PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dimitris Koufodinas (ranked 4208 p4p, 4253 weight class) and Arthur King (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Koufodinas
vs
King

194 cm
20
192
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
190
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Dimitris Koufodinas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Arthur King!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Roger Salmon and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Koufodinas shoots in but no luck this time.
King tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
King misses with an uppercut. Koufodinas saw that one coming.
Koufodinas fails with a takedown attempt.
And King tries to counter it with a takedown but Koufodinas pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Koufodinas with a poor takedown

and King counters with a takedown into side control.

Koufodinas explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dimitris Koufodinas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dimitris Koufodinas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Koufodinas shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as King sprawls well. King wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Koufodinas gets slowly back to his feet.
Koufodinas throws a combination that misses

and King decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Koufodinas's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
King cracks Koufodinas with a solid left hand.
King is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Let's hope that King 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.
King stands up over Koufodinas, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
King postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Koufodinas keeping full guard, as King tries to pass.
King stopping the sweep attempt from Koufodinas.
King with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
King trying to control the position from guard on top but Koufodinas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

King drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and King jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
King stands up over Koufodinas, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Koufodinas keeping full guard, as King tries to pass.
King working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Koufodinas's head.
Koufodinas wants to sweep here but King controlling him for the moment.
King lands a couple of digs.
King lands a couple of elbows.
King postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Koufodinas is breathing heavily.
Koufodinas can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as King controls the pace.
King passes into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
King content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Koufodinas is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
King looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
King is controlling the pace.
King winds up and cracks Koufodinas with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Nice strikes from King there.
King looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
King is nestled in close to Koufodinas, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
King slows the pace down in half guard.
Ground and pound from King.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
King is keen to just control but Koufodinas is a slippery customer.
Koufodinas has hold of King's hands but King slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Arthur King dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

King throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

Koufodinas gets caught flat footed, as King shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells King's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
King with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Koufodinas is rocked!
King lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Oh Koufodinas is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
King trying to control the position from guard on top but Koufodinas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
King connects with a couple of short punches.
Koufodinas bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in King's guard.

Koufodinas stopping the sweep attempt from King.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Koufodinas seems to have got his legs back now.
Koufodinas will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Koufodinas looking to pass the guard.
King is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Koufodinas wants to stand but King is controlling his posture from full guard.
King looking to hit a scissor sweep but Koufodinas is one step ahead there.

King looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
King keeping moving, preventing Koufodinas from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
King is pulling down on Koufodinas's head. It's preventing any offense from Koufodinas, at least for the moment.
Koufodinas looking to sit in guard and control but King gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Koufodinas looking for a guillotine here but King defends easily.
King cracks Koufodinas with a solid left hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
King must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
King lands a couple of elbows.
King landing some decent shots from guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
King makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
King lands a couple of digs.
King scoring with some ground and pound.
King stopping the sweep attempt from Koufodinas.
Koufodinas trying to keep a closed guard but King is proving a slippery customer.
King controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
King connects with a couple of short punches.
King slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells King's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
King trying to control but Koufodinas is working from the bottom.
King is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
King postures up and lands a big shot to Koufodinas's brow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Arthur King showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Koufodinas ducks under a wild hook from King.

King shoots in and gets a takedown into Koufodinas's guard.
King trying to control the position from guard on top but Koufodinas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
King lands a couple of digs.
King postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
King wants to control from the top but Koufodinas keeps moving.
King stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Koufodinas swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
King makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Koufodinas looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Arthur King has got the better of the ground game so far.
Koufodinas keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Koufodinas is striking from the bottom but King uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
Koufodinas pushes King off looking to stand but King dives back in and keeps control.
King is trying to control. Koufodinas wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. King connects with a nice short shot to Koufodinas's temple.
King is figuring out what he wants to do next.
King is pressing down on Koufodinas's thigh, looking to free his foot. Koufodinas is holding on for now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
King landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
King really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Koufodinas. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
King looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Koufodinas with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
King working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
King is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Koufodinas is trying to defend against the ground and pound but King scores with a couple of nice shots.
Still in half guard, King seems content to control.
King takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Koufodinas is refusing to be controlled, as King sits in half guard.
King looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
King landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
King working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
King has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King is sitting in half guard. He's postured up and lands a nice elbow. Oh, Koufodinas is hurt! He's hurt bad - King fires away with more strikes and the referee jumps in to save Koufodinas from any more punishment! Congratulations to King! Great finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:21 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Arthur King!
A victorious Arthur King thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.