PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jeff Messer (ranked 2417 p4p, 97 weight class) and Maxim Popov (ranked 2674 p4p, 104 weight class). Messer comes to the cage accompanied by Lumberjacks march-by Conway Twittie. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Messer
vs
Popov

199 cm
26
300 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

200 cm
27
290 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

Hellraiser FightGear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jeff Messer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Maxim Popov!
The judges for this bout are Francis DeMontford, Ben Hemmingworth and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Popov throws a combination that misses
and Messer counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Popov lands a nice looking body shot.
Popov tries to bum rush Messer with a series of wild strikes but Messer uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Messer jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Messer has been working on his boxing with his coaches at White's ELITE Fitness Gym in the buildup to the fight.
Messer misses with a looping left.
Popov swinging wildly here.
Popov avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Messer keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
It looked like Messer wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Messer avoids a punch combination nicely.
Popov slips a straight right by Messer.
Popov throws the left hand but Messer avoids the punch easily.
Messer swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Popov forces Messer back against the cage and clinches.
Messer taking a breather.
Popov lands with a right to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Messer working aggressively here.
Popov misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Messer misses with a short punch on the inside.
Messer softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Messer misses with a hook to the ribs.
Messer trying to stall but Popov improves his position.
Popov tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Popov.
Messer working aggressively here.
Popov tries a body shot but Messer blocks it.
A head punch on the inside from Messer fails to land.
Messer prevents a body shot from Popov.
Popov lands a left hand that snaps the head of Messer backwards.
Popov presses Messer against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Messer blocks a body shot from Popov.
Popov blocking some punches.
Messer misses with some punches.
Popov lands a shoulder strike.
Messer misses with some punches.
Popov scores with a nice hook to the head.
Messer is breathing heavily.
Messer tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Messer working aggressively here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Popov lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Messer backwards.
A body shot lands from Popov.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Popov tries to throw a body punch but Messer avoids it by throwing Popov back against the cage.
Popov throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Messers head.
Popov lands an uppercut.
Nice body punch from Popov.
Popov lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Popov.
Popov lands an uppercut.
Popov digs a right hand into Messer's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Messer's gas tank.

Popov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Popov drops Messer with a naaaaasty hook - Messer is in real trouble here! Popov dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:38 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Maxim Popov!
Maxim Popov seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.
Jeff Messer spoke after the fight, saying 'Back to the under brush for me to train...'.