PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov (ranked 273 p4p, 1280 weight class) and Miles O Brien (ranked 33 p4p, 155 weight class). Nurmagomedov's entrance music is Dagestan (Remix). A fine choice. O Brien is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Wu Tang Clan - Bring Da Ruckus. Khabib Nurmagomedov could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Miles O Brien's chin.

Nurmagomedov
vs
O Brien

178 cm
29
170
11 - 1 - 0

180 cm
22
155
8 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Core Combat
Brooklyn Apothecary

Altitude Clothing
Core Combat

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Khabib Nurmagomedov!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Miles O Brien!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Brien throws a right and a left that Nurmagomedov avoids nicely.
O Brien throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Nurmagomedov jabs O Brien right on the nose. O Brien blinks but takes it well.
O Brien defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Nurmagomedov.
O Brien swings for the body but Nurmagomedov moves out of range.
Nurmagomedov shoots for a double leg takedown but O Brien sprawls well. He's pushed Nurmagomedov's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Nurmagomedov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but O Brien manages to avoid it.
O Brien misses with a shot to the body
and Nurmagomedov counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Nurmagomedov looks to score with a jab to the body but O Brien is just out of range.
Nurmagomedov avoids a punch combination nicely.
It looked like Nurmagomedov was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from O Brien.
Nurmagomedov moves away from the strike by O Brien.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
O Brien lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nurmagomedov circles away quickly and effectively.
A big left from O Brien misses.
Nurmagomedov looks to score with a jab to the body but O Brien is just out of range.
Nurmagomedov misses with a wild body shot.
Nurmagomedov needs to keep his hands up - O Brien had a free shot at his head there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Brien scores with a crisp jab that stopped Nurmagomedov in his tracks.
Nurmagomedov on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Nurmagomedov lands with a right hand.
Nurmagomedov blocks a jab.
Nurmagomedov throws a big counter combination but O Brien scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Nurmagomedov darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Nurmagomedov is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Nurmagomedov throwing shots but O Brien is blocking nicely.
Nurmagomedov looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks O Brien with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Nurmagomedov thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed O Brien's head.
O Brien slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
O Brien has momentary wrist control but Nurmagomedov slips an elbow through the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagomedov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Nurmagomedov postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

O Brien is looking for a triangle here but Nurmagomedov uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
O Brien tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
O Brien tries to reverse the position but Nurmagomedov maintains control.
O Brien felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Nurmagomedov with good strikes from the mount here!
Nurmagomedov putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

O Brien is rocked!
O Brien tries to hold on but Nurmagomedov pushes him away.

Nurmagomedov is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. O Brien can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
O Brien tries to reverse the position but Nurmagomedov maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagomedov cracks O Brien with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
O Brien tries to get back to half guard but can't.
O Brien takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
O Brien is still in real trouble! Can Nurmagomedov finish him?

It looks like Miles O Brien has been cut.
Nurmagomedov cracks O Brien with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:48 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Khabib Nurmagomedov!
Khabib Nurmagomedov retains his lightweight title!
Khabib Nurmagomedov was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.