PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Vasiliy Khrapov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rosen Lyubenov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Khrapov comes into the arena with Rocky road to Dublin (RUS) blaring out of the sound system. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Khrapov
vs
Lyubenov

178 cm
28
170 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

178 cm
25
174 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Vasiliy Khrapov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rosen Lyubenov!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khrapov scores with a jab to the body.
Khrapov takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Khrapov lands a nice hook to Lyubenov's body. Lyubenov takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
A slow jab from Khrapov misses its intended target.
Lyubenov takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Khrapov comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Lyubenov darts in trying to clinch

and Khrapov counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Lyubenov's guard now.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Lyubenov is pulling down on Khrapov's head. It's preventing any offense from Khrapov, at least for the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lyubenov not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Khrapov lands a couple of elbows.
Khrapov prevents Lyubenov from getting back to his feet.
Khrapov throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lyubenov working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Khrapov.
Khrapov throws a big elbow that misses.
Khrapov throwing strikes from guard but Lyubenov blocks nicely.
Lyubenov is trying to keep Khrapov in close.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Khrapov loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Khrapov stopping the sweep attempt from Lyubenov.
Lyubenov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lyubenov prevents Khrapov from getting the reversal.
Khrapov wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Lyubenov.
Khrapov's coaches at Red Square Gym have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
Khrapov knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Lyubenov on the ground.
Khrapov really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Khrapov wants to control but Lyubenov is having none of it.
Lyubenov punching from mount but Khrapov doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Lyubenov breaks from Khrapov's wrist control and lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

Lyubenov swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Khrapov is now in Lyubenov's guard. A big mistake from Lyubenov there, giving up the dominant position!
Lyubenov bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Khrapov's guard.
Lyubenov scoring with some ground and pound.
Khrapov on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Khrapov tries to get out of the position.
Lyubenov wants to control from the top but Khrapov keeps moving.
Lyubenov working some strikes from top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lyubenov controlling from the top position.
Lyubenov working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Khrapov's head.
Lyubenov is looking to work some ground and pound but Khrapov has wrist control.

Lyubenov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lyubenov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Khrapov looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lyubenov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Rosen Lyubenov will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Good standup being displayed there by Lyubenov as he connects with a hook.
Lyubenov takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Khrapov lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Lyubenov tries to clinch there but Khrapov circles away.
Lyubenov tries to clinch up
and Lyubenov takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Lyubenov moves in looking to clinch but Khrapov pushes him off.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lyubenov is looking to clinch but Khrapov is avoiding it.
Khrapov throws the left hand but Lyubenov avoids the punch easily.
Khrapov lands with an uppercut that bounces Lyubenov off the cage and back into range.
Khrapov lands with a shot to the body.
Lyubenov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Lyubenov changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Khrapov tries to avoid it but Lyubenov manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Khrapov to the ground. Khrapov escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Lyubenov takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Khrapov takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Horrible takedown by Lyubenov or perhaps it was just good defense by Khrapov which made him look bad.
Khrapov misses with a looping left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khrapov connects with a body shot.
Lyubenov lands with a kick to the temple. Khrapov shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Rosen Lyubenov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lyubenov tries to close the distance and clinch up but Khrapov swats him away and circles back towards the center.
A looping hook to the body misses from Khrapov. Lyubenov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Lyubenov on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Lyubenov closes the distance and clinches up with Khrapov, looking for a takedown. Lyubenov pushes Khrapov against the cage but Khrapov circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Vasiliy Khrapov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rosen Lyubenov.
Lyubenov moves forwards but Khrapov connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Khrapov misses with a body shot.
Lyubenov moves in looking to clinch but Khrapov pushes him off.
Lyubenov tries to close the distance and clinch but Khrapov swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Lyubenov gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Khrapov working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Khrapov is in close to Lyubenov's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Lyubenov working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Khrapov.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lyubenov avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Khrapov throws an elbow that misses. Lyubenov uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Khrapov's guard. Nice move by Lyubenov!
Lyubenov missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Lyubenov stands up from Khrapov's guard - Lyubenov perhaps looking for a knockout.
Lyubenov scores with a head kick. Khrapov tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Khrapov.
Lyubenov takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Khrapov throws the left hand but Lyubenov avoids the punch easily.
Khrapov swats away the attempt to clinch by Lyubenov.
A head kick misses from Lyubenov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Lyubenov.
Lyubenov takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Lyubenov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Lyubenov takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Khrapov fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Lyubenov uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Khrapov.
Lyubenov tries to close the distance and clinch but Khrapov swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Khrapov avoids the head kick by Lyubenov.
Khrapov lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Khrapov lands a jab to Lyubenov's midsection.
Khrapov misses the shot to the body.
Khrapov connects with a jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice body punch from Khrapov.
Khrapov is looking to wear down Lyubenov with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Khrapov stuffs the takedown attempt from Lyubenov. Lyubenov gets slowly back to his feet.
Lyubenov tries to clinch but Khrapov is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov lands a head shot.
Nice takedown defense from Khrapov. No joy for Lyubenov on that attempt.
Lyubenov is breathing heavily.
Khrapov dips to his left and cracks Lyubenov with an uppercut!
Vasiliy Khrapov is winning the standup battle so far.
Lyubenov swinging wildly here.
Lyubenov tries to clinch but Khrapov moves away

and Khrapov counters with a nice right hand that sends Lyubenov toppling to the canvas! Lyubenov scrambles and gets back to his feet - can Khrapov finish him?!

Lyubenov is rocked!
Khrapov sees an opening and throws a straight punch right through Lyubenov's defenses. It connects perfectly with Lyubenov's jaw and knocks him out cold! Wow - that's a contender for knockout of the year - absolutely brutal!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Vasiliy Khrapov!