not content to let Kovalov control the position.
Bei is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Liu Bei is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kovalov grinds an elbow into Bei's temple.
Bei is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Kovalov's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Kovalov is looking to advance position but Bei won't allow it.
Kovalov trying to control from half guard but Bei is working away.
Kovalov prevents Bei from standing back up.
Kovalov lands with a punch from half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Bei is trying to stand up here but Kovalov is controlling him well.
Bei keeping control of the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kovalov wants to free his trapped foot but Bei is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Kovalov trying to control from half guard but Bei is working away.
Bei holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Kovalov sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Bei defending well though.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Bei works his way to full guard. Good work.
Kovalov preventing the sweep.
Kovalov trying to control but Bei is working from the bottom.
Bei is trying to control the position but Kovalov postures up.
Antonio Kovalov has got the better of the ground game so far.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Bei tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kovalov was well out of range. Poor timing from Bei.
Antonio Kovalov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kovalov slips a straight right by Bei.
Kovalov misses with a body shot.
A slow jab from Bei misses its intended target.
Bei throws an overhand right that lands on Kovalov's shoulder, as Kovalov tries to avoid the shot.
Bei throws a hook but Kovalov avoids it easily.
Bei ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kovalov moves away.
Kovalov looks to throw the jab but Bei is out of range.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bei darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Bei connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Antonio Kovalov.
I think Bei has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Liu Bei!