PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mike Charles (ranked 1125 p4p, 141 weight class) and Alexei Chernokov (ranked 1372 p4p, 163 weight class). Charles's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Renegades Of Funk - Rage Against The Machine. Chernokov has chosen Disaster strikes - Mushroom cloud as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Charles
vs
Chernokov

175 cm
28
158 lbs
14 - 3 - 0

174 cm
32
165 lbs
21 - 15 - 2

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

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 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mike Charles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 15 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Alexei Chernokov!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Konstantin Menshow and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A decent looking cross lands there for Chernokov.
Chernokov throws a body punch but Charles moves out of range.
Charles half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Charles defending well as Chernokov loads up on a big left hand.
Charles attempts a counter takedown but Chernokov avoids it well and moves away.

Charles gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Chernokov working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Chernokov postures up and lands a big shot to Charles's brow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Chernokov scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Charles throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Charles wants to sweep but no luck.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Charles throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Chernokov is working Charles over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chernokov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Chernokov wants to pass the guard but Charles is keeping the position.
Charles keeping moving, preventing Chernokov from controlling successfully.

Charles is looking for a triangle but Chernokov pushes his legs off easily.
Chernokov seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Charles looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Chernokov chips away with some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Chernokov content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Charles looking to hit a scissor sweep but Chernokov is one step ahead there.

Charles looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Chernokov passes into half guard.
Nice strikes from Chernokov there.
Chernokov 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.
Chernokov looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Charles makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Charles.
Charles bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Chernokov's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chernokov looking for a sweep. Not yet Chernokov, not yet.
Charles trying to control the position from guard on top but Chernokov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Chernokov doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Charles forces his way into half guard.
Charles uses his free foot to push down on Chernokov's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Chernokov.
Chernokov regains half guard.
Chernokov tries to roll over but Charles keeps him under control.
Chernokov is trying to maintain the position but Charles is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Charles is looking to advance position but Chernokov won't allow it.
Chernokov gets full guard.
Charles preventing the sweep.

Chernokov isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Charles stacks Chernokov on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Charles!
Charles advances to mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Chernokov is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Chernokov dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Chernokov swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Chernokov closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Charles did well to prevent Chernokov getting side control.
Charles gets back to full guard.

Charles looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Charles working for a triangle but Chernokov defends it easily.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Charles is on top in guard.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Chernokov is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Charles defends well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Chernokov has an active guard here but Charles has managed to pass into half guard.
Chernokov landing rabbit punches to the side of Charles's head. Not doing much damage but still scoring a few points.
Charles seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Chernokov does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Chernokov tries to roll over but Charles keeps him under control.
Chernokov won't allow Charles to pass to mount.
Charles passes to side control.

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.
Charles wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chernokov keeps working.
Chernokov manages to work his way to half guard, despite Charles's best efforts.
Charles prevents Chernokov from improving his position.

Chernokov looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Charles looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
We've been hearing good reports from Charles's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

Chernokov actively working from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Charles works his way into side control.
Chernokov manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Charles is pressing down on Chernokov's thigh, looking to free his foot. Chernokov is holding on for now.

Charles looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Chernokov with the active half guard here but Charles passes nicely into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chernokov prevents Charles from moving into mount.
Chernokov manages to get back to half guard.
Charles prevents Chernokov from improving his position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Charles tries to pass to full mount but Chernokov defends it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Mike Charles will probably get the nod.
That's time! Charles's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Charles gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Chernokov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Chernokov postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Chernokov postures up in Charles's guard and throws a big left but Charles blocks it.
Charles looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Chernokov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Chernokov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Chernokov throws a big right hand that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Chernokov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Chernokov wants to control from the top but Charles keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chernokov has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Chernokov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Chernokov trying to control but Charles is working from the bottom.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Chernokov throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Charles works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Chernokov throwing strikes from guard but Charles blocks nicely.
Chernokov stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Charles swivels though and keeps the full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Chernokov misses with a straight right.
Chernokov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Charles manages to avoid it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Chernokov instigates a clinch.
Chernokov misses with a punch to the body.
Chernokov can't find room to land a body shot as Charles controls the action.
Chernokov misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Chernokov throws a punch but it's blocked by Charles.
Charles tries to score a body lock takedown but Chernokov shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Chernokov.
Chernokov stops a takedown attempt from Charles.
Charles stalling the fight.
Chernokov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Charles dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

Chernokov decides to pull guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Chernokov is on top in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chernokov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Chernokov loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Chernokov trying to control the position from guard on top but Charles is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Chernokov looking to sit in guard and control but Charles gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Charles looking to pass the guard.

Chernokov is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Charles is aware though and is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Chernokov is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Chernokov has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Charles can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Chernokov is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Chernokov not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Charles is looking to control Chernokov's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Charles avoid being mounted?
Chernokov thows a huge punch but Charles dodges it nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alexei Chernokov comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Chernokov has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alexei Chernokov!
An out of breath Alexei Chernokov thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.