PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Katla Vanagandr (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Piotr Rasputin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Katla Vanagandr has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Vanagandr
vs
Rasputin

199 cm
29
260 lbs
14 - 6 - 0

198 cm
27
250 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 14 - 6 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Katla Vanagandr!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Piotr Rasputin !
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Anni Minnemäki and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vanagandr swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Rasputin connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

It looks like Katla Vanagandr has been cut.
Rasputin misses with a few strikes there.
Rasputin throws a looping overhand right but Vanagandr ducks down to avoid it.
Rasputin scores with the left hand. Vanagandr knows he should have avoided that one.
Vanagandr slips a straight right by Rasputin .
Rasputin throws a lazy uppercut
and Vanagandr counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vanagandr staying out of range there.
Vanagandr misses with an uppercut.
Sloppy strikes from Rasputin . Those never looked like landing.
Rasputin throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Vanagandr's waist but Vanagandr gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Rasputin off to one side.
Rasputin drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Rasputin pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vanagandr fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rasputin misses with a hook.
Rasputin misses with a wild combination.
Rasputin thows a body shot but no joy.

Rasputin is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Vanagandr's half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Still in half guard, Rasputin seems content to control.
Rasputin thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Vanagandr's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Vanagandr is looking to escape.
Well, if Rasputin is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Vanagandr is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rasputin scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rasputin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Vanagandr defending well though.
Rasputin seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vanagandr tries to get to full guard but Rasputin has control of the leg.
Rasputin thows a huge punch but Vanagandr dodges it nicely.
Rasputin thows a huge punch but Vanagandr dodges it nicely.
Rasputin working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Rasputin connects with a nice short shot to Vanagandr's temple.
Rasputin missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Vanagandr avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rasputin .
Vanagandr trying to control from the bottom.
Rasputin has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Rasputin works his way into full mount!
Rasputin trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Rasputin landing shots from mount.
Rasputin looking to finish Vanagandr with some ground and pound. This is bad for Vanagandr!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rasputin lands a nice shot to the head.

Katla Vanagandr's cut is getting worse.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vanagandr slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Rasputin controlling the pace.
Vanagandr is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rasputin scores with a couple of nice shots.
Vanagandr avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Rasputin .
Rasputin seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Rasputin throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Rasputin seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Vanagandr does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rasputin thows a huge punch but Vanagandr dodges it nicely.
Rasputin moves nicely into side control.
Rasputin taking a breather here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Piotr Rasputin dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Katla Vanagandr's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Rasputin dodges the punch combination from Vanagandr.
Vanagandr misses with a body shot

and Rasputin counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Rasputin lands strikes from half guard.
Rasputin trying to control the pace.
Vanagandr keeping hold of Rasputin 's head, controlling as best he can.
Piotr Rasputin has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rasputin is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rasputin trying to control from half guard but Vanagandr is working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vanagandr won't allow Rasputin to pass to mount.
Rasputin not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rasputin seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Vanagandr does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Rasputin prevents Vanagandr from improving his position.
Vanagandr pushes Rasputin off looking to stand but Rasputin dives back in and keeps control.
Vanagandr is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rasputin thows a huge punch but Vanagandr dodges it nicely.
Rasputin takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Rasputin wants to take a breather but Vanagandr is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Piotr Rasputin hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Rasputin lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

Katla Vanagandr's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Piotr Rasputin seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Good shot there by Rasputin .
Vanagandr is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Rasputin shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Vanagandr's guard.
Rasputin trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Rasputin trying to control the position from guard on top but Vanagandr is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Vanagandr seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Vanagandr 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.
Rasputin stays in close to Vanagandr's body and controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Vanagandr slips under a jab from Rasputin .
Rasputin swings for the body but Vanagandr moves out of range.
Vanagandr uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Rasputin .
Rasputin waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Vanagandr.
Rasputin throws a poor cross that misses
and Vanagandr counters with a straight right hand.
Vanagandr misses with a hook. Rasputin ducked under it nicely.
Rasputin fails with the takedown.

Rasputin closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Vanagandr's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rasputin stopping the sweep attempt from Vanagandr.
Rasputin is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Vanagandr keeping moving, preventing Rasputin from controlling successfully.
Vanagandr wants to sweep here but Rasputin controlling him for the moment.
Rasputin landing with the ground and pound.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Rasputin trying to control but Vanagandr is working from the bottom.
Rasputin is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Piotr Rasputin showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Katla Vanagandr'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!

Rasputin shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Vanagandr napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Vanagandr is trying to work for a sweep but Rasputin has mounted him!
Rasputin unloading with bombs!

Jeez, Katla Vanagandr's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:34 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Piotr Rasputin !
After the fight, Piotr Rasputin was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.