PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nathan Leal (ranked 5914 p4p, 3496 weight class) and Aleksey Nikulin (ranked 156 p4p, 79 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Leal
vs
Nikulin

195 cm
32
275
11 - 9 - 0

178 cm
25
171
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nathan Leal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Aleksey Nikulin!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Marco Blurström and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nikulin thuds a left hand into Leal's body.
Nikulin works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Nikulin works over Leal's head and body with a nice combination.
Nikulin throws a predictable looking body shot
enabling Leal to counter with a crisp jab.

It looks like Aleksey Nikulin has been cut.
Nikulin bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Leal's head backwards.
Leal gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
The fighters circle momentarily. Nikulin darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Aleksey Nikulin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Nikulin motions for Leal to come forward. Nikulin throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Nikulin lands a jab to the nose.
Nikulin rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Leal counters with a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Nikulin closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Leal quickly recovers to half guard.
Nikulin wants to pass the guard but Leal is defending well.
Leal avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Nikulin.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Nikulin working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Nikulin stalling away here and it's allowed Leal to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Leal wants to sweep but no luck.
Nikulin controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Leal keeping moving, preventing Nikulin from controlling successfully.
Nikulin has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Nikulin controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Nikulin has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Nikulin is looking to advance position but Leal has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Leal is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Nikulin is surviving well by controlling Leal's body position as best he can.
Nikulin is trying desperately to improve position.
Leal trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Nikulin tries to hold on but Leal pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leal tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.
We've been hearing that Leal has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Nikulin sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Nikulin gets back to full guard.
Nikulin wants to sweep but no luck.
Leal has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Leal has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Nikulin is proving hard to escape from.
Nikulin pulls Leal in close to his closed guard and prevents Leal from doing any damage or advancing position.
Nikulin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Leal is one step ahead there.
Nikulin has control of Leal's left arm, preventing Leal from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Leal gets to his feet - Nikulin follows without any prompting.
Nikulin fails to land with a series of punches.
Nikulin fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Leal on the side of the head.
Nikulin misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Leal.
Nikulin closes the distance and clinches up with Leal, looking for a takedown. Nikulin pushes Leal against the cage but Leal circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Leal moves out of range as Nikulin strikes.
Nikulin misses with a double jab

and Leal counters with a big uppercut that knocks Nikulin off his feet! Leal dives into side control looking to finish!

Nikulin is rocked!
Nikulin is looking to regain half guard here but Leal keeps moving and retains side control.

Leal swings around for an armbar but Nikulin sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Leal's guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Aleksey Nikulin will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Aleksey Nikulin's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Nikulin, as that shot connected.
Nikulin missing with a left hand there. Leal was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Leal swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Nikulin punishes Leal's body with a nice straight punch.
Nikulin misses with an uppercut. Leal saw that one coming.
Leal walks into a stiff left hand from Nikulin.
Nikulin comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Nikulin scores with a body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Nikulin scores with a takedown into Leal's guard.
Nikulin throws a strike but Leal rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nikulin is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Nikulin is keen to just control but Leal is a slippery customer.
Nikulin is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Nikulin stalling.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nikulin trying to control from Leal's half guard. Leal has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nikulin looking to sit in guard and control but Leal gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Leal preventing the sweep.

Leal stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Nikulin scores with a nice head shot.
Nikulin throws a shot to the body.
Leal takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Nikulin wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Nikulin scores with the left hand. Leal knows he should have avoided that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leal takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Nikulin closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Nikulin fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Leal to the ground. Nikulin is now in Leal's guard.
Leal utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Nikulin sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Nikulin content to sit in guard, stalling... Great. Oh but he could get punished here because Leal has locked up a guillotine! Leal's face is contorted as he sqeezes tight on the submission attempt - will he finish? Nikulin is holding on here and Leal must be using up a lot of energy. Nikulin has gone limp! He's out! He's out cold! Leal gets to his feet, tossing aside his stricken foe. Arms raised, he milks the applause from the crowd. Great submission!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Nathan Leal!
Nathan Leal decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.