PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Zaid Abdul Karim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vitaly Vasyuk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Abdul Karim
vs
Vasyuk

185 cm
25
215 lbs
7 - 2 - 1

185 cm
22
204 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very quick

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Good gas tank

Resistance

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 7 - 2 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Zaid Abdul Karim!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Vitaly Vasyuk!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Aleksandr Martynov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Vasyuk forces Abdul Karim back against the cage and clinches.
Vasyuk makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Vasyuk lands a left hand.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Vasyuk.

Vasyuk tightens his grip and picks Abdul Karim up, before dumping him to the ground. Abdul Karim manages to land in guard.
Vasyuk postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Vasyuk throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Abdul Karim utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Vasyuk's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Vasyuk's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Vasyuk working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
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!
Vasyuk lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Vasyuk throws a big right hand that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasyuk landing with the ground and pound.
Abdul Karim preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Vasyuk pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Abdul Karim is keeping the position for now.
Vasyuk is looking to work some ground and pound but Abdul Karim has wrist control.
Vasyuk is working Abdul Karim over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Vasyuk throws a big elbow that misses.
Vasyuk in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Abdul Karim is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Abdul Karim wants to sweep but no luck.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasyuk throwing strikes from guard but Abdul Karim blocks nicely.
Vasyuk trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Vasyuk throwing strikes from guard but Abdul Karim blocks nicely.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Abdul Karim is on top in guard.
Abdul Karim postures up.
Vasyuk 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.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Abdul Karim postures up in Vasyuk's guard and throws a big left but Vasyuk blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vasyuk wants to sweep but no luck.
Vasyuk working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Abdul Karim.
Vasyuk lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Abdul Karim!
Vasyuk looking to ground and pound but Abdul Karim is blocking nicely.
Vasyuk controlling from the full mount.
Vasyuk fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vasyuk looking to finish with strikes here!
Abdul Karim taking shots to the head.
Vasyuk dominating with strikes here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Abdul Karim tries to reverse the position but Vasyuk maintains control.
Vasyuk trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Vasyuk looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vasyuk wants to control the pace but Abdul Karim is squirming around nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vitaly Vasyuk dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Vasyuk displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Abdul Karim.
Vasyuk stuffs the takedown.

Vasyuk closes the distance and clinches.
Vasyuk prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zaid Abdul Karim. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Vasyuk has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Abdul Karim avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
A right hook to the body lands for Vasyuk.
Vasyuk lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Abdul Karim.
Vasyuk pushes Abdul Karim back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Vasyuk lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Vasyuk lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vasyuk lands a good knee to the midsection. Abdul Karim won't want to take too many of those.
Vasyuk lands a right hand.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Vasyuk lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Vasyuk is keen to just control but Abdul Karim is a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vasyuk is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Vasyuk throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Vasyuk sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Abdul Karim defending well though.

Vasyuk wants to work for an arm triangle but Abdul Karim is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Vasyuk throwing shots but Abdul Karim is blocking nicely.
Vitaly Vasyuk has got the better of the ground game so far.
Vasyuk throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vasyuk takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Abdul Karim is refusing to be controlled, as Vasyuk sits in half guard.
Vasyuk frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Vasyuk in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Vasyuk lands a heavy elbow.
Vasyuk has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Vasyuk has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Abdul Karim's face.
Poor strikes thrown by Vasyuk there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Vasyuk throws a sloppy strike and Abdul Karim uses the opportunity to reverse the position! A bit of a scramble here and Abdul Karim has ended up in Vasyuk's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vasyuk is controlling Abdul Karim's posture.
Abdul Karim has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Vasyuk wants to sweep but no luck.
Vasyuk has Abdul Karim pulled in close to control his posture.
Abdul Karim postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Abdul Karim in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Vasyuk looking for a triangle here. Abdul Karim is fighting it but it looks tight! Vasyuk pulls the arm across and this one won't last much longer! Nope, Abdul Karim is tapping out - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Vitaly Vasyuk!
A relieved looking Vitaly Vasyuk thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.