PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mikal Helio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aleksander Ivanov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Helio comes to the cage accompanied by You are the best Around!. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Helio
vs
Ivanov

190 cm
27
195 lbs
14 - 2 - 0

182 cm
28
199 lbs
13 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Powerful

Dynamic Nutrition $25 159 Recovery

Charlie Wang's Tattered Rags & 95% Laundry

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 14 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mikal Helio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Aleksander Ivanov!
The judges for this bout are Dillan Fox, Steve Smith and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ivanov is looking to clinch but Helio is avoiding it.
Helio throws a right hand that misses
and Ivanov counters with a nice uppercut.
Helio misses with a kick to the body.
Ivanov moves in looking to clinch but Helio pushes him off.
A jab from Ivanov misses.
Ivanov wants to clinch.
Helio scores with a leg kick.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Ivanov enables Helio to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Ivanov manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Helio with a flurry of punches that miss.
Helio has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Ivanov looking for a guillotine here but Helio defends easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ivanov utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Helio trying to control but Ivanov is working from the bottom.

Ivanov escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Helio gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Helio throws a big elbow that misses.
Helio trying to control but Ivanov is working from the bottom.
Helio is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Ivanov is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Helio working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ivanov's head.
Helio postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Helio stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ivanov swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Ivanov is trying to control the position but Helio postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Helio wants to control from the top but Ivanov keeps moving.
Ivanov preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Ivanov is adopting a defensive guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Ivanov throws a nice head kick!
Helio comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
A combination from Ivanov does no damage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ivanov takes a swing at Helio's ribcage but misses.
Ivanov avoids the body shot from Helio.
Helio lands with a nice body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Ivanov is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Ivanov looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Helio scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Ivanov misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Helio.
Ivanov misses with a low kick.
Nice takedown defense from Ivanov. No joy for Helio on that attempt.
Helio fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

Ivanov rushes Helio and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Helio avoiding damage as Ivanov throws knees to the body.
Ivanov misses with a hook to the ribs.

Ivanov breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Aleksander Ivanov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Helio moves out of range of the leg kick from Ivanov.
Helio connects with a looping right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Helio throws a leg kick
and Ivanov counters with a nice leg kick.
A combination from Ivanov does no damage.
Helio feints and then cracks Ivanov's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Ivanov down.
Ivanov throws a leg kick but Helio checks it.
Ivanov blocks a leg kick.
Ivanov throws a low kick, looking for Helio's leg but Helio calmly moves out of range.
Ivanov tries to land a leg kick but Helio saw it coming and moves away.
Ivanov tries to clinch there but Helio circles away.
Ivanov will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Helio closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ivanov circles away.
Helio loads up on a big right hand but Ivanov slips the punch.
Good leg kick by Helio there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Helio keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Ivanov lands a nice shot to the body.
Ivanov checks a low kick from Helio.
Ivanov throws a looping overhand right but Helio ducks down to avoid it.
A low kick from Helio is predictable there
and Ivanov counters with a solid body kick.
Helio throws a leg kick but Ivanov checks it.
Ivanov throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Ivanov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ivanov moves out of range of the leg kick from Helio.
Ivanov takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Helio fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Ivanov avoids it really well and circles away.
Helio shoots in but no luck this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Helio connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Ivanov moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
A decent looking cross lands there for Ivanov.
Helio swats away the attempt to clinch by Ivanov.
Helio looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Helio takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

It looks like Mikal Helio has been cut.
Helio throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Ivanov throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Helio scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Ivanov lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Helio shoots for a takedown but Ivanov saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mikal Helio. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Helio shoots and misses
and Ivanov cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Helio misses with a low kick.
A head kick misses from Helio.
Ivanov looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Aleksander Ivanov seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Helio throws a right hand that misses
and Ivanov counters with a low kick, right behind Helio 's knee.
Helio blocks a head kick by Ivanov.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Helio is defended easily by Ivanov.
Ivanov throws a lazy right hand but Helio sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Helio lands a head kick. Ivanov smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Helio swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Ivanov thows a leg kick but Helio checks it

and Helio decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Ivanov's guard.
Ivanov 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.
Ivanov is trying to keep Helio in close.
Ivanov wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Helio is now in half guard.
Helio with the ground and pound but Ivanov uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Helio postures up.
Ivanov is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Helio trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ivanov wants to sweep here but Helio controlling him for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov is trying to control the position from the bottom.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ivanov pulls Helio in close to prevent any damage.
Mikal Helio overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Aleksander Ivanov wasn't active enough on the ground.
Ivanov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Helio was well out of range. Poor timing from Ivanov.
Helio throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Helio fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

Ivanov clinches.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ivanov tries to throw a body punch but Helio avoids it by throwing Ivanov back against the cage.
Ivanov has a couple of punches blocked by Helio.
Ivanov lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Stalling in the clinch from Helio.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aleksander Ivanov showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Mikal Helio's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Helio throws a body punch but Ivanov moves out of range.
Helio swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ivanov misses with a head kick.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Ivanov checks a leg kick.
Ivanov chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Helio ducks under a wild hook from Ivanov.
Helio misses with a low kick as Ivanov jumps back.
Helio avoids the body shot from Ivanov.
Ivanov looks to score with a jab to the body but Helio is just out of range.
Helio takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Helio misses with a body shot.
Ivanov jabs Helio right on the nose. Helio blinks but takes it well.
A low kick from Helio misses
and Ivanov makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Helio really felt that one!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Helio on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Helio circles away from the clinch attempt.
Helio ducks right into an uppercut from Ivanov.
Helio tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Helio pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Helio misses with a leg kick
letting Ivanov counter with a right hand.
Ivanov tries a head kick but it misses.
Ivanov misses with a hook.
Helio pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Helio keeps the fight on the outside.
Ivanov lands a front kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Helio takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
A good leg kick by Ivanov.
Helio uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Ivanov.
Helio punishes Ivanov's body with a nice straight punch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Helio lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
A solid leg kick lands there for Helio.
Aleksander Ivanov is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Helio lands a nice leg kick that just misses Ivanov's sensitive parts.
Ivanov wants to clinch.
Ivanov tries to clinch but Helio moves out of range.
Ivanov on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Helio. Helio obviously looking to wear him down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Helio pivots, looking for a leg kick but Ivanov is out of range and Helio settles back down.
Helio closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ivanov circles away.
Ivanov wants to land a leg kick but Helio is out of range.
Helio throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ivanov tries to clinch up.
An inside leg kick lands from Ivanov.
Ivanov lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Ivanov pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ivanov throws a sloppy head kick and Helio moves out of range easily.
Ivanov's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Helio on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Helio fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Ivanov.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Helio tries to score with a low kick but Ivanov moves his leg out of the way.
Ivanov throws a quick inside leg kick.
Ivanov with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Helio tries to work over Ivanov's front leg with a kick but Ivanov checks it.

Ivanov takes the fight into the clinch.
Ivanov lands a nice elbow.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ivanov doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ivanov tries to work over Helio's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ivanov digs a right hand underneath Helio's ribcage. Helio let out a lung full of air as it connected.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A nice left hand lands by Helio.
Helio tries a body shot but Ivanov blocks it.
Helio on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Ivanov wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aleksander Ivanov comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Ivanov 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 Dillan Fox scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge William Peck scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aleksander Ivanov!
Our winner, Aleksander Ivanov, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.