PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cross Odenkirk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sergei Sokolov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Odenkirk
vs
Sokolov

185 cm
29
215 lbs
10 - 13 - 1

188 cm
23
210 lbs
8 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 10 - 13 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Cross Odenkirk!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Sergei Sokolov!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sokolov avoids a punch combination nicely.
Odenkirk tries to clinch there but Sokolov circles away.
Odenkirk is looking to clinch but Sokolov is avoiding it.
Odenkirk tries to clinch but Sokolov is having none of it.
Sokolov clobbers Odenkirk with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Odenkirk tries to clinch up.
Sokolov throws a right and a left that both miss.
Odenkirk with a jab.

Odenkirk drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Odenkirk is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Sokolov is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Odenkirk taking a breather here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Odenkirk decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Odenkirk dodges the punch combination from Sokolov.
Sokolov swats away the attempt to clinch by Odenkirk.
Odenkirk with a hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A swing and a miss from Sokolov.
Odenkirk tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Sokolov counters with a straight right hand.
Odenkirk throws a series of punches but Sokolov avoids them all with ease.
Sokolov swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Sokolov clobbers Odenkirk with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Odenkirk fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Sokolov checks it well.
Odenkirk ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sokolov moves away.
Sokolov misses with a double jab

and Odenkirk moves into the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Sokolov's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sokolov throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Odenkirk sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sokolov throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Sokolov connects with a solid leg kick.
Odenkirk throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Sokolov's waist but Sokolov gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Odenkirk off to one side.
Odenkirk misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sokolov.
Odenkirk tries to clinch but Sokolov is having none of it.
Sokolov lands with an overhand left.
Odenkirk thows a body shot but no joy.
Odenkirk tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Sokolov paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Odenkirk closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Odenkirk lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Sokolov backwards.
Odenkirk doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Odenkirk struggles to land a body shot inside as Sokolov controls his hands.
Sokolov blocking some punches.
Odenkirk wants a takedown.
Odenkirk dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Sokolov has had enough of the clinch but Odenkirk keeps him there for the moment.
Odenkirk tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Sokolov tries to circle away but Odenkirk has him pinned against the cage.
Odenkirk swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Odenkirk throws a head punch that misses.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Odenkirk prevents Sokolov from breaking the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Odenkirk tries to land knees in the clinch but Sokolov avoids the damage to the body.
Odenkirk misses with a punch on the inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cross Odenkirk 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.

Odenkirk shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Sokolov sprawls well. Sokolov wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Odenkirk gets slowly back to his feet.
Odenkirk jabs Sokolov right on the nose. Sokolov blinks but takes it well.

It looks like Sergei Sokolov has been cut.
Odenkirk avoids a punch combination nicely.

Odenkirk shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Sokolov is trying to defend but Odenkirk finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Sokolov is defending against the submission attempts here by Odenkirk.
Odenkirk takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Odenkirk seems to be looking for submissions.
Odenkirk thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sokolov's head.
Sokolov is not content to let Odenkirk control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Odenkirk thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Odenkirk wants to advance to full mount but Sokolov doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Odenkirk prevents Sokolov from getting back to his feet.
Odenkirk trying to control the position from guard on top but Sokolov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Odenkirk drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Sokolov dives on top into guard.
Sokolov would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Cross Odenkirk.
Sokolov misses with a body shot.
Odenkirk takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Odenkirk will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Odenkirk takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Odenkirk swinging wildly here.
Sokolov scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Odenkirk tries to clinch up.
Sokolov tests Odenkirk's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Odenkirk misses with a straight left.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sokolov misses with a two punch combination.
Odenkirk misses with a wild body shot.
Sokolov rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Odenkirk moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Odenkirk misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Sokolov scores with a jab. Odenkirk acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
A solid leg kick lands there for Sokolov.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Odenkirk steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Sokolov.
Sokolov keeps the fight on the outside.
Sokolov connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Odenkirk's hands.
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 Cross Odenkirk will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Sergei Sokolov's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Odenkirk fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Sokolov, pushing him back against the cage.
Odenkirk throws a head punch that misses.
Odenkirk throws a head punch that misses.
Odenkirk misses with the head strike.
Odenkirk tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Odenkirk has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Sokolov clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Odenkirk lands shots from the back.

Odenkirk is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Sokolov has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Sokolov covering up well under a barage of strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Odenkirk punches the canvas rather than the man.
Odenkirk throwing sloppy strikes.
Sokolov manages to escape to a better position under a series of strikes. Odenkirk is now in side control.
Odenkirk throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
The strikes coming from Odenkirk are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Cross Odenkirk overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Odenkirk misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Odenkirk is trying to ground and pound but Sokolov uses the momentary lack of control by Odenkirk to regain half guard.
Odenkirk sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Sokolov defending well though.
Sokolov keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Odenkirk is trying to control. Sokolov wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Odenkirk stalling away here and it's allowed Sokolov to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Odenkirk looking to sit in guard and control but Sokolov gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Odenkirk controls Sokolov momentarily but Sokolov frees himself.
Sergei Sokolov has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Cross Odenkirk has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Odenkirk wants to clinch up but Sokolov keeps it at a distance.
A lazy left from Sokolov finds it's target.
Sokolov defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Odenkirk.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Odenkirk is looking to clinch.
Odenkirk swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Odenkirk doesn't manage to clinch there - Sokolov circles away.
Sokolov misses with a lunging right hand

and Odenkirk counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Odenkirk trying to mount his opponent but Sokolov defends it.
Cross Odenkirk is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nice strikes from Odenkirk there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Odenkirk decides to return to a standing position.

Sokolov tries to keep at a distance but Odenkirk has taken the fight into the clinch.
Sokolov missing with knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cross Odenkirk showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Odenkirk, 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cross Odenkirk!
A relieved looking Cross Odenkirk thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.