PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Denis Mamaev (ranked 1803 p4p, 251 weight class) and Ken Kaneki (ranked 2850 p4p, 364 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Mamaev might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to 30 Seconds To Mars - Hurricane. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Mamaev
vs
Kaneki

200 cm
20
210 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

185 cm
19
210 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Arcticus University: London

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Denis Mamaev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ken Kaneki!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Chris Downing and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mamaev misses with a body shot.
Kaneki throws a low kick, looking for Mamaev's leg but Mamaev calmly moves out of range.
Mamaev is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Mamaev connects with a body shot.
Mamaev chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Kaneki can pounce on him.
Kaneki tries to clinch there but Mamaev circles away.
Mamaev looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kaneki throws a front kick that sends Mamaev stumbling back into the cage.
Kaneki misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Mamaev is struggling to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mamaev wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A head punch on the inside from Mamaev fails to land.
Mamaev doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kaneki is pushing Mamaev up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Mamaev is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Kaneki stalling against the cage.
Kaneki scores a nice knee to the body.
Kaneki is pushing Mamaev up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Mamaev is looking to break free of the clinch but Kaneki has double underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Mamaev misses with the head strike.
Kaneki with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Mamaev stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Kaneki content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Kaneki missing with knees to the body.
Kaneki leaning against his opponent.
Nice elbow from Kaneki.

It looks like Denis Mamaev has been cut.
Mamaev is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Mamaev tries to throw a body punch but Kaneki avoids it by throwing Mamaev back against the cage.
Kaneki missing with knees to the body.
Kaneki is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Mamaev is keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mamaev misses with some punches.
Kaneki missing with knees to the body.
Kaneki misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mamaev.
Kaneki missing with knees to the body.
Mamaev doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Mamaev is struggling to control the position.
Mamaev throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
The referee calls for Mamaev to work.
Mamaev blocks an elbow strike from Kaneki.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mamaev misses with a body punch.
Kaneki throws a knee to the head but misses.
Mamaev goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Kaneki pressing his opponent against the cage.
Kaneki working Mamaev over with knees to the body.
A frustrated look appears on Mamaev's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Kaneki leaning his opponent against the cage.
Mamaev slowing the pace effectively.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kaneki's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ken Kaneki dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Denis Mamaev's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Kaneki goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Mamaev jinks towards his opponent looking like he wants to counter with a mid kick but doesn't commit.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Kaneki, right into the meat.
Mamaev dips to his left and cracks Kaneki with an uppercut!
Kaneki doesn't manage to clinch there - Mamaev circles away.
Kaneki throws a push kick but Mamaev slaps the foot to one side.
Kaneki tries to clinch up but Mamaev circles away and keeps his distance.
Kaneki cracks the inside of Mamaev's front leg.
Kaneki takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Kaneki is looking to chop away at Mamaev's legs.
Mamaev misses with a wild body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mamaev throws out a loose jab but Kaneki uses good head movement to avoid it.
Kaneki tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
An inside leg kick from Mamaev misses.
Kaneki turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Kaneki throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kaneki tries to clinch up but Mamaev circles away and keeps his distance.
Kaneki is looking to clinch.
Kaneki closes the distance but Mamaev moves to the side
and Mamaev counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Kaneki moves in looking to clinch but Mamaev pushes him off.
Denis Mamaev is winning the standup battle so far.
A chopping leg kick lands by Kaneki.
A cross from Mamaev lands.
Kaneki tries to clinch
and Mamaev counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Mamaev throws a hook but Kaneki blocks it.
Kaneki pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Mamaev throws a right hand that Kaneki ducks under and follows up with a left that Kaneki also avoids with ease.
Mamaev throws a 1-2 combo that connects squarely on Kaneki's jaw, knocking him onto his back! Mamaev dives in looking to finish as Kaneki flails his arms in a desperate attempt to block Mamaev's strikes! Mamaev is raining down hammerfists and the ref stops it! Kaneki's desperate flailing just didn't constitute intelligent defence. Some people will probably question the ref's decision but Kaneki was definitely hurt and the ref saved him from taking unnecessary punishment. A fighter's safety is paramount in this sport.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:54 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Denis Mamaev!
After winning the bout, Denis Mamaev thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.