PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ezequiel Norton (ranked 24993 p4p, 0 weight class) and Musti Nemodekov (ranked 4622 p4p, 522 weight class). Nemodekov has chosen Chechen Mob Song as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Norton
vs
Nemodekov

195 cm
18
214 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

184 cm
25
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ezequiel Norton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Musti Nemodekov!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Dmitry Maklakov and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nemodekov shoots in looking for a takedown. Norton tries to sprawl out of it but Nemodekov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Norton manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Norton misses with a takedown attempt
and Nemodekov cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

It looks like Ezequiel Norton has been cut.
Norton misses with a kick to the body

and Nemodekov counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

Nemodekov seems to be looking for submissions.
Norton is trying is best to control the position here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nemodekov seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Norton is controlling Nemodekov's trapped leg to prevent Nemodekov from advancing to side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nemodekov wants to free his trapped foot but Norton is holding on for dear life with his legs.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Nice strikes from Nemodekov there.
Nemodekov with the ground and pound but Norton uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Nemodekov trying to stand up but can't free himself from Norton's guard.
Norton will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Norton has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Nemodekov with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Norton is controlling Nemodekov's posture.
Nemodekov trying to control the position from guard on top but Norton is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nemodekov is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Nemodekov manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Norton on his heels. He'll look to pass Norton's guard now, I'm sure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nemodekov looking to sit in guard and control but Norton gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Nemodekov is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Norton postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Nemodekov tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Norton connects with a couple of short punches.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Nemodekov can do anything to dispel that myth.
Norton postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Nemodekov is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Norton stopping the sweep attempt from Nemodekov.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nemodekov is looking to stand back up but Norton counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Nemodekov.
Nemodekov is trying to stand back up but Norton is controlling him
Nemodekov is looking to control Norton's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Nemodekov avoid being mounted?
Nemodekov is trying to get back to full guard.
Norton scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Norton thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Norton 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.
Nemodekov wants to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Musti Nemodekov will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Ezequiel Norton's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nemodekov connects with a looping right hand.
Nemodekov slaps away a takedown attempt from Norton, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Nemodekov dives in for a single leg takedown but Norton sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

Norton fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Nemodekov sprawls well initially but Norton persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Nemodekov avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Norton.
Norton throwing shots but Nemodekov is blocking nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nemodekov trying to control here.

Norton moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Nemodekov.
Norton landing a few strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Norton creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Nemodekov is trying to get back to half guard.
Nemodekov struggling a bit here.
Norton scores with a couple of short elbows.
Nemodekov looking for a sweep but Norton has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Norton scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Norton with the ground and pound from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Norton has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nemodekov's face.
Nemodekov in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Norton is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nemodekov can do to turn this around?
Nemodekov tries to hold on but Norton postures up.
Norton cracks Nemodekov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Nemodekov is desperately trying to improve his position but Norton has a good base and remains in mount.
Nemodekov keeps trying to improve his position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nemodekov is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Norton lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Nemodekov hang on?
Norton pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Norton working the ground and pound effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Norton lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Nemodekov is in all sorts of trouble here.
Norton with the ground and pound from mount.
Norton landing strikes from the mount and Nemodekov is in trouble!
Norton with good strikes from the mount here!
Norton avoids the attempt from Nemodekov to control.
Nemodekov in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Norton raining down shots from the mount!
Norton avoids the attempt from Nemodekov to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Norton looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Nemodekov is looking to get to half guard.
Nemodekov tries to hold on but Norton pushes him away.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nemodekov is trying to escape the mount.
Norton with good strikes from the mount here!
Nemodekov working to try and regain half guard.
Nemodekov takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ezequiel Norton dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ezequiel Norton's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Norton tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Nemodekov defends well and Norton ends up having to push Nemodekov into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Norton shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Nemodekov manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Nemodekov tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Nemodekov is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Norton is in close to Nemodekov's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Norton is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Norton postures up and lands a big shot to Nemodekov's brow.
Nemodekov doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Nemodekov preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Nemodekov working a defensive guard but Norton passes into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Norton connects with a nice short shot to Nemodekov's temple.
Nemodekov avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Norton.
Norton has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Nemodekov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Norton is working away from the top position though.
Nemodekov might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Norton haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Ezequiel Norton overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Norton is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Norton lands with a punch from half guard.
Nemodekov trying to control here.
Nemodekov is trying to stand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Norton lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Nemodekov is looking to control Norton's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Nemodekov avoid being mounted?
Norton is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Nemodekov wants to get back to his feet.
Norton is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Norton drops an elbow to the side of Nemodekov's head.
Norton prevents Nemodekov from improving his position.
Ground and pound from Norton.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Norton is nestled in close to Nemodekov, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Nemodekov looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Nemodekov avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Norton.
Norton is nestled in close to Nemodekov, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Nemodekov is trying to get back to full guard.
Nemodekov controlling the position well.
Norton lands with a punch from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nemodekov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Norton is working away from the top position though.
Nemodekov wants to improve his position but Norton is controlling well.
Nemodekov is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Norton scores with a couple of nice shots.
Nemodekov looks like he's trying to stand up.
Nemodekov wants to improve his position but Norton is controlling well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Norton looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Nemodekov with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Norton looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ezequiel Norton showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Norton 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ezequiel Norton!