PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Fidelity Castro (ranked 2193 p4p, 1499 weight class) and Nikolai Kaspersky (ranked 249 p4p, 184 weight class). Nikolai Kaspersky is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Castro
vs
Kaspersky

191 cm
42
201
25 - 17 - 0

180 cm
26
188
11 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Olympic wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Shadow Realm Apparel

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 25 - 17 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Fidelity Castro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Nikolai Kaspersky!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Colin Fotheringham and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick misses from Castro.
Castro throws a head kick but Kaspersky moves out of range.

Kaspersky changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Castro looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Castro explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
Kaspersky keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Castro.
Kaspersky looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Kaspersky lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kaspersky scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Castro doesn't seem bothered though.
Castro throws a head kick that misses
and Kaspersky counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Kaspersky dives in for a single leg takedown but Castro sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kaspersky scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Castro is pushing Kaspersky's head away, looking to escape. Kaspersky manages to hold on to the position though.
Kaspersky working the head and body with strikes.
Kaspersky wants to lay and pray for a moment but Castro keeps working.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Kaspersky working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.
Kaspersky lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Castro is trying to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Castro trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Kaspersky working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Castro tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Kaspersky throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
A lull in the action here.
Castro is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Castro managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Kaspersky.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kaspersky is looking to take a break and control but Castro is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Kaspersky staying out of range there.
Castro walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Castro keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Kaspersky.
Fidelity Castro is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kaspersky with a lazy takedown attempt
and Castro counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Castro takes one to the side of the head.
Castro ducks right into an uppercut from Kaspersky.
Castro fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Kaspersky manages to avoid it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castro blocks a jab.
Castro throwing a counter right hand but Kaspersky manages to avoid it.

Kaspersky scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Castro is trying to stand.
Kaspersky is trying to control. Castro wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kaspersky stops Castro from getting back to his feet.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kaspersky lands a nice short elbow.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kaspersky content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Castro on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolai Kaspersky dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Kaspersky closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Castro throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
Kaspersky shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Castro defends it nicely.
It looked like Castro wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Kaspersky shoots in for a takedown but Castro shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Castro misses with a head kick.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Kaspersky.
Fidelity Castro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nikolai Kaspersky.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice cross by Kaspersky.
Kaspersky getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Castro tries a head kick but it misses.
Kaspersky misses with an uppercut.
Kaspersky avoids the body shot from Castro.
Castro lands a nice shot to the body.
Castro takes a shot to the body in his stride.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Castro misses.
Kaspersky looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Castro misses with a looping right.
Kaspersky misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Kaspersky looks to land a left hand but Castro moved out of range nicely.
Kaspersky moves out of range of the strikes.
Kaspersky looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Kaspersky keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kaspersky tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Castro throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Kaspersky lands an overhand right.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castro tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Castro loads up on a big right hand but Kaspersky slips the punch.
Kaspersky connects with a looping right hand.
Kaspersky might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Castro on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

Kaspersky scores with a takedown into Castro's guard.
Kaspersky postures up and lands a big shot to Castro's brow.
Castro avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Castro wants to stand but Kaspersky is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kaspersky trying to control the position from guard on top but Castro is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Castro is looking to stand up but Kaspersky isn't so interested in that idea.
Kaspersky must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Kaspersky is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kaspersky won't allow Castro to get back to his feet.
Kaspersky trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Castro is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Castro scores with a body shot.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Fidelity Castro will probably get the nod.
That's time! Castro's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Castro misses with a looping right.

Kaspersky shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Kaspersky keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Nikolai Kaspersky has got the better of the ground game so far.
Castro won't allow Kaspersky to pass to mount.
Castro is trying to stand back up but Kaspersky is controlling him
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kaspersky tries to pass the half guard into mount. Castro knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Kaspersky trying to control the pace.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Castro is not content to let Kaspersky control the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Castro cracks Kaspersky with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

Kaspersky drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Kaspersky wants to control from the top but Castro keeps moving.
Castro is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Kaspersky missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Castro pushes Kaspersky off and gets back to his feet.
Kaspersky shoots for a takedown but Castro saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Kaspersky works the jab nicely.
Nice shot lands for Kaspersky.
Kaspersky cracks Castro with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kaspersky fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Castro on the side of the head.
Castro connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Kaspersky avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castro throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Kaspersky displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Castro gets caught flat footed, as Kaspersky shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Castro has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Kaspersky is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Kaspersky tries to pull guard but Castro holds him up against the cage and eventually Kaspersky drops back down to his feet.
Kaspersky jumps guard but Castro turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Fidelity Castro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nikolai Kaspersky.
Kaspersky drops down looking for an ankle pick but Castro pulls his leg out and moves away.

Castro gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Kaspersky to score an easy takedown into full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Castro wants to stand but Kaspersky is controlling the position.
Kaspersky looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Castro will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Castro preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Nikolai Kaspersky.
I think Kaspersky has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 James Glass scores the fight 28:29
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 28:29
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nikolai Kaspersky!
After winning the bout, Nikolai Kaspersky thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.