PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Shin Dong Hyuk (ranked 734 p4p, 82 weight class) and Segey Taranin (ranked 2482 p4p, 229 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Dong Hyuk
vs
Taranin

167 cm
38
145 lbs
37 - 18 - 3

166 cm
30
159 lbs
16 - 9 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Riner Clothing and Laundry (85%)

Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 37 - 18 - 3, fighting out of Los Angeles, Shin Dong Hyuk!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Segey Taranin!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Richard Clark and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice cross by Dong Hyuk.
Taranin misses with an uppercut.
Taranin shoots in looking for a takedown but Dong Hyuk manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Taranin's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Taranin tries for a takedown but Dong Hyuk sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Dong Hyuk misses with an uppercut.
Taranin uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Dong Hyuk.
Taranin bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Taranin on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Dong Hyuk throws a low kick but Taranin avoids it.
Taranin takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Taranin looks to land a combination but Dong Hyuk avoids it well.
Taranin swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Dong Hyuk connects with a solid leg kick.
Dong Hyuk misses with a looping left.
And Taranin tries to counter it with a takedown but Dong Hyuk pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Dong Hyuk lunges at Taranin with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Taranin's hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Taranin misses with a shot to the body
and Dong Hyuk counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Dong Hyuk looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Dong Hyuk steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Taranin.
Taranin shoots for a double leg takedown but Dong Hyuk sprawls well. He's pushed Taranin's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Dong Hyuk throwing a counter right hand but Taranin manages to avoid it.
Shin Dong Hyuk has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Segey Taranin.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dong Hyuk throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Shin Dong Hyuk is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Jab by Taranin.
Dong Hyuk moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Dong Hyuk punishes Taranin's body with a nice straight punch.
Dong Hyuk scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Taranin fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Dong Hyuk scores with the left hand. Taranin knows he should have avoided that one.
Dong Hyuk throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Dong Hyuk feints and then cracks Taranin's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Taranin down.
Dong Hyuk connects with a leg kick. Taranin looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Dong Hyuk throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Taranin scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Taranin slips a jab and a cross from Dong Hyuk.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Decent striking displayed by Taranin there.
Dong Hyuk scoring well with a low kick there.
Dong Hyuk paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Taranin misses the body punch
and Dong Hyuk counters with a nice low kick that buckles Taranin's knee momentarily.
Dong Hyuk throws a looping overhand right but Taranin ducks down to avoid it.
Taranin tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Dong Hyuk looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
The fighters circling - Dong Hyuk throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dong Hyuk ducks under a wild hook from Taranin.
Dong Hyuk listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Dong Hyuk moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Dong Hyuk is looking to slow Taranin down with leg kicks.
Dong Hyuk throws out a loose jab but Taranin uses good head movement to avoid it.
Dong Hyuk misses with an uppercut. Taranin saw that one coming.
Dong Hyuk lands with a cross.
Taranin lands with a nice body punch.
A clash of legs there as Taranin blocks the low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taranin throws a shot from downtown. Dong Hyuk moves away and avoids it.
Taranin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Dong Hyuk was well out of range. Poor timing from Taranin.
Dong Hyuk is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Dong Hyuk feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Taranin's calf.
Dong Hyuk lands a right hook to the body.
Dong Hyuk showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Taranin.
Dong Hyuk half committed to a counter leg kick.
Dong Hyuk pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Dong Hyuk lands a slapping body shot.
Dong Hyuk gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Dong Hyuk misses with a low kick.
Dong Hyuk dips to his left and cracks Taranin with an uppercut!
Dong Hyuk lands a nice shot that snaps Taranin's head back.
Taranin throws a series of punches but Dong Hyuk moves out of range.
Dong Hyuk misses with a looping right.
Taranin swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dong Hyuk throws a right and a left that Taranin avoids nicely.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Dong Hyuk looks to land a combination but Taranin avoids it well.
Taranin blocks a low kick nicely.
A looping hook to the body misses from Taranin. Dong Hyuk does a little dance to reset his feet.
A chopping leg kick lands by Dong Hyuk.
Taranin missing with a left hand there. Dong Hyuk was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Taranin tries for a takedown but Dong Hyuk sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Taranin swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Dong Hyuk counters with a low kick, right behind Taranin 's knee.
Dong Hyuk throws a hook but Taranin blocks it.
A chopping leg kick lands by Dong Hyuk.
Dong Hyuk misses with a body shot.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Taranin throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Taranin missing with a left hand there. Dong Hyuk was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Dong Hyuk scores with a jab.
Taranin fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Nice straight punches there by Dong Hyuk. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Dong Hyuk.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Dong Hyuk.
Dong Hyuk throws a solid leg kick but Taranin takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Dong Hyuk.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Taranin.
Taranin avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Dong Hyuk scores with a jab to the jaw.
The fighters circling - Taranin throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dong Hyuk just misses with a punch to the body.
Taranin's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Dong Hyuk feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Taranins jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Dong Hyuk throws a nice outside leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Taranin scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Dong Hyuk is looking to reverse the position.
You can see the frustration on Dong Hyuk's face as Taranin controls the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taranin throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Dong Hyuk is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Taranin can do to turn this around?
Dong Hyuk tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Taranin wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Taranin cracks Dong Hyuk with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Dong Hyuk tries to buck Taranin off but Taranin is having none of it.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Dong Hyuk is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Dong Hyuk tries to get to full guard but Taranin has control of the leg.
Taranin wants to control but Dong Hyuk is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Taranin seems content to control.
Dong Hyuk gets full guard.
Dong Hyuk looking to control but Taranin passes into half guard.
Dong Hyuk works his way to full guard. Good work.
Taranin controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Dong Hyuk is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dong Hyuk keeping moving, preventing Taranin from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Dong Hyuk misses with a right hand
and Taranin counters with a nice uppercut.
Taranin waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Dong Hyuk.
Taranin closes this distance looking for a takedown but Dong Hyuk circles away.
Dong Hyuk throws a hook but Taranin blocks it.
Taranin misses with a jab to the body
and Dong Hyuk counters with a nice body shot.
Dong Hyuk tries to score with a low kick but Taranin moves his leg out of the way.
Dong Hyuk misses with a combination
and Taranin counters with a nice body shot.
Taranin fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Dong Hyuk avoids it really well and circles away.
Shin Dong Hyuk has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Segey Taranin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dong Hyuk looks to land a left hand but Taranin moved out of range nicely.
Dong Hyuk lands a jab-cross combination.
Nice uppercut lands for Taranin. That snapped Dong Hyuk's head back.
Dong Hyuk throws the left hand but Taranin avoids the punch easily.
Taranin bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Taranin fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Taranin waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Dong Hyuk.
Dong Hyuk dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Dong Hyuk scores with the left hand. Taranin knows he should have avoided that one.
An inside leg kick from Dong Hyuk misses.
Taranin misses with a hook
and Dong Hyuk counters with a nice body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Taranin. Dong Hyuk does a little dance to reset his feet.
Dong Hyuk throws an overhand right that lands on Taranin's shoulder, as Taranin tries to avoid the shot.
Taranin misses with a jab to the body
and Dong Hyuk counters with a series of strikes. Taranin will be more careful next time no doubt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shin Dong Hyuk dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

