PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sanzhar Nurpulaev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dom Pecayo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). On his way into the cage it seems that Sanzhar Nurpulaev has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Sanzhar Nurpulaev seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Nurpulaev
vs
Pecayo

188 cm
21
256 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
19
150 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Sanzhar Nurpulaev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Dom Pecayo!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Arvi Lind and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Nurpulaev looking to score a takedown here. Pecayo is defending well but Nurpulaev drives through and ends up in Pecayo's guard.

Pecayo working for a triangle but Nurpulaev defends it easily.
Pecayo wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Nurpulaev is now in half guard.
Nurpulaev prevents Pecayo from improving his position.
Nurpulaev controlling the pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Nurpulaev is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Pecayo has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Nurpulaev is working away from the top position though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pecayo trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Pecayo wants to get back to his feet.

Nurpulaev gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!

Nurpulaev shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Pecayo's guard.
Nurpulaev is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Nurpulaev has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Pecayo controls Nurpulaev momentarily but Nurpulaev frees himself.
Nurpulaev pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Pecayo is keeping the position for now.
Nurpulaev stays in close to Pecayo's body and controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev is working Pecayo over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Nurpulaev controlling from the top position.
Pecayo doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Pecayo uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Nurpulaev.
Nurpulaev sets himself, and Pecayo steps forward looking for the clinch! Nurpulaev avoids it this time.
Pecayo scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
A combination from Nurpulaev does no damage.

Nurpulaev closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Pecayo to the mat! Pecayo manages to get full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev stays in close to Pecayo's body and controls the position.
Nurpulaev would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Nurpulaev is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Nurpulaev sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Nurpulaev working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Pecayo's head.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nurpulaev showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Nurpulaev is in close to Pecayo's body, working some short punches and elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sanzhar Nurpulaev dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nurpulaev misses with a head kick.
Nice takedown defense from Nurpulaev. No joy for Pecayo on that attempt.
Pecayo fails with a takedown attempt.
Nurpulaev is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Pecayo can do to turn this around?
Pecayo lets loose with a powerful body kick. Nurpulaev will feel that in the morning.

Pecayo scores with a takedown into Nurpulaev's guard.
Pecayo wants to control from the top but Nurpulaev keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Nurpulaev throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Pecayo escapes and throws Nurpulaev's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Nurpulaev is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Pecayo is controlling him well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nurpulaev sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

Nurpulaev looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Pecayo wants to take a breather but Nurpulaev is having none of it.
Nurpulaev trying to hold on to Pecayo's head to control him but Pecayo postures up.
Nurpulaev keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Nurpulaev wants to improve his position but Pecayo is controlling well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Pecayo wants to pass to mount but Nurpulaev is defending the position.
Pecayo missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nurpulaev avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Pecayo.
Nurpulaev tries to kick Pecayo off but Pecayo keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Sanzhar Nurpulaev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Nurpulaev is trying is best to control the position here.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Nurpulaev walks into a left hand.

Nurpulaev drives through with a takedown into Pecayo's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Nurpulaev wants to get up but he can't break Pecayo's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev with a nice head shot there.
Nurpulaev advances position into side control!
Nurpulaev happy to just control the position for now.
Nurpulaev has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Pecayo!
Nurpulaev working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Nurpulaev content just to control the position here.
Nurpulaev pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pecayo is looking to improve his position but Nurpulaev isn't that keen on the idea.
Nurpulaev sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Pecayo is breathing heavily.

Nurpulaev with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nurpulaev lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sanzhar Nurpulaev dominated that second round.
That's time! Nurpulaev's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Nurpulaev closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Pecayo did well to prevent Nurpulaev getting side control.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Nurpulaev in particular looking to stall.
Pecayo has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Nurpulaev is working away from the top position though.
Nurpulaev wants to pass the guard but Pecayo is defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nurpulaev is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Pecayo wants to improve his position but Nurpulaev is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nurpulaev controlling the pace.
Nurpulaev working the head and body with strikes.
Nurpulaev with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Nurpulaev seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Pecayo for as long as he can get away with.

Nurpulaev is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Nurpulaev is thwarting Pecayo's attempts to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Nurpulaev is looking to clinch but Pecayo is avoiding it.

Nurpulaev moves into the clinch.

Pecayo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Nurpulaev gets a takedown into half guard.
Pecayo is trying to stand.
Nurpulaev wants to free his trapped foot but Pecayo is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev passes to side control.
Nurpulaev controls the position.
Pecayo on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Pecayo is trying to control Nurpulaev's posture but Nurpulaev avoids it.
Pecayo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Nurpulaev is trying to get an arm triangle but Pecayo is defending well.
Nurpulaev could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Pecayo is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nurpulaev lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Pecayo down.
Nurpulaev 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 Pecayo's shoulder. That is not cool.
Pecayo is trying to improve his position.
Nurpulaev 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 Pecayo's shoulder. That is not cool.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Nurpulaev thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sanzhar Nurpulaev showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Nurpulaev, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight for Sanzhar Nurpulaev!
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight for Sanzhar Nurpulaev!
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight for Sanzhar Nurpulaev!

Sanzhar Nurpulaev wins by unanimous decision!