PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Azumah Nelson (ranked 1935 p4p, 197 weight class) and Alexandr Nikitin (ranked 2204 p4p, 221 weight class). Nikitin is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Smack My Bitch Up . Azumah Nelson is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Nelson
vs
Nikitin

178 cm
27
148 lbs
14 - 7 - 1

170 cm
35
166 lbs
26 - 27 - 5

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Humanoid Nutrition (160Q for 180$)

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 14 - 7 - 1, fighting out of New York, Azumah Nelson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 27 - 5, fighting out of Sydney, Alexandr Nikitin!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Jorge Garcia and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nelson misses the shot to the body.
Nelson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Nikitin manages to avoid it.
Nelson is looking to score with low kicks.
Nelson moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Nikitin has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Nelson is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Nelson lands a glancing blow to the side of Nikitin's head.
Azumah Nelson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nelson misses with a looping left.
Nelson seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Nelson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Nikitin.
Nikitin throws the left hand but Nelson avoids the punch easily.
Nelson takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Nelson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Nikitin manages to avoid it.
Nelson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Nikitin sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Nikitin ducks right into an uppercut from Nelson.
A slow jab from Nelson misses its intended target.
Nelson with a hook.
Nikitin moves out of range of the strikes.
Nelson takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nikitin uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Nelson.
Nikitin now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Nelson misses with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson stuns Nikitin with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Nelson throws a hook but Nikitin avoids it easily.
Nelson scores with a jab to the jaw.
Nelson waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Nikitin.
Nikitin appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Nikitin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Nelson was well out of range. Poor timing from Nikitin.
Nelson scores with a sloppy right hand. Nikitin should have avoided that one.
Nikitin throws a looping overhand right but Nelson ducks down to avoid it.
Nelson scores with a decent looking hook.
Nice sprawl there from Nelson as Nikitin shoots in.
Nelson connects with the punch.
Nelson gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Nikitin.
Nelson lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nikitin circles away quickly and effectively.
Nelson is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Nelson stalks Nikitin and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Nikitin's face. Nikitin staggers backwards, shaken.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nelson misses with a right hand
and Nikitin counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Sloppy strikes from Nelson. Those never looked like landing.

Nikitin forces Nelson back against the cage and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nikitin has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Nelson is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Nikitin is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Nelson pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Azumah Nelson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alexandr Nikitin.
Nikitin goes for a takedown attempt but Nelson pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Nelson throws a hook but Nikitin avoids it easily.
A little jabbing left from Nikitin on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Nelson connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Nikitin lands a nice shot to the body.
Nelson is looking to slow Nikitin down with leg kicks.
Nikitin misses with a looping left.
Nikitin blocks a jab.
Nelson throws a lazy uppercut
letting Nikitin counter with a right hand.
Nelson feints a jab promting Nikitin to slip. Nelson then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Nikitin slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Nikitin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Nelson.
Nelson bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nelson stalks Nikitin and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Nikitin's face. Nikitin staggers backwards, shaken.
Nikitin moves out of range as Nelson strikes.
Nikitin appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Nikitin connects with a body shot.
Nikitin throws out a loose jab but Nelson uses good head movement to avoid it.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Nikitin is defended easily by Nelson.
Nelson goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Nelson scores with a sloppy right hand. Nikitin should have avoided that one.
Nikitin changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Nelson throws a half hearted mid kick.
Nikitin ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Nelson lands a nice hook to Nikitin's body. Nikitin takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Nikitin ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Nelson moves away.
Sloppy strikes from Nelson. Those never looked like landing.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nikitin blocks the body kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nikitin is looking to clinch.
Nelson misses with a right hand
and Nikitin counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Nelson keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Nelson misses with an attempted mid kick.
Nikitin changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Nikitin fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Nelson looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Nelson, right into the meat.
Nelson 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.
Nelson looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
A countering left hand to the body from Nikitin misses.
Nikitin misses with a low kick.
Nelson misses with a wild body shot.
A countering left hand to the body from Nikitin misses.
Nelson delivers a nice body kick.
Nelson swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
A countering left hand to the body from Nikitin misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A combination from Nelson does no damage.
Nelson motions for Nikitin to come forward. Nelson throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Nikitin lands a nice looking body shot.
Nelson throws a chopping leg kick but Nikitin manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
A countering left hand to the body from Nikitin misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Azumah Nelson dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nelson throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
A left and a right from Nelson both land. Nice combination.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Nelson here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Nikitin slips under a jab.
Nikitin is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Nelson with a body shot.
Azumah Nelson is winning the standup battle so far.
Some wild striking there from Nelson.
Nelson checks a leg kick.
Nelson rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Nikitin counters with a nice uppercut.
Nikitin misses with a body shot.
Nikitin misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nelson.
Nelson swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Nelson looks to land a body kick but Nikitin moved away.
Nelson looks to land a left hand but Nikitin moved out of range nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nelson throws a looping overhand right but Nikitin ducks down to avoid it.
Nikitin uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Nelson.
Nikitin doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Nelson falls off balance throwing a combination

