PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Alexei Lopatin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bayram Han Turkmen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Lopatin
vs
Han Turkmen

180 cm
24
155 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

180 cm
26
164 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Alexei Lopatin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Bayram Han Turkmen!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, David Hoff and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Turkmen moves in looking to clinch but Lopatin pushes him off.
Lopatin went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Turkmen tries to close the distance and clinch but Lopatin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Bayram Han Turkmen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Lopatin darts in and clinches Turkmen up against the cage.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Turkmen.
Turkmen lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

Lopatin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Turkmen throws a right and a left that both miss.
Lopatin throws a sloppy head kick and Turkmen moves out of range easily.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Lopatin.

Lopatin decides to stand up, so the ref orders Turkmen to his feet.
Turkmen is looking to clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Turkmen scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Lopatin swats away the attempt to clinch by Turkmen.
Turkmen throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Lopatin fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Turkmen sprawls well initially but Lopatin persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Lopatin lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Turkmen has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Lopatin is working away from the top position though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lopatin stalling.
Lopatin is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Lopatin seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Turkmen for as long as he can get away with.
Lopatin continues to stall.
Lopatin is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Lopatin stalling.
Turkmen wants to control but Lopatin passes into side.
Lopatin looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Lopatin content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Lopatin has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Lopatin decides to stand back up. Lopatin steps back and let's Turkmen get back to his feet.
Lopatin misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Turkmen wants to clinch up but Lopatin keeps it at a distance.

Lopatin fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Turkmen, pushing him back against the cage.

Lopatin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Turkmen looks to land a combination but Lopatin avoids it well.
Turkmen tries to clinch there but Lopatin circles away.
Turkmen has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Lopatin is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Turkmen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Turkmen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Lopatin appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Lopatin avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Lopatin shoots in and bounces Turkmen off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Lopatin's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Lopatin is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Turkmen looking for a sweep. Not yet Turkmen, not yet.
Lopatin is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
More hug and hope from Lopatin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lopatin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Turkmen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Lopatin controlling from the top position.
Turkmen looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Lopatin puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Turkmen wants to control but Lopatin is keeping busy.

Turkmen looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Lopatin dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Lopatin throws a series of punches but Turkmen moves out of range.
Turkmen steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.
Turkmen tries to clinch there but Lopatin circles away.
Turkmen looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Turkmen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Lopatin throws a head kick but Turkmen moves out of range.
As Lopatin backs off Turkmen throws a huge counter combo but Lopatin manages to avoid it all.
Turkmen tries to clinch but Lopatin is having none of it.

Turkmen clinches up against the cage.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Lopatin blocks the elbow strike.
Turkmen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lopatin blocks it with crossed arms.
Still in the clinch, Turkmen scores with a nice short uppercut.
Turkmen gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Lopatin.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Turkmen tries to land knees in the clinch but Lopatin avoids the damage to the body.

Lopatin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Turkmen misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Turkmen connects with a high kick.
Lopatin swats away the attempt to clinch by Turkmen.

Lopatin has Turkmen up against the cage in a clinch.
Turkmen throws an elbow that misses.
Lopatin blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Lopatin wants a takedown but no success here.
Turkmen tries a knee to the head but Lopatin blocks it.
Turkmen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lopatin blocks it with crossed arms.
Turkmen is defending well against a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alexei Lopatin. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Lopatin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Turkmen is looking to clinch but Lopatin is avoiding it.
Turkmen throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Turkmen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lopatin paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Lopatin closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Turkmen pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Turkmen missing with knees to the body.

Lopatin breaks the clinch.

Lopatin closes the distance and clinches.
With the fighters up against the cage, Turkmen throws an elbow but misses.
Lopatin blocks an elbow strike from Turkmen.
Turkmen misses with the head strike.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Turkmen throws an elbow but it misses.
Turkmen misses with an elbow over the top.
Turkmen with a knee to the head.
Turkmen misses with a knee strike.
Turkmen pushes off an throws an elbow but Lopatin leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.

Lopatin breaks the clinch.
Lopatin throws a nice looking combination but Turkmen bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Turkmen moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

Lopatin moves into the clinch.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Turkmen.
Lopatin blocks the elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Turkmen using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lopatin has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Turkmen missing with knees to the body.

Lopatin manages to break the clinch.
Turkmen doesn't manage to clinch there - Lopatin circles away.

Lopatin drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Lopatin taking a breather here.
Turkmen gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Lopatin controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Turkmen takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Lopatin content just to control the position here.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Lopatin cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lopatin controlling his opponent.
Lopatin with shots to the head and body - Turkmen looks very uncomfortable down there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Alexei Lopatin will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Turkmen is looking to chop away at Lopatin's legs.
Lopatin throws a head kick but Turkmen moves out of range.
Turkmen is looking to clinch but Lopatin is avoiding it.

Turkmen gets tackled into the cage by Lopatin. Lopatin maintains the clinch.
Turkmen creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Lopatin's defenses.

Lopatin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Turkmen closes the distance and clinches.
Turkmen misses with an elbow over the top.
Turkmen unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Lopatin tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Turkmen avoids it.
Turkmen misses with a knee to the head.
Lopatin avoiding damage as Turkmen throws knees to the body.

Lopatin breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Turkmen darts in and clinches Lopatin up against the cage.
Lopatin on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Lopatin drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Turkmen gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Turkmen lands an elbow inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lopatin breaks the clinch.
Turkmen tries to clinch there but Lopatin circles away.
Turkmen ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Turkmen tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Lopatin manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Turkmen wants to clinch but Lopatin slips to the side

and Lopatin counters with a crisp one two that drops Turkmen! Lopatin thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Turkmen to his feet! Turkmen is in big trouble!

Turkmen is rocked!

Lopatin scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Turkmen scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Lopatin manages to mount him!
Turkmen is still in real trouble! Can Lopatin finish him?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lopatin takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Lopatin has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Lopatin working Turkmen over with strikes here.
Lopatin controlling the position easily from mount.
Turkmen seems to have recovered his senses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lopatin with shots to the head and body - Turkmen looks very uncomfortable down there.
Lopatin tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Turkmen is desperately trying to improve his position but Lopatin has a good base and remains in mount.
Lopatin controlling the pace for now.
Lopatin lands a big elbow.
Lopatin takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Lopatin.
Alexei Lopatin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lopatin is landing with some decent strikes but Turkmen is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Lopatin controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lopatin pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Lopatin sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Bayram Han Turkmen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Alexei Lopatin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alexei Lopatin showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Lopatin, 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 Bart Greer scores the fight 30:27
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 30:27
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alexei Lopatin!