PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Serj Khak (ranked 6738 p4p, 178 weight class) and Mongali Samson (ranked 5176 p4p, 136 weight class). Samson has chosen Hosh Tokolosh as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Khak
vs
Samson

200 cm
18
280 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

197 cm
18
276 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Powerful

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Serj Khak!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mongali Samson!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Dillan Fox and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big right from Khak misses.
Khak getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Samson is looking to clinch.
Samson ducks under a wild hook from Khak.
And Samson tries to counter it with a takedown but Khak pushes his down on his head and steps out.
No joy there for Khak, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Samson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
And Samson tries to counter it with a takedown but Khak pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Khak throws a jab but it's blocked by Samson.
Samson slips under a jab.

Khak has taken the fight to the clinch.
Khak is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Samson blocks a punch to the side of the head.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Khak takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khak stalling in the clinch.
Khak seems to have come into the fight with the intention of avoiding any damage in the clinch, rather than actually showing any aggression.
Khak tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Samson's elbow.
Khak is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Samson is trying to break the clinch but Khak has him pressed against the cage.
Khak misses with some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khak fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Khak slows down the pace here.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Khak as Samson tries to tie him up.
Khak misses with the head strike.
Khak definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Samson looking to stall.
Samson being controlled against the cage.
The referee calls for Khak to work.
A head punch on the inside from Khak fails to land.
Khak tries to throw a body punch but Samson avoids it by throwing Khak back against the cage.
Samson stalling in the clinch but Khak improves position.
Khak slows down the pace here.
Samson is trying to stall.
Khak prevents a takedown attempt there.

That's two 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.
Come on Khak - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Khak prevents a body shot from Samson.
Samson tries to stall but Khak uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Khak stalling the fight.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Serj Khak.
Samson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Samson tries to clinch but Khak moves out of range.
Khak scores with a jab. Samson acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Samson showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Khak.

Khak moves into the clinch.
Khak works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Khak stalling in the clinch.
Khak misses with a hook from the clinch.
Samson doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khak misses with a hook from the clinch.
Khak tries a body shot but Samson blocks it.
Khak blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Khak blocks an uppercut.
Khak misses with a hook from the clinch.
Khak fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Samson looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Khak misses with a body punch.
Samson prevents a body shot from Khak.
Samson is looking to control Khak's arms but Khak gets an underhook and turns him. Now Samson has his back to the cage.
Khak is stalling here.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Samson is looking to control Khak's arms but Khak gets an underhook and turns him. Now Samson has his back to the cage.
Samson is trying to slow the pace down but that's a couple of times in a row that he's tried to get underhooks and Khak has denied him.
Khak misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Khak throws a head punch that misses.
Khak lands a hook that snaps the head of Samson backwards.
Samson can't find room to land a body shot as Khak controls the action.
Samson wants to break free but Khak has control.
Samson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Samson tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Khak just stands there and leans against the cage.
Serj Khak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mongali Samson.
Khak tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khak gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Samson.
Khak tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Samson's elbow.
Khak stalling in the clinch but Samson improves position.
Khak prevents a body shot from Samson.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khak.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Khak as Samson tries to tie him up.
Khak looking to slow down the pace here.
Khak scores with a nice hook to the head.
Samson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Khak trying to stall but Samson improves his position.
Khak lands with a left to the head.
Khak tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Samson struggles to land a body shot inside as Khak controls his hands.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Khak is pushing Samson up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Khak misses with a hook to the ribs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Serj Khak dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Samson slips under a jab.
Samson tries to counter by closing the distance.
Samson fails in his attempt to clinch.
Khak misses with a wild body shot.
Samson wants to counter the offense by Khak and move into the clinch position.
Khak throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Samson staying out of range there.
Khak swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
A slow jab from Khak misses its intended target.