and Nikitin counters with a single leg into guard. Nelson didn't expect that.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nikitin wants to pass the guard but Nelson is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nelson is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Nelson is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Nikitin working some strikes from top position.
Nelson working a defensive guard here.
Nelson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nikitin can do to turn this around?

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Nikitin thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Nikitin throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Nikitin looking to pass the guard.
Nelson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Nikitin drops back looking for a leg! Nelson is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Nelson manages to kick Nikitin off! Nikitin jumps back into Nelson's guard.
Nikitin postures up in Nelson's guard and throws a big left but Nelson blocks it.
Nikitin looking to sit in guard and control but Nelson gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Nikitin manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nelson manages to get himself to full guard.

Nikitin working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nikitin trying to control the position from guard on top but Nelson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nelson controls Nikitin momentarily but Nikitin frees himself.
Nikitin is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Nikitin pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Nelson is keeping the position for now.
Nikitin is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Nelson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Nikitin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Nikitin missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Nelson lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Nikitin tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Nikitin is trying to control the position but Nelson postures up.

Nikitin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Nelson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Nikitin has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Nelson is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Nikitin.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Alexandr Nikitin will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A slapping leg kick lands for Nelson.
Nikitin is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Nelson rather than just go for the knockout.
Nikitin dives in and grabs Nelson's left leg, looking for a takedown. Nelson pushes down on Nikitin's head and hops out.
The fighters circling - Nelson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Nelson misses with a wild combination.
Nikitin tries to close the distance and clinch but Nelson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A slow jab from Nelson misses its intended target.
Nikitin let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Nelson paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Nelson.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nikitin throws a body punch but Nelson moves out of range.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Nelson. Nikitin shrugs it off though.
A shot to the liver by Nikitin. Beautiful body shot.
Nelson moves away from the strike by Nikitin.
Nikitin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Nelson is fending him off so far but Nikitin persists. Nope, Nelson circles away and we're back to standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Nikitin looking to score a takedown here. Nelson is defending well but Nikitin drives through and ends up in Nelson's guard.
Nelson trying to keep a closed guard but Nikitin is proving a slippery customer.
Nikitin missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Nelson is adopting a defensive guard.
Nelson is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nikitin is controlling him.
Nikitin missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Nikitin is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Nelson is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Nelson has escaped and now he's on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nelson trying to control the position from guard on top but Nikitin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Alexandr Nikitin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Azumah Nelson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nikitin looking to control.

Nikitin has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Nelson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nelson wants to get up but he can't break Nikitin's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nikitin looking for subs off his back but Nelson has passed one foot through into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nikitin is looking to improve his position.
Nelson content to control rather than advance.
Nelson tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Nelson looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Alexandr Nikitin has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nikitin is looking to improve his position.
Nelson controlling the pace.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Nelson misses with a hook. Nikitin ducked under it nicely.
Nikitin uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Nelson.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nikitin throws a hook to the side of Nelson's head but Nelson sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Nikitin takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Nelson looks to score with a jab to the body but Nikitin is just out of range.
Nelson's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Nelson duly obliges.

And that's the end of the fight!
Azumah Nelson showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Nelson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 David Schapiro scores the fight for Azumah Nelson!
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight for Azumah Nelson!
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight for Azumah Nelson!

Azumah Nelson wins by unanimous decision!