PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Giuseppe Hopkins (ranked 11 p4p, 79 weight class) and Valentin Taneyev (ranked 2 p4p, 15 weight class). Giuseppe Hopkins has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Hopkins
vs
Taneyev

190 cm
33
207
30 - 6 - 2

186 cm
32
209
25 - 11 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter
SynCity Fightwear

New Standard
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 30 - 6 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Giuseppe Hopkins!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 11 - 1, fighting out of New York, Valentin Taneyev!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, James Ackerman and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
We've got one fighter who appears to only be looking to counter and the other not looking particularly aggressive either, so we could be in for a dull fight.
Taneyev tries to close the distance and clinch but Hopkins swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Taneyev just manages to avoid a counter high kick fromHopkins.

Taneyev drives through and clinches with Hopkins against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Taneyev.
I was talking to Hopkins's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Hopkins is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Taneyev is defending well for now.
Hopkins tries to land knees in the clinch but Taneyev avoids the damage to the body.
A shot in the inside from Taneyev.
Taneyev swings wildly with an uppercut but Hopkins uses good head movement to avoid it.
Taneyev works on Hopkins's body with a couple of short punches.

Taneyev escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hopkins walks into a straight right hand from Taneyev.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Taneyev gets a clinch.

Taneyev breaks the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taneyev throws a shot from downtown. Hopkins moves away and avoids it.

Oooooh!!! Taneyev has knocked Hopkins down with a huge combo! Taneyev steps away and waves a wobbly Hopkins back to his feet! This one might not go much longer!
Taneyev walks into a stiff left hand from Hopkins.

Taneyev closes the distance and clinches.
Hopkins lands a left hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hopkins lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Taneyev backwards.
Taneyev blocks a body shot from Hopkins.

Hopkins escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Taneyev throws a head kick that misses.
Taneyev has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taneyev with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Hopkins to score with a decent uppercut.
Taneyev scores with a hook.
Taneyev throws a head kick that misses.

Taneyev lands a left and a right that send Hopkins crashing to the mat, dazed. Taneyev thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

Hopkins is rocked!
Taneyev ducks down into range and throws a picture perfect right hook that connects with Hopkins's jaw. Hopkins's eyes stare off into space as he falls to the mat, out cold! Taneyev does the decent thing and steps back, rather than landing any shots to his unconscious opponent.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:48 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Valentin Taneyev!
Valentin Taneyev is the new light heavyweight champion!
After winning the bout, Valentin Taneyev thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.