PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Chil Pal Gu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maksim Karelin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Pal Gu
vs
Karelin

190 cm
19
285 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
24
288 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
Counter striker
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Chil Pal Gu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Maksim Karelin!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yuuki Gou and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karelin wants to clinch.
Good exchange - Gu coming out on top.

Gu tries to sprawl but Karelin drives through with a takedown into half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Gu keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Karelin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Gu defending well though.
Karelin not doing much here.
Gu manages to get to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karelin wants to pass the guard but Gu is keeping the position.
Karelin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Karelin controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Karelin accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gu can't keep his opponent in guard - Karelin advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karelin thows a huge punch but Gu dodges it nicely.
Karelin takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Karelin throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Karelin looks to land a strike but Gu avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gu utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Karelin showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Karelin working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karelin is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Karelin trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Gu utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Karelin scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Karelin throws an elbow that misses. Gu uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Karelin's guard. Nice move by Gu!

Karelin working for a triangle but Gu defends it easily.
Gu stopping the sweep attempt from Karelin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gu wants to stand but Karelin has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Karelin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Gu can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Karelin is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maksim Karelin 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.

Gu feints and then cracks Karelin's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Karelin down.
Karelin is looking to clinch.
Karelin dives in and grabs Gu's left leg, looking for a takedown. Gu pushes down on Karelin's head and hops out.
Karelin is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Gu.

Gu moves into range and clinches up with Karelin.
Gu trying to stall but Karelin improves his position.
Karelin tries to score a body lock takedown but Gu shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Karelin tries to score a body lock takedown but Gu shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Chil Pal Gu has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Maksim Karelin.
Gu gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Karelin.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karelin blocks an uppercut.
Gu lands with a left to the head.
Karelin can't get the takedown.
Gu lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Karelin.

Karelin has hold of one of Gu's legs. Gu is fighting the takedown attempt but Karelin gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Karelin throwing strikes but missing.
Karelin loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Karelin trying to move into half guard but instead Gu has managed to sweep!
Karelin lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Gu!
Gu takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's two 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!
Gu is squirming around, avoiding Karelin's attempts to control the action.
Karelin misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Poor strikes thrown by Karelin there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Karelin throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Karelin scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Gu?
Gu tries to hold on but Karelin pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karelin landing strikes from the mount.

It looks like Chil Pal Gu has been cut.

Karelin has control of Gu's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Gu regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Gu taking shots to the head.

Chil Pal Gu's cut is getting worse.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Karelin is in the full mount, landing strikes.

Chil Pal Gu's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Chil Pal Gu's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Maksim Karelin!