The fighters circling - Dong Hyuk throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dong Hyuk tries to score with a low kick but Taranin moves his leg out of the way.
Dong Hyuk throws out a loose jab but Taranin uses good head movement to avoid it.
Dong Hyuk throws a leg kick but Taranin sees it coming and moves out of range.
A left lands for Dong Hyuk.
A slapping leg kick lands for Dong Hyuk.
Taranin misses with a few strikes there.
Dong Hyuk lands with a thumping leg kick.
Taranin blocks a low kick nicely.
Dong Hyuk jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Taranin has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dong Hyuk throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Taranin misses with a hook
and Dong Hyuk counters with an outside leg kick.
Taranin scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Taranin misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Dong Hyuk.
Dong Hyuk misses with a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taranin lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Dong Hyuk backs up against the cage.
Dong Hyuk changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Dong Hyuk misses with a straight left.
Taranin changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Shin Dong Hyuk is winning the standup battle so far.
Dong Hyuk wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Dong Hyuk fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Taranin.
Taranin fails to land with a series of punches.
Taranin is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Dong Hyuk ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Taranin moves away.
Dong Hyuk lands with a cross.
Taranin fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Dong Hyuk manages to avoid it.
Dong Hyuk defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Taranin.
Dong Hyuk ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Taranin moves away.
Dong Hyuk throws a low kick, looking for Taranin's leg but Taranin calmly moves out of range.
Dong Hyuk pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Segey Taranin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Taranin fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Taranin throws a combination. Dong Hyuk tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Dong Hyuk uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Taranin swings widly with a right hand
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Dong Hyuk bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Taranin's head.
Dong Hyuk is looking to slow Taranin down with leg kicks.
Nice uppercut there from Dong Hyuk.
Taranin with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Dong Hyuk scores with a jab. Taranin acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Dong Hyuk will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Dong Hyuk throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Good exchange - Dong Hyuk coming out on top.
Dong Hyuk throws an overhand right that lands on Taranin's shoulder, as Taranin tries to avoid the shot.
Dong Hyuk's jab looks to have found its range, popping Taranin under the eye.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dong Hyuk misses with a wild body shot.
A jab from Taranin finds it's way through Dong Hyuk's defenses.
Good leg kick by Dong Hyuk there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Dong Hyuk paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Taranin misses with a straight left.
Dong Hyuk paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Taranin rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Dong Hyuk connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Dong Hyuk defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Taranin.
A good leg kick by Dong Hyuk.
Dong Hyuk walks into a left hand.
Dong Hyuk throws a leg kick but Taranin sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Dong Hyuk throws a body shot but no joy.
Taranin feints the counter takedown.
Dong Hyuk's corner calls for a 1-2. Dong Hyuk obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Taranin takes a head kick and keeps coming.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Dong Hyuk uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Taranin.
Dong Hyuk jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Dong Hyuk fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Taranin.
Dong Hyuk looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Taranin thuds his right hand into Dong Hyuk's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Dong Hyuk is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Taranin.
Taranin has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Dong Hyuk finds it's way round the side to connect with Taranin's head.
Taranin misses with a straight right.
Taranin throws a series of punches but Dong Hyuk avoids them all with ease.
Dong Hyuk jabs at Taranin's body.
Taranin throws a right and a left that Dong Hyuk avoids nicely.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Taranin throws a body punch but Dong Hyuk moves out of range.
Nice defenses there by Taranin.
And Taranin tries to counter it with a takedown but Dong Hyuk pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Dong Hyuk swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Taranin.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shin Dong Hyuk showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Dong Hyuk, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shin Dong Hyuk!
After winning the bout, Shin Dong Hyuk thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.