PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ilia Kosarev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Timur Rafkatovich (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Kosarev
vs
Rafkatovich

185 cm
18
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

182 cm
23
210 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Solid chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ilia Kosarev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Timur Rafkatovich!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Konstantin Menshow and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rafkatovich wants to clinch up but Kosarev keeps it at a distance.
Rafkatovich scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Kosarev doesn't seem bothered though.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Rafkatovich.

Kosarev gets a takedown into half guard.
Kosarev thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Rafkatovich's head.
Kosarev missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kosarev throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rafkatovich is trying to control but can't.
Rafkatovich is looking to improve his position.
Rafkatovich moves into full guard.
Kosarev lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kosarev lands a couple of digs.
Kosarev preventing the sweep.
Rafkatovich is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rafkatovich utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Kosarev throws a strike but Rafkatovich rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Rafkatovich decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Rafkatovich looks gassed!

Kosarev shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev connects with a couple of short punches.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kosarev throwing strikes but missing.
Rafkatovich is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Kosarev lands a couple of digs.
Kosarev is working Rafkatovich over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Kosarev knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rafkatovich on the ground.
Kosarev scoring with punches to the head and body.
Kosarev is in close to Rafkatovich's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Kosarev scoring with punches to the head and body.
Kosarev content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Kosarev scoring with some ground and pound.
Kosarev with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev is in close to Rafkatovich's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rafkatovich thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Kosarev is working Rafkatovich over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Kosarev with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Kosarev's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Kosarev has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Kosarev scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Rafkatovich 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.
Rafkatovich is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Kosarev is controlling him.
Kosarev is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Kosarev working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Rafkatovich's head.
Rafkatovich has momentary wrist control but Kosarev slips an elbow through the middle.
Rafkatovich wants to sweep but no luck.
Kosarev postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rafkatovich is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Kosarev is controlling him.
Kosarev postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Rafkatovich bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Kosarev's guard.
Rafkatovich wants to control from the top but Kosarev keeps moving.
Kosarev wants to get back to his feet but Rafkatovich is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rafkatovich trying to control the position from guard on top but Kosarev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Rafkatovich fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Kosarev drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Kosarev working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Kosarev in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Kosarev landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Kosarev is looking to take a break and control but Rafkatovich is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rafkatovich gets back to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rafkatovich has hold of Kosarev's hands but Kosarev slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kosarev slips a nice elbow through Rafkatovich's hands, connecting with Rafkatovich's forehead.
Kosarev is nestled in close to Rafkatovich, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Rafkatovich tries to get to full guard but Kosarev has control of the leg.
Kosarev working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kosarev looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rafkatovich with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Kosarev working the head and body with strikes.
Rafkatovich on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kosarev working Rafkatovich over with strikes.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kosarev lands a nice short elbow.
Kosarev looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kosarev scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Kosarev looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rafkatovich with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rafkatovich misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Kosarev working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Rafkatovich tries to get to full guard but Kosarev has control of the leg.
Kosarev lands with a punch from half guard.
Nice strikes from Kosarev there.
Ground and pound from Kosarev.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kosarev lands a nice short elbow.
Ground and pound from Kosarev.
Kosarev looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rafkatovich with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Rafkatovich blocking the ground and pound attempt from Kosarev.
Kosarev drops an elbow to the side of Rafkatovich's head.
Rafkatovich has hold of Kosarev's hands but Kosarev slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Rafkatovich is trying to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kosarev working the head and body with strikes.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kosarev lands a nice short elbow.
Kosarev is looking to take a break and control but Rafkatovich is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kosarev working the head and body with strikes.
Nice strikes from Kosarev there.
Rafkatovich keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Kosarev working over Rafkatovich with some ground and pound. Rafkatovich looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Kosarev thows a huge punch but Rafkatovich dodges it nicely.
Rafkatovich taking some punishment here, with Kosarev in his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rafkatovich wants to get back to full guard.
Kosarev working Rafkatovich over with strikes.
Rafkatovich on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kosarev working Rafkatovich over with strikes.
Kosarev seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kosarev trying to pass the guard but Rafkatovich defending well.
Rafkatovich is looking to control Kosarev's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Rafkatovich avoid being mounted?
Rafkatovich is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Kosarev is working for a kimura but Rafkatovich is defending it quite comfortably.
Kosarev landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ilia Kosarev dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

A telegraphed takedown attempt from Rafkatovich is defended easily by Kosarev.

Kosarev gets a double leg takedown into Rafkatovich's guard.
Kosarev looking to pass the guard.
Kosarev postures up.
Kosarev postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Kosarev makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Kosarev stands up over Rafkatovich, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kosarev with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kosarev wants to control from the top but Rafkatovich keeps moving.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rafkatovich controls Kosarev momentarily but Kosarev frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kosarev landing some decent shots from guard.
Rafkatovich wants to stand but Kosarev is controlling the position.
Ilia Kosarev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kosarev chips away with some ground and pound.
Kosarev scoring with some ground and pound.
Rafkatovich trying to keep a closed guard but Kosarev is proving a slippery customer.
Kosarev landing with the ground and pound.
Kosarev lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev connects with a couple of short punches.
Kosarev preventing the sweep.
Kosarev lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Kosarev is in close to Rafkatovich's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rafkatovich is trying to control the position but Kosarev postures up.
Kosarev lands a couple of elbows.
Kosarev postures up in Rafkatovich's guard and throws a big left but Rafkatovich blocks it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kosarev postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Kosarev distracts Rafkatovich with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Kosarev is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rafkatovich can do to turn this around?
Kosarev keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rafkatovich's head.
Kosarev wants to control from the top but Rafkatovich keeps moving.
Rafkatovich is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Kosarev postures up and lands a big shot to Rafkatovich's brow.
Kosarev postures up and lands a big shot to Rafkatovich's brow.
Rafkatovich wants to stand and escape but Kosarev is having none of it.
Rafkatovich preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kosarev is in close to Rafkatovich's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Kosarev prevents Rafkatovich from getting back to his feet.
Kosarev is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kosarev works over Rafkatovich with some ground and pound from guard.
Kosarev scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Kosarev scoring with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kosarev postures up and lands a big shot to Rafkatovich's brow.
Kosarev scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Kosarev throws a strike but Rafkatovich rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Kosarev wants to stand up but Rafkatovich is controlling him.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kosarev keeping full guard, as Rafkatovich tries to pass.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ilia Kosarev showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Kosarev, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ilia Kosarev!