PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rustam Shakhbulatov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jay Kulina (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shakhbulatov comes to the cage accompanied by Sabina Saidova - Dagestan. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Shakhbulatov
vs
Kulina

178 cm
25
166 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

178 cm
25
160 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rustam Shakhbulatov!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jay Kulina!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Alan Glass and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kulina gets a clinch.
Shakhbulatov jumps guard but Kulina stands there with Shakhbulatov around his waist. Shakhbulatov gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Shakhbulatov fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Shakhbulatov is trying to drag Kulina to the mat but Kulina just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rustam Shakhbulatov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kulina swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Shakhbulatov blocks an uppercut.
Kulina lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Kulina throws a punch but it's blocked by Shakhbulatov.
Kulina tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Shakhbulatov's elbow.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Kulina.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shakhbulatov is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Kulina to keep the fight standing.
I was talking to Shakhbulatov's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kulina.
Shakhbulatov blocks a body shot from Kulina.
Kulina lands a body punch.
Kulina misses with a punch on the inside.
Shakhbulatov wants a takedown but no success here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shakhbulatov fails to pull guard.
Kulina scores with a shot to the side of Shakhbulatov's head.
A short left from Kulina.
Shakhbulatov is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Kulina to keep the fight standing.
Still in the clinch, Kulina scores with a nice short uppercut.
Kulina scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Kulina has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Shakhbulatov seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Kulina can turn it around.

Shakhbulatov drags the fight down to the ground.
Kulina's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Shakhbulatov throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Shakhbulatov has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Kulina can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Kulina is sitting in close to Shakhbulatov's body. Shakhbulatov has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Kulina is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Kulina is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Shakhbulatov.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Rustam Shakhbulatov!
Rustam Shakhbulatov is the new lightweight champion!
Rustam Shakhbulatov decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.