Khak has managed to clinch.
Samson wants to break the clinch but can't.
Khak throws a punch but it's blocked by Samson.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Samson fails to pull guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Samson is trying to stall.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Khak as Samson tries to tie him up.
Samson throws a knee to the head but misses.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Khak goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Samson misses with a hook from the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Samson.
Samson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Khak is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Samson is trying to stall.
Samson looking to slow down the pace here.
Khak has a couple of punches blocked by Samson.
Khak displaying some good clinch control by pressing Samson up against the cage.
Khak is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Samson is looking to control Khak's arms but Khak gets an underhook and turns him. Now Samson has his back to the cage.
Khak throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Khak pressing his opponent against the cage.
Serj Khak has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Samson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khak stalls.
Khak swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Samson blocks an uppercut.
Samson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Khak throws a punch but it's blocked by Samson.
Khak is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Samson can do to turn this around?
Khak blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Samson is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Serj Khak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mongali Samson.
Samson blocks a body shot from Khak.
Samson is trying to stall.
Khak doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Khak lands an uppercut.
Khak is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Samson is keeping busy.
Khak blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Samson working aggressively here.
Khak looking to stall.
Khak will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Samson up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khak misses with a body punch.
Khak stalling the fight.
Khak misses with a body punch.
Samson fails to pull guard.
Samson wants to stall.
Khak blocks an uppercut.
Khak misses with the head strike.
Khak stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Samson swings wildly with an uppercut but Khak uses good head movement to avoid it.
Samson misses with a body punch.
Samson is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Khak lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Khak is looking to control Samson's arms but Samson gets an underhook and turns him. Now Khak has his back to the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khak swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Samson wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Samson tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Khak's elbow.
A head punch on the inside from Khak fails to land.
Khak tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Khak is stalling here.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Khak.
A short right from Khak on the inside.
Samson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Khak stalling.
Samson tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Khak just stands there and leans against the cage.
Khak throws a head punch that misses.
Samson wants to break the clinch but can't.
Samson tries to circle away but Khak has him pinned against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Samson wants to stall.
Khak gets underhooks to prevent Samson's takedown attempt.
Khak leaning his opponent against the cage.
Khak misses with a punch to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Serj Khak dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Khak keeps the fight on the outside.
Khak displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Samson.

Khak clinches up with Samson and pushes him back against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Khak misses with a punch on the inside.
Khak taking a breather.
Samson misses with a body punch.
Khak on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Khak prevents a takedown attempt there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khak struggles to land a body shot inside as Samson controls his hands.
Samson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Samson is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Khak is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khak fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Samson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Khak smiles and moves away.
Serj Khak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mongali Samson.
Samson showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Khak.
Khak misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Samson ducks under a wild hook from Khak.
Samson ducks under a wild hook from Khak.

Khak pushes Samson up against the cage in a clinch.
Samson is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Khak to keep the fight standing.
Samson is trying to stall.
Khak prevents a body shot from Samson.
Khak misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Samson wants to get back to striking at distance but Khak won't allow it.
Khak tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Khak.

It looks like Mongali Samson has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khak prevents Samson from breaking the clinch.
Khak gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Samson.
Khak misses with a punch to the body.
Khak pressing his opponent against the cage.
Khak fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Khak blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Samson tries to pull guard but Khak holds him up against the cage and eventually Samson drops back down to his feet.
Khak goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Samson.
Samson is looking to break free of the clinch but Khak has double underhooks.
Khak is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Khak gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Samson.
Khak tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khak swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Samson is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Khak pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Khak tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Samson's elbow.
Khak throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Samsons head.
Samson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Samson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Khak.
Samson tries to land knees in the clinch but Khak avoids the damage to the body.
Samson misses with some punches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khak.
Khak is struggling to control the position.
Khak tries a body shot but Samson blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khak misses with some punches.
Khak can't find room to land a body shot as Samson controls the action.
Khak misses with some punches.
Khak leaning against his opponent.
Khak lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Samson tries to score a body lock takedown but Khak shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Mongali Samson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Samson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Khak working aggressively here.
Samson is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Khak to keep the fight standing.
Khak tries a body shot but Samson blocks it.
Samson tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Khak just stands there and leans against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Samson.
Khak keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Samson's efforts to push away.
Khak stops a takedown attempt from Samson.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Samson misses with some punches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Serj Khak showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Khak has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Serj Khak!