PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Nikolai Luzhin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Achilleo Katsidis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Luzhin comes to the cage accompanied by The time has come.... These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Luzhin
vs
Katsidis

181 cm
30
174 lbs
17 - 5 - 1

182 cm
27
183 lbs
8 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Hellbent

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 17 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Nikolai Luzhin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Achilleo Katsidis!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Radbod Blank and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Luzhin throws a head kick that misses.
Luzhin is looking to chop away at Katsidis's legs.
Katsidis scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Katsidis ducks under a wild hook from Luzhin.
A solid body kick from Luzhin.
Katsidis misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Luzhin.
Jab from Luzhin.

Luzhin has Katsidis up against the cage in a clinch.
Luzhin using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Katsidis has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Luzhin blocks an uppercut.

Katsidis breaks the clinch.
Nikolai Luzhin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Katsidis takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Katsidis blocks a head kick by Luzhin.
Luzhin blocks a head kick by Katsidis.
Katsidis thows a leg kick but Luzhin checks it
and Luzhin counters with a nice low kick that buckles Katsidis's knee momentarily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Katsidis circles away from the clinch attempt
and Katsidis counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsidis digs a good hook to Luzhin's body.
Luzhin throws a push kick but Katsidis slaps the foot to one side.
Luzhin lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Luzhin takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Luzhin throws a big shot that misses.
Luzhin avoids the head kick by Katsidis.
Katsidis turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Luzhin connects with a leg kick. Katsidis looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Luzhin slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Luzhin lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Luzhin connects with a looping right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Katsidis scores with a jab to the head.
Luzhin misses with a leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsidis pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Luzhin on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Luzhin lands a jab to Katsidis's midsection.
Luzhin throws an overhand right that lands on Katsidis's shoulder, as Katsidis tries to avoid the shot.
Luzhin ducks under a wild hook from Katsidis.
Luzhin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Katsidis was well out of range. Poor timing from Luzhin.
Katsidis stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Luzhin.
Luzhin misses with a body shot.
Katsidis looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Katsidis fails to land with a series of punches.
Luzhin ducks under a wild hook from Katsidis.
An attempted straight right counter from Luzhin misses the target.
Luzhin avoids a kick to the body.
Luzhin throws a hook to the side of Katsidis's head but Katsidis sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Luzhin closes the distance and pushes Katsidis back into the cage.
A short right from Katsidis on the inside.
Luzhin tries to land knees in the clinch but Katsidis avoids the damage to the body.

Katsidis breaks from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsidis looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Nice defenses there by Luzhin.
Luzhin ducks under a wild hook from Katsidis.
Luzhin looks to score with a jab to the body but Katsidis is just out of range.
Katsidis on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

It looks like Achilleo Katsidis has been cut.
Luzhin takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Luzhin ducks under a wild hook from Katsidis.
Katsidis throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Luzhin.
Luzhin fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Katsidis on the side of the head.

Katsidis is rocked!
Katsidis avoids a kick to the body.
Good leg kick by Luzhin there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Katsidis throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Luzhin clobbers Katsidis with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Katsidis is still on wobbly legs! Can Luzhin finish him?
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Luzhin throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Katsidis seems to have recovered his senses.
Katsidis avoids the body shot from Luzhin.
Katsidis takes a jab right on the kisser.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Luzhin looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Luzhin buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Luzhin lands a leg kick that knocks Katsidis off balance momentarily.
Katsidis looks to land a left hand but Luzhin moved out of range nicely.
Luzhin connects with a leg kick. Katsidis looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Katsidis throws a sloppy head kick and Luzhin moves out of range easily.
Katsidis tries to land a leg kick but Luzhin saw it coming and moves away.
Both fighters circling a little - Luzhin finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Katsidis stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Luzhin.
A decent looking cross lands there for Luzhin.
Luzhin throws a nice outside leg kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Katsidis misses with a looping right.
Luzhin seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Katsidis throws a series of punches but Luzhin avoids them all with ease.
Katsidis throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolai Luzhin dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Achilleo Katsidis's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Katsidis ducks under a wild hook from Luzhin.
Nikolai Luzhin is winning the standup battle so far.
Katsidis throws a head kick but Luzhin moves out of range.
Good work by Katsidis as he checks the leg kick.
Luzhin tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Katsidis paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Katsidis throws out a counter right but Luzhin avoids it with no problem.
Luzhin throws a hook but Katsidis blocks it.
Luzhin tries to close the distance and clinch but Katsidis swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A looping hook to the body misses from Luzhin. Katsidis does a little dance to reset his feet.
Katsidis will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Katsidis bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Luzhin gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Luzhin makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Luzhin misses with a hook from the clinch.
Luzhin with a knee to the head.
Luzhin misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Katsidis breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Katsidis misses with a left hand
and Luzhin counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
A lazy body kick from Luzhin
and Katsidis counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Luzhin misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Luzhin is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Katsidis can do to turn this around?
Luzhin with a hook.
A left and a right from Katsidis both land. Nice combination.
Luzhin throws a lazy right hand but Katsidis sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Katsidis lands a leg kick that knocks Luzhin off balance momentarily.
Luzhin connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Luzhin connects with a leg kick. Katsidis looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Katsidis misses with a hook. Luzhin ducked under it nicely.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Katsidis looks to land a left hand but Luzhin moved out of range nicely.
Luzhin scores with a nice strike.
Nice jab there from Katsidis.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Luzhin. Katsidis shrugs it off though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A shot to the liver by Luzhin. Beautiful body shot.
Katsidis throws a hook but Luzhin blocks it.
Katsidis has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Luzhin.
Luzhin feints and then cracks Katsidis's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Katsidis down.
Luzhin turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Katsidis throws a wild body kick that Luzhin sees coming a mile off.
Katsidis misses with a straight right.
Katsidis jabs Luzhin to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Luzhin tries to clinch up
and Katsidis counters with a nice uppercut.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Katsidis checks a leg kick.
Luzhin scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Luzhin tries a head kick but it misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luzhin explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Luzhin throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
As Luzhin backs off Katsidis throws a huge counter combo but Luzhin manages to avoid it all.
Katsidis attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Katsidis tries a head kick but it misses.
Nice straight punches there by Luzhin. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Luzhin.
Luzhin looks to land a body kick but Katsidis moved away.
Katsidis lets loose with a powerful body kick. Luzhin will feel that in the morning.
Luzhin moves out of range of the body kick.
Luzhin does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Luzhin fakes a right and follows up with a big left that drops Katsidis to one knee - oooooh, he's wobbly! Katsidis looks to clinch but Luzhin throws him off and pummels him into the canvas! Katsidis taps out under the strikes! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:44 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Nikolai Luzhin!
Nikolai Luzhin was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.