PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hjalmar Soderberg (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jol Katarin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Soderberg
vs
Katarin

189 cm
26
214 lbs
8 - 0 - 0

186 cm
33
210 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Hjalmar Soderberg!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jol Katarin!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Illya Tyunina and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Soderberg throws a leg kick but Katarin moved away.
Soderberg misses with a looping left.
Soderberg throws a leg kick which misses Katarin's front leg but catches the back leg as Katarin tries to avoid it.
Soderberg throws a head kick but Katarin moves out of range.
Soderberg has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Katarin finds it's way round the side to connect with Soderberg's head.
Soderberg lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Katarin swings for the body but Soderberg moves out of range.
Soderberg feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Katarin's calf.
Katarin throws a shot from downtown. Soderberg moves away and avoids it.
Soderberg throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Soderberg throws a body kick that misses.
Soderberg tries a low kick but Katarin avoids it.
Soderberg scores with a kick to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Soderberg throws a leg kick that misses.
Soderberg lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katarin misses with a jab to the body
and Soderberg counters with a good low kick that Katarin was not able to check.
Katarin moves out of range of the leg kick from Soderberg.
A jab from Soderberg does it's job there.
Soderberg throws a leg kick but Katarin sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Hjalmar Soderberg seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Katarin looking to score a takedown here. Soderberg is defending well but Katarin drives through and ends up in Soderberg's guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Soderberg looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Katarin wants to control from the top but Soderberg keeps moving.
Soderberg tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Katarin looking to sit in guard and control but Soderberg gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Katarin trying to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katarin throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Katarin is looking for a triangle but Soderberg pushes his legs off easily.
Soderberg showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Soderberg's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Soderberg looking to sit in guard and control but Katarin gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Soderberg is trying to control the position but Katarin postures up.
Katarin trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg looking to hit a scissor sweep but Katarin is one step ahead there.
Soderberg is working hard here to advance position.
Katarin postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Soderberg is trying to control the position but Katarin postures up.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Soderberg 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.
Soderberg is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Katarin is controlling Soderberg's trapped leg to prevent Soderberg from advancing to side control.
Katarin is not content to let Soderberg control the position.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Soderberg is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Katarin sees it coming and defends easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg wants to control but Katarin is keeping him busy.

Soderberg is trying to work for a kimura but Katarin is defending well.
Katarin keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Katarin is pressing down on Soderberg's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Katarin has control of Soderberg's left arm, preventing Soderberg from doing any damage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Soderberg advances position into side control!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Katarin tries to buck Soderberg off but Soderberg is having none of it.
Katarin is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Soderberg lands a high kick!
Soderberg jabs Katarin to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Hjalmar Soderberg is winning the standup battle so far.
Soderberg lands a leg kick that knocks Katarin off balance momentarily.
Soderberg fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Katarin.
Katarin lands a nice shot that snaps Soderberg's head back.
Soderberg lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Soderberg shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.

Katarin closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Soderberg did well to prevent Katarin getting side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Soderberg gets back to full guard.

Katarin avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Katarin stopping the sweep attempt from Soderberg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katarin working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Soderberg looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Katarin passes Soderberg's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Soderberg is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Katarin's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Katarin's back!

Soderberg is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Katarin knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Katarin for a finish.
Hjalmar Soderberg overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
A lull in the action here.
Soderberg is really struggling to control Katarin but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Katarin is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Soderberg off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katarin is in bad spot here.

Soderberg is persistently looking for the submission but Katarin is defending it well.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Soderberg is working for the choke. It looks like he might have got it... has he...? Yes! Katarin is tapping out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Hjalmar Soderberg!
Hjalmar Soderberg retains his light heavyweight title!
Hjalmar Soderberg decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.