PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ruslan Karelin (ranked 518 p4p, 73 weight class) and Phil Coleman (ranked 431 p4p, 62 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Karelin
vs
Coleman

190 cm
24
280 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

188 cm
31
223 lbs
24 - 7 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Fenrir Fightgear - Anno 2013
Sydney Fight Gear (London Rebirth)

HELLS BALLS RECOVERY
Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Ruslan Karelin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Phil Coleman!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Yuuki Gou and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Coleman ducks under a wild hook from Karelin.
Coleman lands a nice hook to Karelin's body. Karelin takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Coleman lands with a cross.
Karelin takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Coleman throws a big shot that misses.
Coleman fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Karelin manages to avoid it.
Karelin lands with a shot to the body.
Karelin throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Coleman stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Karelin slips under a jab from Coleman.
Karelin misses with a looping left.
Coleman swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Coleman throws a right and a left that both miss.
Karelin attempts a counter takedown but Coleman avoids it well and moves away.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Karelin.
Karelin shoots in looking for a takedown. Coleman tries to sprawl out of it but Karelin keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Coleman manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Coleman misses with a wild body shot.
Coleman displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Karelin throws out the jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Coleman is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Karelin half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.

Coleman clinches up with Karelin and pushes him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Coleman stalling in the clinch.
Karelin has a couple of punches blocked by Coleman.
Karelin misses with the head strike.
Karelin swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Coleman will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Karelin up against the cage.
Coleman looking to stall.
Karelin misses with some punches.

Karelin lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Karelin not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Karelin thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Coleman's head.
Karelin throwing shots but Coleman is blocking nicely.
Karelin missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karelin missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Karelin controlling the pace.
Karelin scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Karelin is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Coleman trying to control here.
Karelin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Coleman defending well though.
Karelin with the ground and pound but Coleman uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Coleman is trying to control the position but Karelin postures up.
Karelin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Coleman works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Karelin throwing strikes from guard but Coleman blocks nicely.
Karelin being controlled here momentarily.
Karelin slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Coleman working a defensive guard here.
Karelin is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Karelin postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Karelin 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.
Karelin throws an elbow that misses. Coleman uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Karelin's guard. Nice move by Coleman!

Coleman is fighting to break Karelin's control of his arms but Karelin is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Karelin looking for a sweep. Not yet Karelin, not yet.
Karelin has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karelin working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Coleman.
Karelin is looking to stand up but Coleman isn't so interested in that idea.
Coleman is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Karelin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Coleman is one step ahead there.
Coleman wants to control from the top but Karelin keeps moving.
Karelin wants to sweep here but Coleman controlling him for the moment.
Karelin keeping moving, preventing Coleman from controlling successfully.
Coleman is working Karelin over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Karelin has control of Coleman's left arm, preventing Coleman from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Ruslan Karelin will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
A short right from Karelin on the inside.
Karelin tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Coleman's elbow.
Coleman working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Coleman displaying some good clinch control by pressing Karelin up against the cage.
Coleman is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Coleman trying to control the position but instead, Karelin has worked for underhooks and has pushed Coleman into the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Coleman blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Karelin tries to throw a body punch but Coleman avoids it by throwing Karelin back against the cage.
Karelin fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Coleman has Karelin pushed against the cage.
Karelin misses with a punch on the inside.
Karelin has a couple of punches blocked by Coleman.
Karelin lands a body shot.
Karelin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Coleman tries to stall but Karelin uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Karelin goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Coleman's coach down at Xtramarital Floating Shingles was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Coleman's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Karelin lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Karelin tries for a takedown but Coleman manages to get underhooks.
Coleman blocks a body shot from Karelin.
Karelin tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Coleman is looking to control Karelin's arms but Karelin gets an underhook and turns him. Now Coleman has his back to the cage.
Karelin works on Coleman's body with a couple of short punches.
Karelin tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Coleman's elbow.
Karelin tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Karelin throws a head punch that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karelin throws a punch but it's blocked by Coleman.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Coleman.
Karelin lands a right hand.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Coleman is trying to maintain a safe position but Karelin gets an underhook and turns Coleman into the cage.
Karelin swings wildly with an uppercut but Coleman uses good head movement to avoid it.
Karelin lands a hook to the side of the head.
Coleman blocks a body shot from Karelin.
Coleman takes a shot to the head.
Karelin tries a body shot but Coleman blocks it.
Karelin swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A nice right hand lands inside from Karelin.
Our sources have told us that Karelin has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Ruslan Karelin has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Karelin lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Karelin.
The referee is keeping an eye on Coleman - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Coleman stalling in the clinch but Karelin improves position.
Coleman prevents a body shot from Karelin.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Karelin.
Karelin tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Coleman holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Karelin misses with a short punch on the inside.
Karelin lands a hook to the side of the head.
Coleman blocking some punches.
Karelin lands a hook to the side of the head.
Coleman is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Karelin lands a left hand that snaps the head of Coleman backwards.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Coleman.
Karelin fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Karelin lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Coleman looking to stall.
Karelin is working Coleman over against the cage.
Coleman is breathing heavily.
Karelin lands with a right to the head.
Coleman is pressed up against the cage. Karelin has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Coleman down to the mat. Coleman avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Coleman stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ruslan Karelin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Karelin needs to keep his hands up - Coleman had a free shot at his head there.
Coleman avoids the body shot from Karelin.
Karelin is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Coleman can do to turn this around?
Karelin misses with a wild body shot.
Coleman swings for the body but Karelin moves out of range.
Karelin connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Coleman's hands.

Coleman is rocked!
Karelin throws a jab but it's blocked by Coleman.
Coleman misses the jab.
Coleman scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ruslan Karelin dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Coleman misses with a straight right.
Karelin ducks under a wild hook from Coleman.
Karelin connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Coleman is still on wobbly legs! Can Karelin finish him?
Karelin keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Coleman throws a body punch but Karelin moves out of range.
Karelin lunges in with a left hook that violently twists Coleman head around and knocks him out cold! Karelin hops onto the cage and yells out at the top of his lungs - Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah! They're showing the replay on the big screens now; that was nasty! I hope one of the photographers got a good shot of it.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Ruslan Karelin!
A less than humble Ruslan Karelin misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.