PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Cole Taggart (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andrey Eremeev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Taggart
vs
Eremeev

169 cm
37
160 lbs
21 - 14 - 0

189 cm
28
165 lbs
13 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
KO power

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Heavy handed

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 21 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Cole Taggart!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 11 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Andrey Eremeev!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shirou Masuda and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Eremeev moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Eremeev throws a poor cross that misses
and Taggart counters with a nice uppercut.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Taggart darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Taggart connects with an inside leg kick.
Taggart throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Taggart takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Taggart throws a jab when Eremeev was well out of range.
Taggart swings for the body but Eremeev moves out of range.
Taggart tried to score with a low kick but Eremeev checks it.
Taggart on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Taggart ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A telegraphed right hand from Taggart misses the target.
Eremeev misses the shot to the body.
Taggart misses with a head kick.
A countering left hand to the body from Eremeev misses.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Taggart thows a leg kick but Eremeev checks it
and Eremeev cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Taggart throws a nice inside leg kick.
Eremeev rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Taggart makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Eremeev avoids a kick to the body.
A chopping leg kick lands by Taggart.
Eremeev throws a hook but Taggart blocks it.
As Eremeev backs away, Taggart returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Eremeev just misses with a punch to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taggart scores with a spinning back kick!
Eremeev shoots for a double leg takedown but Taggart sprawls well. He's pushed Eremeev's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Taggart connects with an inside leg kick.
Nice takedown defense from Taggart. No joy for Eremeev on that attempt.
Eremeev shoots in looking for a takedown. Taggart tries to sprawl out of it but Eremeev keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Taggart manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Cole Taggart has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Andrey Eremeev.
Eremeev keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Cole Taggart is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Taggart misses with a leg kick.
Taggart throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Eremeev on the side of the head.
Eremeev is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Taggart finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Eremeev throws a right and a left that Taggart avoids nicely.
Taggart throws a head kick but Eremeev moves out of range.
Eremeev looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Taggart slips under a jab from Eremeev.
Eremeev thows a left - swing and a miss!
Taggart misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eremeev uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Taggart.
Eremeev scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Taggart doesn't seem bothered though.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Taggart tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Eremeev was well out of range. Poor timing from Taggart.
Taggart thumps Eremeev with a low kick.
Eremeev misses with an uppercut. Taggart saw that one coming.
Eremeev with a jab.
Eremeev shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Taggart as he avoids it easily.
Eremeev changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Taggart tries to avoid it but Eremeev manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Taggart to the ground. Taggart escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Eremeev misses with a takedown
and Taggart makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Eremeev shoots in looking for a takedown but Taggart manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Eremeev's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Taggart tries to land a front kick but Eremeev steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Taggart misses with a hook. Eremeev ducked under it nicely.
Eremeev missing with a left hand there. Taggart was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Taggart throws a nice inside leg kick.
Eremeev avoids the head kick by Taggart.
Taggart goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Eremeev swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taggart moves away from the strike by Eremeev.
Eremeev throws a good cross that connects.
Taggart misses with a low kick.
Eremeev connects with a body shot.
Horrible takedown attempt by Eremeev or perhaps it was just good defense by Taggart, which made it look bad.
Eremeev waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Taggart.
An inside leg kick from Taggart misses.
Eremeev walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Eremeev misses with a hook.
Eremeev on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Taggart throws a big shot that misses.
Eremeev looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Taggart cracks the inside of Eremeev's front leg.
Eremeev throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
You can see that Eremeev has visibly slowed down as a result of the leg kicks
Eremeev misses with a double jab
and Taggart counters with a two punch combo.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Taggart stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Eremeev checks the leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taggart pivots, looking for a leg kick but Eremeev is out of range and Taggart settles back down.
Taggart throws a push kick but Eremeev slaps the foot to one side.
Taggart misses with a looping right.
Taggart misses with a wild body shot.
A bone on bone clash there as Eremeev blocks the leg kick.
Eremeev misses with a jab, cross combination.
Taggart looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Eremeev staying out of range there.
Taggart tries to work over Eremeev's front leg with a kick but Eremeev checks it.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Eremeev.
Taggart scoring well with a low kick there.
Eremeev swings for the body but Taggart moves out of range.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Taggart bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Taggart fires out a quick counter leg kick but Eremeev just manages to avoid it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Taggart. Eremeev does a little dance to reset his feet.
Taggart is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Taggart throws a low kick but it's checked well by Eremeev.
Donk. Eremeev catches Taggart right on the button with a cross.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cole Taggart dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Eremeev looks to land a left hand but Taggart moved out of range nicely.
Eremeev stuns Taggart with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Taggart is looking to score with low kicks.
Eremeev throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Eremeev ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Taggart moves away.

Eremeev looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Taggart is looking for a sweep. Eremeev is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Eremeev lands with a punch from half guard.
Eremeev working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Eremeev prevents Taggart from standing back up.
Eremeev scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Taggart is trying to stand back up but Eremeev is controlling him
Taggart is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Eremeev can do to turn this around?
Taggart is not content to let Eremeev control the position.
Eremeev stops Taggart from getting back to his feet.
Taggart wants to improve his position but Eremeev is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eremeev trying to control the action but Taggart is working from the bottom.
Taggart tries to roll over but Eremeev keeps him under control.
Taggart looks like he's trying to stand up.
Eremeev takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Taggart is trying to stand.
Eremeev slips a nice elbow through Taggart's hands, connecting with Taggart's forehead.
Taggart has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Eremeev is working away from the top position though.
Taggart taking some punishment here, with Eremeev in his half guard.
Taggart trying to hold on to Eremeev's head to control him but Eremeev postures up.
Eremeev is trying to control the action in half guard but Taggart is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Taggart knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Eremeev on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taggart is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Eremeev scores with a couple of nice shots.
Eremeev scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Eremeev takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Eremeev working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Eremeev lands strikes from half guard.
Eremeev has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Taggart wants to control but Eremeev is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Taggart is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Eremeev is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Andrey Eremeev has got the better of the ground game so far.
Eremeev scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Eremeev has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at St Petersburg MMA Gym. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Eremeev landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Taggart on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Eremeev landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Taggart tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Eremeev has advanced to mount. Uh oh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Eremeev prevents Taggart from getting the reversal.
Taggart is bucking up trying to escape but Eremeev cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Eremeev lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Taggart can't escape the position.
Taggart tries to hold on but Eremeev pushes him away.
Eremeev working the ground and pound effectively.
Eremeev with a couple of short strikes.
Taggart is looking to get to half guard.
Taggart in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Taggart is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taggart really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Taggart takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Taggart tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Eremeev lands a heavy elbow.

Taggart is rocked!
Eremeev lands a heavy shot. That's hurt Taggart! Eremeev sees the opportunity and turns up the heat - strike after strike land to the defenseless Taggart and the ref dives in to save him! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:38 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Andrey Eremeev!
A relieved looking Andrey Eremeev thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.
Cole Taggart spoke after the fight, saying 'I would like to thank all the fans for turning up. But today dawns the end of my MMA career. I would like to officially announce my retirement. Thanks to the promotion and good luck to my opponent.'.