PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov (ranked 164 p4p, 663 weight class) and Julius Turunen (ranked 21 p4p, 76 weight class). Nurmagomedov's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Dagestan (Remix). Khabib Nurmagomedov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Nurmagomedov
vs
Turunen

178 cm
30
162
14 - 1 - 0

173 cm
22
165
8 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Core Combat
Brooklyn Apothecary

Conviction

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 14 - 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 Helsinki, Julius Turunen!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Ben Zyskovitsi and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Turunen blocks a jab.
Nurmagomedov fails with the takedown
and Turunen counters with a right hand to the body.
Nurmagomedov misses with a body punch
letting Turunen counter with a right hand.
Nurmagomedov fails with a takedown attempt.
Nice body punch from Nurmagomedov.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Turunen has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Khabib Nurmagomedov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Turunen digs a good body shot into Nurmagomedov's ribs.
Nurmagomedov throws a series of punches but Turunen avoids them all with ease.
Nurmagomedov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Turunen was well out of range. Poor timing from Nurmagomedov.
A little jabbing left from Turunen on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Nurmagomedov takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nurmagomedov ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Nurmagomedov takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Nurmagomedov misses with a wild body shot.
Nurmagomedov stuns Turunen with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Turunen leaves Nurmagomedov with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Khabib Nurmagomedov. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Turunen shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Turunen sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Nurmagomedov defending well though.
Nurmagomedov makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Nurmagomedov missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Turunen is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagomedov with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Turunen is trying to control but can't.
Turunen trying to get back to full guard but Nurmagomedov takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Nurmagomedov trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Nurmagomedov looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Turunen is desperately trying to improve his position but Nurmagomedov has a good base and remains in mount.
Nurmagomedov unloading with bombs!
Turunen is bucking up trying to escape but Nurmagomedov cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Nurmagomedov unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Turunen wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Nurmagomedov celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Khabib Nurmagomedov!
Khabib Nurmagomedov retains his lightweight title!
An out of breath Khabib Nurmagomedov thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.