PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dmitri Salnik (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mikhail Lepikhin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Salnik
vs
Lepikhin

176 cm
23
190 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
23
190 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Intelligent

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Dmitri Salnik!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mikhail Lepikhin!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Taro Takaoka and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Salnik shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Lepikhin pinned against the cage. Lepikhin gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Salnik fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Lepikhin gets a double leg takedown into Salnik's guard.
Salnik looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lepikhin is one step ahead there.
Lepikhin landing with the ground and pound.
Lepikhin works over Salnik with some ground and pound from guard.
Lepikhin content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Salnik bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lepikhin's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Salnik throws a big elbow that misses.
Lepikhin tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Salnik could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

Salnik got a little sloppy there for a moment and Lepikhin has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Salnik has managed to get both his arms back between Lepikhin's legs - danger averted.
Lepikhin lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Salnik!
Salnik bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lepikhin wants to sweep here but Salnik controlling him for the moment.
Salnik missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Lepikhin had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Salnik defends it easily.
Salnik throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Salnik is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Lepikhin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Salnik's guard.
Lepikhin distracts Salnik with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lepikhin makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Salnik is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Lepikhin gets full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lepikhin looking for a sweep. Not yet Lepikhin, not yet.
Salnik scoring with punches to the head and body.

Lepikhin escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Salnik gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Lepikhin is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Salnik defends well.

Salnik is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Lepikhin looking for subs off his back but Salnik has passed one foot through into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Lepikhin manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salnik keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Lepikhin's head.
Lepikhin wants to sweep but no luck.
Salnik missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Lepikhin utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Lepikhin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Salnik's guard.
Lepikhin scoring with punches to the head and body.
Lepikhin loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Salnik looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Salnik wants to sweep here but Lepikhin controlling him for the moment.
Lepikhin works over Salnik with some ground and pound from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Lepikhin postures up in Salnik's guard and throws a big left but Salnik blocks it.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Salnik is on top in guard.
Lepikhin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Salnik is one step ahead there.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Lepikhin can do anything to dispel that myth.

Lepikhin throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Salnik stopping the sweep attempt from Lepikhin.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mikhail Lepikhin 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.

Salnik will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Salnik changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Lepikhin tries to avoid it but Salnik manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Lepikhin to the ground. Lepikhin escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
No luck for Salnik with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dmitri Salnik. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Salnik shoots in and bounces Lepikhin off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Lepikhin escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Salnik gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Lepikhin has his foot on Salnik's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Salnik works his way back into a safe position though.
Salnik preventing the sweep.

Lepikhin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Salnik can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Lepikhin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Salnik can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Lepikhin is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salnik is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Salnik landing with the ground and pound.
Salnik throws a big right hand that misses.
Salnik postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Salnik drops back looking for a leg! Lepikhin is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Lepikhin manages to kick Salnik off! Salnik jumps back into Lepikhin's guard.
Salnik throwing strikes but missing.
Salnik postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salnik missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Salnik is sitting in close to Lepikhin's body. Lepikhin has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Salnik is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Salnik is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Lepikhin.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:30 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Mikhail Lepikhin!
Mikhail Lepikhin bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.