PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Xander Cage (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Grigori Belikov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cage's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Indestructible. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Cage
vs
Belikov

197 cm
23
300 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

201 cm
21
298 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

Valhalla War Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Xander Cage!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Grigori Belikov!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Aleksandr Martynov and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cage fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Belikov changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Cage tries to avoid it but Belikov manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Cage to the ground. Cage escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Cage slips a straight right by Belikov.
Cage uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Belikov has time to react.
Belikov tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cage swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cage avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Cage ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Belikov moves away.
Belikov tries to clinch but Cage is having none of it.
Belikov slips a jab and a cross from Cage.
Belikov misses with a straight right.
Belikov throws a good cross that connects.

It looks like Xander Cage has been cut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Belikov misses with a double jab
letting Cage counter with a right hand.
Cage misses with a head kick.
Cage swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Belikov takes a swing at Cage's ribcage but misses.
Belikov catches Cage with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Cage throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Belikov counters with a nice uppercut.
Cage misses with a few strikes there.
Belikov shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Cage pinned against the cage. Cage gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Cage misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Belikov has a takedown stuffed.
Xander Cage has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Grigori Belikov.
Belikov changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Cage tries to avoid it but Belikov manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Cage to the ground. Cage escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cage stuffs the takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belikov shoots in but no luck this time.
Belikov looks gassed!
Cage thuds his right hand into Belikov's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Cage rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Belikov moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Cage throws a combination that misses

and Belikov counters by clinching up.
Cage keeps control of Belikov as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Cage is trying to break the clinch but Belikov has him pressed against the cage.

Belikov escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Belikov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cage throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Belikov.
Belikov walks into a jab.
Belikov throws a jab when Cage was well out of range.
Cage throws a head kick but Belikov moves out of range.
Belikov connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Belikov shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Cage as he avoids it easily.
Cage dodges the punch combination from Belikov.
Cage dips to his left and cracks Belikov with an uppercut!
Cage misses with a double jab.
Belikov just misses with a punch to the body.
Cage will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Belikov goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Cage scores with a one two! Belikov had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Belikov throws the kick towards the body but Cage avoids it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cage slips under a jab from Belikov.
Belikov lands a right hook to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Nice straight punches there by Cage. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Cage.
Belikov shoots in but Cage avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Cage throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Cage misses with a series of wild punches.
Cage throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cage cracks Belikov with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
A head kick misses from Belikov.
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 Xander Cage will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Xander Cage's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Cage keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Cage scores with a sloppy right hand. Belikov should have avoided that one.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Belikov.
Belikov shoots for a takedown but Cage saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Cage throws a leg kick
and Belikov counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Danga de danga de dang - Cage scores with a four punch combination!
Cage misses with a few strikes there.
Cage throws a left and a right that both miss
and Belikov counters with a nice body shot.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cage slips under a jab.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Nice takedown defense from Cage. No joy for Belikov on that attempt.
Xander Cage has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Grigori Belikov.
Cage throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cage lands a nice shot that snaps Belikov's head back.
Belikov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Belikov misses with an uppercut.
Belikov throws a nice outside leg kick.
Cage throws a good cross that connects.
Belikov lands a body shot.
Xander Cage is winning the standup battle so far.
Belikov bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Cage's head.
A punch combination from Belikov misses.
Cage throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Cage misses with a straight right.
Xander Cage is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A leg kick checked by Belikov.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belikov lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Belikov shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Cage but Cage pushes him off and we're back to square one.
A head kick misses from Cage.
Belikov lands with a slapping head kick.
Cage lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Cage staying out of range there.
Cage keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cage tries to bum rush Belikov with a series of wild strikes but Belikov uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A leg kick checked by Cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cage lands the left hand.
A combination from Cage does no damage.
Belikov shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Cage pinned against the cage. Cage gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Belikov avoids a punch combination nicely.

Cage gets caught flat footed, as Belikov shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Belikov 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.
Belikov not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belikov tries to free his leg and advance position but Cage is retaining full guard.

Cage pushes Belikov off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Cage swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Belikov counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Cage misses with a double jab.
Belikov closes the distance and lands a one-two.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Belikov lands a two punch combo.
Belikov throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Grigori Belikov showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Xander Cage's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Cage lands with a hook. Belikov tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Cage keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Belikov fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Belikov swings for the body but Cage moves out of range.
Belikov connects with a solid leg kick.
Belikov fails in his attempt to clinch.
Belikov blocks a head kick by Cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Belikov scores with a nice head shot.
Cage falls off balance throwing a combination
and Belikov cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cage tries a head kick but it misses.
Cage tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Belikov clinches up against the cage.

Belikov breaks the clinch.
Cage throws a head kick that misses.
Cage lands a two punch combo.
Cage waving his hands out infront of him, looking to distract Belikov.

Belikov closes the distance and clinches.
Cage being controlled against the cage.
Cage wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Belikov pulls guard successfully.
Belikov bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cage's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belikov passes easily into side control. Nice work.

Belikov is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cage has escaped the position, nice work there.
Cage tries to bench press Belikov off him but Belikov keeps the position.

Belikov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Belikov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Belikov wants to control but Cage is keeping him busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cage wants to get back to his feet but Belikov drags him back down.

Belikov stands up and beckons Cage to his feet.
Belikov tries to clinch up but Cage circles away and keeps his distance.
A big right from Belikov misses.
Belikov takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Nice jab there from Cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cage swinging wilding here.
Cage misses with a few strikes there.

Belikov moves into range and clinches up with Cage.
Cage wants to break free but Belikov has control.
Cage is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Cage prevents the takedown attempt.
Cage is looking to break free of the clinch but Belikov has double underhooks.

Belikov breaks the clinch.
Belikov throws a series of punches but Cage moves out of range.
Belikov throws the left hand but Cage avoids the punch easily.
Cage avoids the head kick by Belikov.
Xander Cage seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cage scores with a shot to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Grigori Belikov comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Belikov has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Grigori Belikov!