PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between James Jaffer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rasul Khasbulaev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jaffer comes to the cage accompanied by DubRaider- Starry Eyes. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Jaffer
vs
Khasbulaev

179 cm
30
146 lbs
23 - 6 - 1

168 cm
26
154 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, James Jaffer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rasul Khasbulaev!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Alexandre Firmino and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khasbulaev shoots and misses
and Jaffer counters with a three punch combo that has Khasbulaev backing up. Khasbulaev nods at Jaffer to acknowledge the strikes.
Khasbulaev shoots in for a takedown but Jaffer shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Jaffer closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Jaffer controls the position.
Jaffer will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Jaffer lands a decent elbow from side control.
Jaffer working the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Khasbulaev being controlled for a moment.
Khasbulaev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Jaffer wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Jaffer is putting a hurting on Khasbulaev here, landing some big shots from side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Jaffer controlling the position from side mount.
Khasbulaev is trying to get back to half guard.
Jaffer lands some shots froms side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jaffer looks up at the clock and then as Khasbulaev takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Jaffer smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Khasbulaev seems a little lost for a moment, as Jaffer dominates the positioning.
Jaffer working the ground and pound.
Jaffer landing a few strikes.
Khasbulaev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Jaffer wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Jaffer controls the position.
Khasbulaev struggling a bit here.
Khasbulaev tries to bench press Jaffer off him but Jaffer keeps the position.
Jaffer scoring with punches from side control.
Jaffer controls the position from side control.
Jaffer working the ground and pound from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev seems a little lost for a moment, as Jaffer dominates the positioning.
Khasbulaev tries to improve position but can't.
Khasbulaev takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Jaffer working the body and head with strikes.
Jaffer cracks Khasbulaev with a big right hand but Khasbulaev just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
A lull in the action here as Jaffer stalls from top position.
Jaffer landing strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Khasbulaev is trying to improve his position.
Jaffer working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jaffer working away.
Jaffer is working Khasbulaev over with some ground and pound from side control.
Jaffer scores with punches from side control.
Khasbulaev tries to buck Jaffer off but Jaffer is having none of it.
Khasbulaev looks winded!
Jaffer in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Jaffer cracks Khasbulaev with a big elbow.

Khasbulaev is rocked!
Jaffer is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Khasbulaev's shoulder. That is not cool.

Jaffer tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Jaffer working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev is trying to get back to his feet.
You can see the frustration on Khasbulaev's face as Jaffer controls the position.
Khasbulaev is trying to control Jaffer's posture but Jaffer avoids it.
Jaffer lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Khasbulaev down.
The referee asks Jaffer politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Jaffer prefers to stall for the moment though.
Jaffer lands a decent elbow from side control.
Jaffer in side control lands a decent elbow.
Jaffer controlling from side mount.
Khasbulaev is trying to get back to his feet.
The referee asks Jaffer politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Jaffer prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Jaffer wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Khasbulaev seems a little lost for a moment, as Jaffer dominates the positioning.
Khasbulaev is not content to let Jaffer control the position.
Jaffer working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Jaffer is looking to take a break and control but Khasbulaev is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Jaffer working away.
Jaffer controls the position from side control.
Jaffer creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Khasbulaev can't do much from the bottom here.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Jaffer looks up at the clock and then as Khasbulaev takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Jaffer smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Jaffer lands a nice forearm strike.
Khasbulaev struggling a bit here.
Khasbulaev trying to remain calm as Jaffer controls from the top position.
Khasbulaev is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Jaffer is controlling him well.
Khasbulaev takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Jaffer lands some shots froms side control.
Khasbulaev is not content to let Jaffer control the position.
Khasbulaev on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev can't do much from the bottom here.

Jaffer working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Jaffer is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Khasbulaev will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
You can see the frustration on Khasbulaev's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Jaffer tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Jaffer has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Jaffer working the head and body with strikes.
Jaffer landing a few strikes.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Jaffer controlling from side mount.
Khasbulaev is looking for a sweep.
Jaffer trying to control the position but Khasbulaev is working away.
Jaffer landing strikes.
Jaffer in side control lands a decent elbow.
Jaffer creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Khasbulaev wants to control but Jaffer postures up.
Jaffer working the ground and pound from side control.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Jaffer working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Khasbulaev taking a bit of punishment here - Jaffer scoring with strikes.

Jaffer tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Jaffer has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Khasbulaev is looking to regain half guard here but Jaffer keeps moving and retains side control.
Khasbulaev regains half guard.
Jaffer lands with a punch from half guard.
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. Jaffer connects with a nice short shot to Khasbulaev's temple.
Jaffer is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Khasbulaev!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Jaffer dominated that round.
That's time! Jaffer's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Jaffer moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Jaffer throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Jaffer lets loose with a powerful body kick. Khasbulaev will feel that in the morning.
Khasbulaev fails with the takedown
and Jaffer counters with a stiff right hand.

Jaffer shoots in and gets a takedown into Khasbulaev's guard.
Khasbulaev is still in real trouble! Can Jaffer finish him?
Jaffer distracts Khasbulaev with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Jaffer is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Khasbulaev working a defensive guard here.
Jaffer sitting in guard here, content to control.
Khasbulaev seems to have recovered his senses.
Jaffer has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Khasbulaev is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khasbulaev trying to control the position.
Jaffer's corner is telling him to maintain position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Jaffer keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Khasbulaev's head.
Jaffer postures up and lands a big shot to Khasbulaev's brow.
Jaffer scoring with some ground and pound.
Jaffer postures up.
Jaffer makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Jaffer is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Jaffer is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Khasbulaev is trying to keep Jaffer in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jaffer preventing the sweep.
Jaffer prevents Khasbulaev from getting back to his feet.
Jaffer has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Jaffer preventing the sweep.
Jaffer stays in close to Khasbulaev's body and controls the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Jaffer.
Khasbulaev tries to bench press Jaffer off him but Jaffer keeps the position.
Jaffer is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Jaffer seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Khasbulaev for as long as he can get away with.
Khasbulaev is looking to reverse the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Khasbulaev's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Jaffer is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Khasbulaev's shoulder. That is not cool.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Jaffer.
Jaffer lands a decent elbow from side control.
Jaffer working the body and head with strikes.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Jaffer looks up at the clock and then as Khasbulaev takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Jaffer smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Jaffer controlling from side mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Jaffer wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Jaffer working the head and body with strikes.
Jaffer landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Jaffer scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Khasbulaev to see if he's OK.
Jaffer is staying tight to Khasbulaev's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Jaffer works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Khasbulaev is trying to control Jaffer's posture but Jaffer avoids it.
Jaffer scoring with punches and elbows.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Khasbulaev is looking to reverse the position.
Jaffer takes a little break here. Khasbulaev wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
James Jaffer overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Jaffer is looking to take a break and control but Khasbulaev is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Khasbulaev can't do much from the bottom here.
A lull in the action here as Jaffer stalls from top position.
Khasbulaev is looking for a sweep.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Jaffer working the ground and pound.
Jaffer taking a breather here.
Jaffer lands a decent elbow from side control.
Jaffer in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Khasbulaev looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Jaffer turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 6:43 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). James Jaffer!
James Jaffer seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.