PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dusty Rhodes (ranked 707 p4p, 1069 weight class) and Raja Khanna (ranked 77 p4p, 118 weight class). Rhodes comes to the cage accompanied by Bury My Bones. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Rhodes
vs
Khanna

178 cm
27
186
10 - 4 - 0

190 cm
29
194
18 - 11 - 2

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

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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 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Dusty Rhodes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 11 - 2, fighting out of London, Raja Khanna!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Chris Edwards and James Ackerman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khanna thuds his right hand into Rhodes's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.

It looks like Dusty Rhodes has been cut.
Rhodes looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Khanna misses the jab.
Rhodes takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Khanna lands a jab to the head.
Khanna throws a hook but Rhodes avoids it easily.
Khanna fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Rhodes checks it well.
Rhodes connects with a single shot there.
Khanna lands with a shot to the body.
Khanna takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Khanna lands a nice looking body kick.
Rhodes takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Khanna jabs at Rhodes's body.
Some wild striking there from Rhodes.
Rhodes misses with a jab, cross combination.
Rhodes misses with a wild body shot.
Khanna uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rhodes.
Rhodes connects with a nice looking jab.
Khanna uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Rhodes.
Rhodes swinging wildly here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khanna with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Some wild striking there from Rhodes.
Khanna has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Khanna throws a low kick but Rhodes avoids it.
A solid leg kick lands there for Khanna.
Rhodes misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Khanna.
Khanna connects with a solid leg kick.
Rhodes tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Khanna manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
And Khanna responds with a good body kick, but Rhodes manages to step out the way in time.
Rhodes lands an overhand right.
Rhodes throws a big shot that misses.
Rhodes throws a body shot but no joy.
Khanna throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A solid leg kick lands there for Khanna.
Khanna slips under a jab.
Khanna throws out a counter right but Rhodes avoids it with no problem.
Khanna throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Khanna throws the kick towards the body but Rhodes avoids it.
Khanna explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rhodes blocks the body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rhodes just misses with a punch to the body.
Khanna misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Rhodes.
Rhodes tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
A jab lands there for Khanna.
Khanna throws a body kick that misses.
Rhodes avoids the body shot from Khanna.
Rhodes is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Nice shot by Rhodes.

Rhodes gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Rhodes tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Khanna tries a body shot but Rhodes blocks it.
Rhodes misses with a punch on the inside.
Khanna swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Rhodes lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Khanna misses with a hook from the clinch.
Khanna working aggressively here.

Rhodes lands a takedown into guard.
Khanna bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Rhodes's guard.

Rhodes isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Khanna stacks Rhodes on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Khanna!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rhodes manages to get back to half guard.
Rhodes is trying to control but can't.
Khanna is trying to control the action in half guard but Rhodes is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Still in half guard, Khanna seems content to control.
Rhodes is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Khanna's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Khanna's back!
Rhodes has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Khanna's body.
Khanna is trying to break free.
Rhodes is not going to allow Khanna to sit and survive in this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khanna is trying to break free.
Rhodes softening up his opponent with strikes here.
Rhodes landing with strikes.
Rhodes trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Rhodes scores with strikes from the back.
Rhodes has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Rhodes is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rhodes is working the ground and pound. Can Khanna escape?
Rhodes keeps control of the position as Khanna tries to break free.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Dusty Rhodes will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dusty Rhodes's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Khanna's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Rhodes connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Khanna scrambles back to his feet.
Rhodes throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Rhodes jabs at Khanna's body.
A jab from Rhodes misses.
Rhodes misses with an uppercut. Khanna saw that one coming.
Khanna dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Rhodes gets tackled into the cage by Khanna. Khanna maintains the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Khanna fails to land.
Rhodes has a couple of punches blocked by Khanna.
Khanna swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Khanna tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Khanna fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rhodes has hold of one of Khanna's legs. Khanna is fighting the takedown attempt but Rhodes gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Our spies down at at Stormcrow Centre inform us that Khanna has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
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!
Rhodes landing with the ground and pound.
Rhodes being controlled here momentarily.
Rhodes throws a big elbow that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rhodes trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Khanna looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rhodes postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Rhodes trying to control but Khanna is working from the bottom.
Rhodes lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rhodes trying to control but Khanna is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Khanna 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.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rhodes's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Khanna is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Rhodes stopping the sweep attempt from Khanna.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Rhodes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Khanna is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Rhodes defends well.
Rhodes trying to control but Khanna is working from the bottom.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rhodes cracks Khanna with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.

Rhodes shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Rhodes is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Khanna is looking to escape.
Khanna tries to get to full guard but Rhodes has control of the leg.
Rhodes is thwarting Khanna's attempts to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rhodes with the ground and pound but Khanna uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Khanna trying to keep a closed guard but Rhodes is proving a slippery customer.
Rhodes distracts Khanna with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Khanna looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Rhodes puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Rhodes lands a nice short elbow.
Rhodes not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rhodes seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Dusty Rhodes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rhodes is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Khanna works his way to full guard. Good work.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dusty Rhodes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Dusty Rhodes's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Khanna tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Rhodes is able to avoid easily.
Raja Khanna has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Khanna fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rhodes manages to avoid it.
Khanna ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Rhodes moves away.
Khanna fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rhodes manages to avoid it.
Khanna scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Khanna misses with a looping left.
A counter left hand to the body from Rhodes misses its target.
Khanna pushes Rhodes away with a front kick.

Rhodes closes the distance and clinches.
Rhodes swings wildly with an uppercut but Khanna uses good head movement to avoid it.
Khanna can't find room to land a body shot as Rhodes controls the action.
Khanna tries a body shot but Rhodes blocks it.
Rhodes misses with a short punch on the inside.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rhodes makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Rhodes swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Rhodes tries for a takedown but Khanna manages to get underhooks.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Khanna.
Rhodes tries to work over Khanna's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rhodes prevents a body shot from Khanna.
Khanna working aggressively here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rhodes blocking some punches.
Khanna tries to work over Rhodes's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rhodes working aggressively here.

Rhodes has hold of one of Khanna's legs. Khanna is fighting the takedown attempt but Rhodes gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

Khanna has his foot on Rhodes's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Rhodes works his way back into a safe position though.
Rhodes throwing strikes but missing.
Dusty Rhodes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Rhodes is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Rhodes trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Rhodes controlling from the top position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Khanna is on top in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khanna throwing strikes from guard but Rhodes blocks nicely.
Khanna trying to control the position from guard on top but Rhodes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rhodes can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Khanna controls the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rhodes bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Khanna's guard.

Rhodes might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Rhodes is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Khanna is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khanna working a defensive guard but Rhodes passes into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Rhodes in particular looking to stall.
Khanna is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Rhodes's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Rhodes's back!
Rhodes tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Rhodes is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Rhodes manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Khanna is working for a kimura but Rhodes is defending it quite comfortably.
Rhodes gets back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rhodes looking to hit a scissor sweep but Khanna is one step ahead there.
Rhodes keeping full guard, as Khanna tries to pass.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Khanna postures up in Rhodes's guard and throws a big left but Rhodes blocks it.
Khanna in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Raja Khanna.
I think Rhodes has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:29
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!