PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Yurik Khripunov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Danny Tatum (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!

Khripunov
vs
Tatum

171 cm
27
150 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

165 cm
28
148 lbs
14 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

ADCC Champion
Counter striker
Granite chin

[EVO] Koffin Inc. *Laundry Available*

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yurik Khripunov !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Danny Tatum!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Konstantin Menshow and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tatum sizes up Khripunov with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Khripunov tries to clinch there but Tatum circles away.
Khripunov connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Khripunov tries to bum rush Tatum with a series of wild strikes but Tatum uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Tatum shoots in and gets a takedown into Khripunov 's guard.
Khripunov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Khripunov landing shots from mount.
Khripunov avoids the attempt from Tatum to control.
Tatum gets back to half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The fighters are battling for position here. Tatum manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Khripunov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tatum tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khripunov throws a big right hand that misses.

Tatum is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Khripunov is aware though and is defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Khripunov trying to control the position from guard on top but Tatum is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Khripunov is looking to work some ground and pound but Tatum has wrist control.
Khripunov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Khripunov avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Khripunov throws a strike but Tatum rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tatum in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Tatum loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Tatum with a flurry of punches that miss.
Tatum with a flurry of punches that miss.
Tatum is looking to work some ground and pound but Khripunov has wrist control.
Khripunov is trying to control the position but Tatum postures up.
Khripunov wants to sweep but no luck.
Khripunov is working hard here to advance position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tatum postures up in Khripunov 's guard and throws a big left but Khripunov blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khripunov is trying to keep Tatum in close.
Tatum with a flurry of punches that miss.
Khripunov has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Tatum has passed into side control.
Khripunov takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Khripunov on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Khripunov tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Tatum is trying to get an arm triangle but Khripunov is defending well.
Tatum working the ground and pound but Khripunov is defending the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tatum working the ground and pound but Khripunov is defending the strikes.
Tatum scoring with punches from side control.
Khripunov can't do much from the bottom here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Tatum tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Tatum throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tatum working the ground and pound.
Tatum has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Khripunov !
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Tatum dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Tatum has managed to clinch.
Tatum tries to land knees in the clinch but Khripunov avoids the damage to the body.
Tatum is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Tatum tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Khripunov just stands there and leans against the cage.
Tatum is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Khripunov pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Khripunov lands an elbow inside that Tatum shrugs off.
Khripunov is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Tatum.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khripunov stalling in the clinch but Tatum improves position.
Khripunov misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tatum.
Khripunov with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Khripunov throws an elbow that misses.
Tatum looking to slow down the pace here.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Khripunov takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Khripunov looking to slow down the pace here.
Tatum looking to slow down the pace here.
Khripunov using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tatum has a couple of punches blocked by Khripunov .
Tatum has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Khripunov after a bit of a struggle.
Yurik Khripunov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Tatum.
Khripunov manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Tatum wants to stall.
Tatum tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Tatum is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Khripunov to keep the fight standing.
Tatum jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Khripunov walks away with a smile on his face. Tatum gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Tatum closes this distance looking for a takedown but Khripunov circles away.
Tatum avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Khripunov digs a good hook to Tatum's body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khripunov wants to clinch
and Tatum counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Tatum misses with a wild body shot.
Khripunov keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Tatum.
Yurik Khripunov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Tatum misses with a straight left.
Tatum does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Khripunov misses with a few strikes there.
Tatum shoots for a takedown but Khripunov saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Tatum throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Tatum misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Khripunov .
Khripunov fails with an attempt to clinch.
Khripunov tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tatum swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tatum shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Khripunov but Khripunov pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Khripunov is looking to clinch.
Tatum avoids a punch combination nicely.
Tatum throws a predictable looking body shot

and Khripunov counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Khripunov .
Tatum letting Khripunov take a breather here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Tatum takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Yurik Khripunov will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Khripunov tries to close the distance and clinch but Tatum swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Khripunov drives through and clinches with Tatum against the cage.
Tatum wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Khripunov throws a knee to the head but misses.
Tatum tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Khripunov just stands there and leans against the cage.
Tatum is trying to break the clinch but Khripunov has him pressed against the cage.

Tatum drags the fight down to the ground.

Tatum throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Tatum bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Khripunov 's guard.
Khripunov wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khripunov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Khripunov punishing his opponent with strikes.
Khripunov can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Tatum is looking to escape.
Tatum has decided that throwing punches whilst being mounted is the best he can manage just now.
Khripunov wants to control the pace but Tatum is squirming around nicely.
Khripunov takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tatum really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Tatum is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Tatum tries to hold on but Khripunov postures up.
Khripunov manages to capitalize on a mistake by Tatum to take his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khripunov controlling the position well here. Tatum rolled but Khripunov kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Tatum trying to control the hands but Khripunov breaks the grip.

Khripunov looking for the RNC.
Khripunov is trying to stick to Tatum's back but Tatum is turning into Khripunov . He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Khripunov 's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Tatum.
Tatum throwing strikes from guard but Khripunov blocks nicely.
Khripunov looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Tatum is pushing down on Khripunov 's leg trying to pass to half guard. Khripunov is fighting to maintain full guard but Tatum has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khripunov keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Tatum thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Khripunov 's head.
Tatum sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Khripunov defending well though.
Tatum trying to control the action but Khripunov is working from the bottom.
Tatum has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Tatum is trying to work for a kimura but Khripunov is defending well.
Tatum looks to land a strike but Khripunov avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tatum throws an elbow that misses. Khripunov uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Tatum's guard. Nice move by Khripunov !

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Danny Tatum.
I think Tatum has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 28:30
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Danny Tatum!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Danny Tatum made sure he mentioned [EVO] Koffin Inc. *Laundry Available*, along with how happy he was to win his fight.