PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nikolai Kovalenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alistair Overeem (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Overeem is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Anthem. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Kovalenko
vs
Overeem

205 cm
28
260 lbs
29 - 11 - 0

196 cm
31
265 lbs
22 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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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 29 - 11 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Nikolai Kovalenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Alistair Overeem!
The judges for this bout are , Don Winkell and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Overeem throws a right and a left that both miss.
Kovalenko will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kovalenko thuds a left hand into Overeem's body.
Kovalenko connects with a body shot that sends Overeem's belly button to the back.
Kovalenko throws a low kick but Overeem avoids it.
Kovalenko keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Kovalenko takes a kick to the side of the head.
Overeem throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Kovalenko throws a looping overhand right but Overeem ducks down to avoid it.
Kovalenko lands a jab to Overeem's midsection.
Kovalenko slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Kovalenko takes a swing at Overeem's ribcage but misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kovalenko avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Kovalenko scores with a jab. Overeem acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Overeem misses with a jab, cross combination.
Overeem avoids a punch combination nicely.
Overeem tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kovalenko misses with a wild body shot.
Overeem misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Kovalenko misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Kovalenko lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Kovalenko.
A lazy body kick from Overeem
and Kovalenko connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Overeem misses with a series of wild punches.
Kovalenko lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Overeem backs up against the cage.
The crowd cheers as Kovalenko lands an impressive looking overhand right. Overeem doesn't seem phased though.
Kovalenko misses with a straight left.
Kovalenko tries to land a leg kick but Overeem saw it coming and moves away.
The fighters circling - Kovalenko throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A bone on bone clash there as Kovalenko blocks the leg kick.
Overeem keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Overeem misses with a hook. Kovalenko ducked under it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Overeem throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Kovalenko is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Overeem looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Overeem dodges the punch combination from Kovalenko.
Overeem fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Kovalenko is out of range.
Kovalenko scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Overeem throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Kovalenko.
Overeem ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Kovalenko throws a nice looking combination but Overeem bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sloppy strikes from Kovalenko. Those never looked like landing.
Kovalenko fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Kovalenko thows a body shot but no joy.
Overeem checks the leg kick nicely there.
Kovalenko misses with a leg kick
and Overeem counters with a good low kick that Kovalenko was not able to check.
Kovalenko checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Overeem throws a sloppy head kick and Kovalenko moves out of range easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kovalenko lands with a good body shot.
Overeem takes a jab right on the kisser.
Overeem displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Kovalenko throws out the jab.
Overeem works Kovalenko's body with a nice hook.
Kovalenko misses with a low kick.
Kovalenko lands with a thumping leg kick.
Kovalenko swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Kovalenko bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Overeem tries to bum rush Kovalenko with a series of wild strikes but Kovalenko uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Kovalenko throws a combination. Overeem tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Overeem lands with a straight right. Kovalenko didn't see that one coming.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Overeem steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Kovalenko.
A big right from Kovalenko misses.
Overeem moves away from the strike by Kovalenko.
Overeem throws a wild body kick that Kovalenko sees coming a mile off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Overeem throws a solid leg kick but Kovalenko takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Overeem.
Overeem is looking to clinch but Kovalenko is avoiding it.
Overeem throws a leg kick which misses Kovalenko's front leg but catches the back leg as Kovalenko tries to avoid it.
Kovalenko slips a jab from Overeem.
Overeem finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Nice body punch from Overeem.
Kovalenko throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Overeem fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Kovalenko has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Kovalenko will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Overeem drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Overeem throws a nice inside leg kick.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A clash of legs there as Overeem blocks the low kick.
Overeem throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Overeem fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Overeem tries to bum rush Kovalenko with a series of wild strikes but Kovalenko uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nikolai Kovalenko will probably get the nod.
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.

Kovalenko throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Overeem.
Overeem throws a sloppy head kick and Kovalenko moves out of range easily.
Overeem moves out of range as Kovalenko strikes.
Kovalenko 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.
Overeem tries to clinch but Kovalenko moves out of range.

Overeem clinches up with Kovalenko and pushes him back against the cage.
Overeem with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Overeem tries to land a knee to the head but Kovalenko blocks with his arms.
Overeem throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Kovalenko blocks it with crossed arms.
Kovalenko prevents a body shot from Overeem.
Overeem throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Kovalenko blocks it with crossed arms.
Overeem with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Overeem with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Overeem tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kovalenko avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kovalenko wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Overeem has him pressed against the cage.
Kovalenko blocks a body shot from Overeem.
Kovalenko is trying to break the clinch but Overeem has him pressed against the cage.
Overeem throws a knee to the head but misses.
Overeem softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Kovalenko is looking to break free of the clinch but Overeem has double underhooks.

Kovalenko manages to break the clinch.

Overeem clinches up with Kovalenko and pushes him back against the cage.
Kovalenko blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Overeem keeps control of Kovalenko as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A shot in the inside from Overeem.
A frustrated look appears on Kovalenko's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Kovalenko blocks a body shot from Overeem.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Overeem lands an uppercut.
Overeem misses with an elbow strike.
Overeem tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Kovalenko's elbow.
Overeem misses with an elbow over the top.
Kovalenko blocks an elbow strike.
Kovalenko blocks a body shot from Overeem.
Overeem tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kovalenko avoids it.
Overeem tries to land a knee to the head but Kovalenko blocks with his arms.
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!
Overeem scores with a nice hook to the head.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Overeem in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Overeem misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Kovalenko.
Overeem trying to land knees to the body.
Kovalenko dodges an elbow strike from Overeem.
Overeem crunches a lovely knee into Kovalenko's ribcage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Overeem lands a damaging elbow.

Kovalenko manages to break the clinch.
Overeem throws a leg kick which misses Kovalenko's front leg but catches the back leg as Kovalenko tries to avoid it.
Kovalenko throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Overeem throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A looping hook to the body misses from Kovalenko. Overeem does a little dance to reset his feet.
Overeem keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Overeem lands a left and a right that send Kovalenko crashing to the mat, dazed. Overeem thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

Kovalenko is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Overeem lands with a shot to the body.
Oh Kovalenko is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Nikolai Kovalenko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Overeem misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Kovalenko seems to have got his legs back now.
Overeem closes the distance and lands a crisp combination that knocks Kovalenko out cold! Kovalenko corner are devastated, head in hands behind our commentary position. Poor guys.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:51 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Alistair Overeem!
Alistair Overeem seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.