PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Royal Halsti (ranked 822 p4p, 1419 weight class) and Rahim Shabazz (ranked 29 p4p, 56 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Halsti
vs
Shabazz

190 cm
27
205
13 - 5 - 1

187 cm
32
224
23 - 15 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Bondi MMA 🏝️
Vegan Gains

Brooklyn Apothecary
Pound Town INC

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 13 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Royal Halsti!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rahim Shabazz!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shabazz throws a right hand that misses
and Halsti counters with a right hand to the body.
Shabazz lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

It looks like Royal Halsti has been cut.
Shabazz lands with a cross.

Shabazz takes the fight into the clinch.

Halsti's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Shabazz throws a lazy body kick
and Halsti counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Halsti ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Halsti is looking for a counter combo.
Shabazz tests Halsti's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Halsti scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Shabazz tries a head kick but it misses.
Halsti is looking to counter punch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shabazz ducks under a wild hook from Halsti.
Nice uppercut there from Shabazz.
A slow jab from Halsti misses its intended target.
Shabazz throws out a counter right but Halsti avoids it with no problem.
Shabazz connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shabazz throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Halsti's head.
Shabazz thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Halsti if he has to take too many more of those.
Shabazz tries a head kick but it misses.
Shabazz throws a body shot but no joy.
Shabazz scores with a hook to the body. Halsti takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Royal Halsti is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shabazz is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Royal Halsti's cut is getting worse.
Shabazz throws a hook to the side of Halsti's head but Halsti sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A solid body kick from Shabazz.

Shabazz closes the distance and clinches.
Good body shot from Shabazz.
Shabazz stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
A nice left hand lands by Shabazz.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shabazz lands a hook to the side of the head.
Shabazz throws a punch but it's blocked by Halsti.
Shabazz lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Halsti backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Halsti breaks the clinch.
Halsti blocks a head kick by Shabazz.
Shabazz misses the shot to the body.
Shabazz ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Shabazz lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Halsti avoids the head kick by Shabazz.
A combination from Shabazz does no damage.
Shabazz misses with a wild combination.
Shabazz swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Halsti.
Halsti takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Shabazz fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Halsti has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Shabazz.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shabazz lands a head kick!
Halsti throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Shabazz sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Shabazz misses with a straight right.
Halsti went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
A swing and a miss from Shabazz.
Halsti attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Halsti stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Shabazz.
Halsti stuffs the takedown attempt from Shabazz. Shabazz gets slowly back to his feet.
Shabazz swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Halsti.
Shabazz scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Halsti moves away from the strike by Shabazz.
Shabazz pushes Halsti away with a front kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shabazz connects with a good right hand that stumbles Halsti. Halsti circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Royal Halsti's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Shabazz looks to throw the jab but Halsti is out of range.
Halsti scores with the left hand. Shabazz knows he should have avoided that one.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shabazz throws a poor cross that misses
letting Halsti counter with a right hand.
Shabazz tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Halsti was well out of range. Poor timing from Shabazz.
Shabazz throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Halsti moves out of range as Shabazz strikes.
Halsti was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Halsti fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Shabazz.
Halsti connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Shabazz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Halsti is looking to counter punch.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Halsti dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Shabazz. That did some damage!
Shabazz is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Halsti had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
A looping hook to the body misses from Shabazz. Halsti does a little dance to reset his feet.
A swing and a miss from Shabazz.
Halsti throwing a counter right hand but Shabazz manages to avoid it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rahim Shabazz dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Royal Halsti'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.

Shabazz is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Shabazz misses with a straight right.
Shabazz connects with a leg kick.
Shabazz misses with a wild body shot.
Halsti takes a jab right on the kisser.
Shabazz slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Shabazz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Halsti lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Some bone on bone action there as Halsti checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
The fighters circling - Shabazz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Halsti appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Shabazz throws an overhand right that lands on Halsti's shoulder, as Halsti tries to avoid the shot.
It looked like Halsti wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shabazz lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Halsti at a distance.
Rahim Shabazz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Halsti moves out of range of the body kick.
Halsti swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shabazz misses with a leg kick
and Halsti counters with a straight right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shabazz scores with a nice strike.
Shabazz paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Shabazz throws a lazy uppercut
and Halsti counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
A lazy left from Shabazz finds it's target.
Shabazz misses with a head kick.
Halsti looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
Shabazz ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Halsti moves out of range as Shabazz throws a body kick.
Halsti was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Shabazz lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Shabazz scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A jab from Shabazz finds it's way through Halsti's defenses.
Halsti bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Halsti appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Shabazz misses with a hook.
Halsti seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Halsti uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Shabazz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shabazz misses with a lunging right hand
letting Halsti counter with a right hand.
Halsti moves out of range as Shabazz strikes.
Shabazz keeps Halsti at a distance using the push kick.
Rahim Shabazz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Halsti uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Shabazz.
Halsti scores with a one two! Shabazz had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Shabazz throws the left hand but Halsti avoids the punch easily.
Halsti tried to counter with a leg kick but Shabazz avoided it.
It looks like Halsti has been trying to sharpen up his punching technique, as it looks crisper than last time we saw him.
Shabazz lands a nice leg kick that just misses Halsti's sensitive parts.
Halsti misses with a series of wild punches.
Shabazz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Halsti moves out of range as Shabazz throws a body kick.
A little feinted left hand from Halsti on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Halsti lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
A good leg kick by Halsti.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shabazz slips under a jab from Halsti.
Shabazz lands an overhand right.
A shot to the liver by Halsti. Beautiful body shot.
Shabazz throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Halsti counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Shabazz swings for the body but Halsti moves out of range.
Halsti steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Shabazz.
Halsti lands with an overhand left.
Shabazz throws a leg kick that is checked

and Halsti counters with a head kick that drops Shabazz to the mat! Shabazz scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!

Shabazz is rocked!
Halsti lands with a massive overhand right! Stick a fork in Shabazz - he's out cold! Ermm... I think I just mixed my metaphors but yeah... That was a nice KO! Big win for Halsti!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Royal Halsti!
A relieved looking Royal Halsti thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.