PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thufir Hawat (ranked 1913 p4p, 1995 weight class) and Vasily Khrapov Jr (ranked 263 p4p, 276 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Hawat
vs
Khrapov Jr

185 cm
26
178
13 - 14 - 0

178 cm
28
175
7 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Leiko Leaf Clothing

Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Thufir Hawat!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Vasily Khrapov Jr!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Frank Antenori and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khrapov Jr swings away with a body shot that misses
and Hawat counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Some wild striking there from Khrapov Jr.
It looked like Hawat was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr moves into range and connects with a jab.
Khrapov Jr lands with an uppercut that bounces Hawat off the cage and back into range.
Hawat has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.

Hawat gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Hawat wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Hawat avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Khrapov Jr's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Khrapov Jr throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hawat works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hawat is trying to keep Khrapov Jr in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hawat wants to sweep here but Khrapov Jr controlling him for the moment.
Hawat avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Khrapov Jr trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Khrapov Jr wants to control from the top but Hawat keeps moving.
Khrapov Jr stands up over Hawat, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Khrapov Jr throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hawat works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hawat keeping moving, preventing Khrapov Jr from controlling successfully.
Khrapov Jr stands up over Hawat, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawat is trying to hold Khrapov Jr in close to prevent damage but Khrapov Jr has managed to pass into half guard.
Khrapov Jr stops Hawat from getting back to his feet.
Khrapov Jr thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Hawat's head.
Khrapov Jr scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

It looks like Thufir Hawat has been cut.
Hawat trying to control but Khrapov Jr postures up.
Khrapov Jr prevents Hawat from improving his position.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Khrapov Jr working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Khrapov Jr winds up and cracks Hawat with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Khrapov Jr is nestled in close to Hawat, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr working over Hawat with some ground and pound. Hawat looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Khrapov Jr misses with a head shot. Hawat uses the momentum to regain guard.
Khrapov Jr stopping the sweep attempt from Hawat.
Khrapov Jr postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Hawat is on top in guard.

Hawat postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hawat won't allow Khrapov Jr to sweep him here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Khrapov Jr has Hawat pulled in close to control his posture.
Hawat stopping the sweep attempt from Khrapov Jr.
Hawat has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Khrapov Jr is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hawat is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Khrapov Jr clinches with his opponent.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Vasily Khrapov Jr dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Thufir Hawat'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.

Khrapov Jr works the jab nicely.
Khrapov Jr needs to keep his hands up - Hawat had a free shot at his head there.

It looks like Vasily Khrapov Jr has been cut.
Sloppy strikes from Khrapov Jr. Those never looked like landing.
Hawat throws an ugly left hook that misses
enabling Khrapov Jr to counter with a crisp jab.
Hawat throws an off balance right hand
letting Khrapov Jr counter with a right hand.
Khrapov Jr lands a nice shot to the body.
Khrapov Jr throws a combination that misses
and Hawat counters with a left to the body.
Khrapov Jr misses with a body shot.
A jab lands there for Khrapov Jr.
Nice sprawl there from Hawat as Khrapov Jr shoots in.
Khrapov Jr defending well as Hawat loads up on a big left hand.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Khrapov Jr! But no joy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hawat rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Khrapov Jr moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawat finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Vasily Khrapov Jr seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hawat misses the body punch
enabling Khrapov Jr to counter with a crisp jab.
A punch combination from Hawat misses.
Hawat keeps the fight on the outside.
A swing and a miss from Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Hawat.
A looping hook to the body misses from Khrapov Jr. Hawat does a little dance to reset his feet.
Khrapov Jr works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Nice body punch from Hawat.
Khrapov Jr throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Hawat sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hawat swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Hawat keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
An attempted straight right counter from Hawat misses the target.
Vasily Khrapov Jr seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Good shot there by Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr cracks Hawat with a right hand to the side of the head.
Hawat walks into a jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice defenses there by Hawat.
Hawat is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Khrapov Jr looks to score with a jab to the body but Hawat is just out of range.
Hawat jinks towards his opponent looking like he wants to counter with a mid kick but doesn't commit.
Hawat walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Hawat throws a leg kick
and Khrapov Jr counters with a two punch combo.
Hawat throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Khrapov Jr steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Hawat.
Hawat takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Khrapov Jr scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Khrapov Jr staying out of range there.
Hawat uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Khrapov Jr.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hawat looks to land a body kick but Khrapov Jr moved away.
Khrapov Jr shoots for a takedown but Hawat saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Khrapov Jr misses with a hook. Hawat ducked under it nicely.
Khrapov Jr tries to clinch but Hawat is having none of it.
Khrapov Jr fails with an attempt to clinch.
Khrapov Jr ducks under a wild hook from Hawat.
Khrapov Jr swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Hawat counters with a straight right hand.
Khrapov Jr ducks under a wild hook from Hawat.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Khrapov Jr checks a leg kick.
Khrapov Jr misses the shot to the body.

Khrapov Jr closes the distance and pushes Hawat back into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr tries to break the clinch but Hawat is controlling the position.
Khrapov Jr goes for a takedown in the clinch but Hawat prevents it.
Thufir Hawat has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Vasily Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Khrapov Jr breaks the clinch.
Khrapov Jr slips under a jab from Hawat.
Hawat connects with the punch.

Hawat tries to sprawl but Khrapov Jr drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Khrapov Jr has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Khrapov Jr is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hawat has hold of Khrapov Jr's hands but Khrapov Jr slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Hawat trying to control but Khrapov Jr postures up.
Hawat is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Vasily Khrapov Jr showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Khrapov Jr wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Hawat has him pressed against the cage.
Khrapov Jr throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Hawat breaks from the clinch.
Khrapov Jr is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hawat.

Khrapov Jr moves into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hawat blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Hawat blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Khrapov Jr is working Hawat over against the cage.
Khrapov Jr scores with an uppercut up the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hawat backwards.
Hawat gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr pushes Hawat back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Khrapov Jr doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Khrapov Jr misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Khrapov Jr lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Hawat or not.
Khrapov Jr tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hawat's elbow.
Khrapov Jr goes for a takedown in the clinch but Hawat prevents it.
Khrapov Jr tries to throw a body punch but Hawat avoids it by throwing Khrapov Jr back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khrapov Jr leaning his opponent against the cage.
Khrapov Jr pushes Hawat back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Khrapov Jr manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Hawat looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Khrapov Jr slowing the pace effectively.
Khrapov Jr avoiding damage.
The crowd are getting on Khrapov Jr's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.
Khrapov Jr has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Hawat after a bit of a struggle.
Thufir Hawat has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vasily Khrapov Jr is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Thufir Hawat has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Vasily Khrapov Jr.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hawat prevents Khrapov Jr from breaking the clinch.
Hawat tries a body shot but Khrapov Jr blocks it.
Hawat tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Khrapov Jr goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Khrapov Jr.
Khrapov Jr tries for a takedown. No joy.
Hawat is trying to break free.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hawat is trying to push Khrapov Jr away but Khrapov Jr has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Khrapov Jr lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hawat backwards.
Hawat tries to circle away but Khrapov Jr has him pinned against the cage.
Hawat wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Khrapov Jr has him pressed against the cage.
Hawat tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Hawat.
Khrapov Jr has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A right hand to the body from Khrapov Jr.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vasily Khrapov Jr comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Khrapov Jr has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Vasily Khrapov Jr!