PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aleksandar Volkanovski (ranked 3526 p4p, 21459 weight class) and Mitch Rapp (ranked 436 p4p, 704 weight class). Volkanovski comes to the cage accompanied by 2pac - Hail Mary. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Volkanovski
vs
Rapp

193 cm
24
217
5 - 8 - 0

186 cm
24
210
1 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 5 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Aleksandar Volkanovski!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mitch Rapp!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Joseph Jones and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rapp throws an off balance right hand
and Volkanovski counters with a nice uppercut.
Rapp is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Volkanovski.
Rapp misses with a looping right.

Volkanovski clinches up against the cage.
Volkanovski lands an uppercut.
Volkanovski lands an uppercut.
A short right from Rapp on the inside.
Volkanovski throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Rapp misses with a punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Rapp fails to land.
Volkanovski lands a left hand.
Rapp swings away with an uppercut that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Rapp.
Rapp working aggressively here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Volkanovski blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Rapp misses with the head strike.
Volkanovski throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Volkanovski blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Volkanovski tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Volkanovski.
Rapp swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Volkanovski lands a nice uppercut.
Rapp throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Volkanovskis head.
Rapp swings wildly with an uppercut but Volkanovski uses good head movement to avoid it.
Volkanovski tries a body shot but Rapp blocks it.
Volkanovski working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Volkanovski blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Rapp blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Volkanovski stalls.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Volkanovski.
A head punch on the inside from Rapp fails to land.
Volkanovski effectively controlling the action here.
Volkanovski blocks a punch to the side of the head.
I was talking to Volkanovski's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkanovski blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Rapp tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Rapp lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Volkanovski is looking to control Rapp's arms but Rapp gets an underhook and turns him. Now Volkanovski has his back to the cage.
Rapp throws a head punch that misses.
Volkanovski blocks an uppercut.
Volkanovski blocking some punches.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rapp lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Rapp misses with some punches.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Volkanovski creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Volkanovski blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Volkanovski tries to work over Rapp's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rapp swings wildly with an uppercut but Volkanovski uses good head movement to avoid it.
Volkanovski struggles to land a body shot inside as Rapp controls his hands.
Volkanovski is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Volkanovski stalls.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rapp swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Volkanovski blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Rapp throws a punch but it's blocked by Volkanovski.
Volkanovski tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Rapp's elbow.

Volkanovski breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Volkanovski tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Rapp looks to land a right hand but Volkanovski moved out of range.
Rapp lands a lovely overhand right.
Volkanovski misses with a kick to the body.
A slow jab from Rapp misses its intended target.
Rapp throws an off balance right hand
and Volkanovski counters with a straight right hand.
Volkanovski getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Rapp fails to land with a series of punches.
Volkanovski fails in his attempt to clinch.
Volkanovski takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Volkanovski moves out of range of the strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Volkanovski shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rapp lands a jab to the nose.
Volkanovski tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Volkanovski slips a jab from Rapp.
The fighters circling - Rapp throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Rapp thows a left - swing and a miss!

Volkanovski moves into range and clinches up with Rapp.
Rapp misses with a punch on the inside.
Volkanovski tries a body shot but Rapp blocks it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Rapp as Volkanovski tries to tie him up.
Volkanovski lands with a short shot to the head.
Rapp lands a nice uppercut.
Rapp working aggressively here.
The referee calls for Volkanovski to work.
Rapp working aggressively here.
Rapp swings wildly with an uppercut but Volkanovski uses good head movement to avoid it.
Volkanovski blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mitch Rapp dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

The fighters circle, before Volkanovski throws a beautiful high kick that crashes into Rapp's neck, sending him stumbling to the floor! Volkanovski lands more strikes and forces a referee stoppage! That one ended in an instant!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:05 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Kick & Punches). Aleksandar Volkanovski!
A very excited looking Aleksandar Volkanovski made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.