PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Gilmat Kirk (ranked 2041 p4p, 3310 weight class) and Temujin Khan (ranked 116 p4p, 0 weight class). Kirk comes to the cage accompanied by Lords of Iron. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Kirk
vs
Khan

170 cm
30
148
4 - 0 - 0

170 cm
23
147
3 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Experienced

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Gilmat Kirk!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Temujin Khan!
The judges for this bout are Josh West, Micheangelo Fripello and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khan tries to clinch but Kirk moves out of range.

Kirk has taken the fight to the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Khan is trying to break the clinch but Kirk has him pressed against the cage.
Khan has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Kirk avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Khan has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Kirk is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Kirk lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Khan backwards.
I was talking to Kirk's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Kirk lands with a short punch from the clinch.

Kirk breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Khan shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Kirk sprawls well. Kirk wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Khan gets slowly back to his feet.
Gilmat Kirk has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Temujin Khan.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khan is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Kirk.

Khan clinches.
Khan fails to pull guard.
A short right from Kirk.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kirk lands on the inside with an uppercut.

Kirk manages to break the clinch.
Khan goes for a double leg but Kirk avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Kirk continues to drive forward.

Kirk has closed the distance and engaged Khan in a clinch.
Khan is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Khan is trying to push Kirk away but Kirk has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Kirk breaks from the clinch.

Kirk darts in and clinches Khan up against the cage.
Kirk lands a shoulder strike.
Kirk avoiding damage as Khan throws knees to the body.
Khan goes for a takedown in the clinch but Kirk prevents it.
Kirk lands with a short shot to the head.
Kirk lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Kirk dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Kirk lands a nice uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Khan has had enough of the clinch but Kirk keeps him there for the moment.
Kirk is pressed up against the cage. Khan has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Kirk down to the mat. Kirk avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Kirk dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Khan. That did some damage!

Kirk shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Khan is trying to defend but Kirk finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Kirk is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Khan has managed to free his arm - good work.
Khan really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kirk. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Kirk is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Kirk thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Khan's head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Kirk wants to work for an arm triangle but Khan is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Khan has hold of Kirk's hands but Kirk slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kirk looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Khan trying to control from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kirk is keen to just control but Khan is a slippery customer.

Kirk is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Kirk prevents Khan from standing back up.

Khan is defending against the submission attempts here by Kirk.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Kirk is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Khan is just riding it out for now. Kirk eventually gives up the hold.

Kirk is working for a submission of some sort.
Khan is looking to control Kirk's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Khan avoid being mounted?
Kirk throwing shots but Khan is blocking nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gilmat Kirk dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Kirk scores with a punch to the head.
Khan fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Kirk forces Khan back against the cage and clinches.
Khan throws an elbow that misses.
Khan tries to pull guard but Kirk won't allow it.
Khan wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Kirk controlling the action here for a moment.

Kirk breaks the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Khan shoots in looking for a takedown. Kirk tries to sprawl out of it but Khan keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Kirk manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Gilmat Kirk has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Temujin Khan.

Kirk rushes Khan and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kirk misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Kirk lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Khan tries to land knees in the clinch but Kirk avoids the damage to the body.
Khan misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Kirk has Khan pressed against the cage.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Kirk takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Kirk managing to block the knees to the body from Khan.
Khan gets underhooks to prevent Kirk's takedown attempt.
Kirk is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Kirk scores with a shot to the side of Khan's head.

Kirk escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kirk shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Khan sprawls well. Khan wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Kirk gets slowly back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Khan tries to clinch up.

Kirk gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Kirk has Khan pressed against the cage, preventing Khan from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Kirk ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Kirk no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Khan prevents Kirk from getting back to his feet.
Kirk keeping moving, preventing Khan from controlling successfully.

Khan avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Kirk wants to stand and escape but Khan is having none of it.
Khan wants to stand but Kirk has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Kirk is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kirk is trying to control the position but Khan postures up.
Khan stops Kirk from standing up.

Kirk has his foot on Khan's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Khan works his way back into a safe position though.
Khan controlling from the top position.
Khan trying to control but Kirk is working from the bottom.

Kirk has his feet on Khan's thighs here. He's pushed Khan off and worked for a very quick armbar from the bottom! He's flipped onto his stomach and he's cranking hard on the arm! Khan screams in pain and taps out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Gilmat Kirk!
A relieved looking Gilmat Kirk thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.