PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kostya Tszyu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank Lopez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kostya Tszyu has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Tszyu
vs
Lopez

185 cm
20
195 lbs
7 - 1 - 2

185 cm
31
187 lbs
14 - 7 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

King of Fists

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 2, fighting out of New York, Kostya Tszyu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Frank Lopez!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Sergei Dronov and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lopez misses with a jab to the body
and Tszyu cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

It looks like Frank Lopez has been cut.
Lopez with a nice cross.
Tszyu throws a lazy uppercut
and Lopez counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Lopez lands the left hand.
Lopez avoids the body shot from Tszyu.
Lopez lands a jab to Tszyu's midsection.
Lopez misses with a shot to the body
and Tszyu counters with a nice body shot.
Lopez misses with a straight right.
Lopez looks for the body kick but Tszyu saw that one coming.
A little feinted left hand from Tszyu on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Lopez scores with a nice right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lopez scoring well with a low kick there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lopez is looking to slow Tszyu down with leg kicks.
A big right from Lopez misses.
Lopez misses with a straight right.
Lopez fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Tszyu manages to avoid it.
Lopez lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Tszyu dips to his left and cracks Lopez with an uppercut!
Lopez lands with a shot to the body.
Tszyu connects with a crisp jab.
Tszyu throws a lazy uppercut
and Tszyu takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Lopez misses with a kick to the body
and Tszyu counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Lopez throws a leg kick that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tszyu misses with a shot to the body
and Lopez counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tszyu misses with a wild body shot.
Tszyu uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Lopez.
Lopez throws a leg kick
and Tszyu counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Lopez thinking.
Tszyu swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Lopez misses with a wild combination.
Lopez misses with a jab to the body
and Tszyu counters with a right hand to the body.
Lopez throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
It looked like Tszyu was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Lopez.
Lopez misses with an uppercut. Tszyu saw that one coming.
Tszyu ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tszyu takes one to the chin there.
Lopez fails to land with a series of punches.
Lopez misses with a looping left.
Tszyu slips a straight right by Lopez.
Lopez throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Tszyu counters with a one-two to the body.
Tszyu ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Lopez moves away.
Tszyu looks to land a right hand but Lopez moved out of range.
Tszyu listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Tszyu has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Lopez.
Lopez keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lopez swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Tszyu counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Lopez throws a sloppy body shot
and Tszyu counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lopez lands with a hook. Tszyu tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Tszyu is looking to wear down Lopez with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Tszyu throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Lopez appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Tszyu ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Lopez moves away.
Lopez looks to score with a jab to the body but Tszyu is just out of range.
Tszyu throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Lopez counters with a stiff right hand.
Lopez wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Tszyu keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Lopez moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Tszyu keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Lopez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Frank Lopez's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Tszyu swings widly with a right hand
and Lopez counters with a low kick, right behind Tszyu 's knee.
Nice cross by Tszyu.
Tszyu swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A big right from Lopez misses.
Lopez cracks a nice hook into Tszyu's ribs.
Frank Lopez seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Tszyu misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Tszyu swings and misses with a hook to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lopez throws a right and a left that both miss.
Tszyu seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Tszyu swings for the body but Lopez moves out of range.
Lopez misses with a hook.
It looked like Tszyu was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Lopez.
Lopez throws a body punch but Tszyu moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tszyu lands with a shot to the body.
Lopez misses with a low kick.
Lopez moves away from the strike by Tszyu.
Tszyu misses with a shot to the body
and Lopez cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Tszyu thows a left - swing and a miss!
Lopez throws out a counter right but Tszyu avoids it with no problem.
Tszyu gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Lopez.
Lopez throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Tszyu checks the leg kick.
Tszyu just misses with a punch to the body.
This entire fight has taken place on the feet so far and you wonder whether Tszyu might be better served trying to take this one to the ground because he's losing the standup battle so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lopez avoids the body shot from Tszyu.
Tszyu takes a swing at Lopez's ribcage but misses.
Lopez walks into a stiff left hand from Tszyu.
Lopez ducks right into an uppercut from Tszyu.
Lopez walks into a jab.

Lopez is rocked!

That has opened up Frank Lopez's cut even more.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tszyu misses with a left hand
and Lopez connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Lopez throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Lopez throws a sloppy body shot
and Tszyu counters with a stiff right hand.
Lopez is still on wobbly legs! Can Tszyu finish him?
Lopez connects with an inside leg kick.
Tszyu throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tszyu misses with a body punch
and Lopez cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Lopez seems to have recovered his senses.
Lopez throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Lopez misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Tszyu.
Lopez takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Lopez lands with a shot to the body.
Lopez misses with a series of wild punches.
Tszyu misses with a left hand
and Lopez counters with a head kick.
Lopez misses with a body shot.
Tszyu ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Lopez moves away.
Lopez throws a jab when Tszyu was well out of range.
Tszyu is looking to counter punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tszyu scores with a decent looking hook.
Lopez takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Lopez scores with a leg kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Lopez misses with the combination.
Lopez throws a predictable looking body shot
and Tszyu counters with a lovely straight right hand!

The cut above Frank Lopez's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Tszyu misses with a looping right.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Lopez.
Lopez throws a sloppy head kick
and Tszyu counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Tszyu swings widly with a right hand
and Lopez counters with a nice body shot.
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 Kostya Tszyu will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Frank Lopez's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Tszyu ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Lopez moves away.
Tszyu looks to score with a jab to the body but Lopez is just out of range.
Lopez defending well as Tszyu loads up on a big left hand.
Lopez drops his hands momentarily and Tszyu takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Tszyu looks to throw the jab but Lopez is out of range.
Lopez lands a slapping body shot.
Lopez with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Tszyu to score with a decent uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lopez scores with a nice strike.
Lopez throws a right hand that Tszyu ducks under and follows up with a left that Tszyu also avoids with ease.
Lopez throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lopez throws a big shot that misses.
A cross from Tszyu lands.
Tszyu throws a right hand that misses
and Lopez counters with a thumping low kick.
Tszyu lands with a good body shot.

Tszyu cracks Lopez with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Tszyu has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Lopez to stand back up!
Lopez throws a sloppy head kick
and Tszyu counters with a crisp right that sends Lopez to the canvas! Tszyu follows up with punches from the mount and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:36 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kostya Tszyu!
A relieved looking Kostya Tszyu thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.