PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Leonid Zakharov (ranked 167 p4p, 365 weight class) and Hao Qiang (ranked 13 p4p, 23 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Zakharov
vs
Qiang

200 cm
29
255
17 - 12 - 0

200 cm
27
275
15 - 4 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Black Lab Clothing
NARCOS

Shadow Realm Apparel
30th Century Beer Store

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 17 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Leonid Zakharov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hao Qiang!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Hirohito Nitta and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Qiang walks into a jab.
Qiang showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Zakharov.
The fighters circling - Zakharov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Qiang flicks out a counter leg kick but Zakharov steps away.
A swing and a miss from Qiang.
Qiang bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Zakharov's head.
Qiang slips a jab from Zakharov.
Zakharov jabs Qiang to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Zakharov looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Qiang takes a swing at Zakharov's ribcage but misses.
Qiang throws an off balance right hand
and Zakharov counters with a slapping leg kick.
Zakharov fails to land with a series of punches.
A low kick from Zakharov is predictable there
and Qiang counters with a nice uppercut.
Qiang tries a head kick but it misses.
A slow jab from Zakharov misses its intended target.
Zakharov takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice defenses there by Qiang.
A slow jab from Zakharov misses its intended target.
Qiang now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zakharov delivers a nice body kick.
Qiang jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Qiang throws a good cross that connects.
Qiang moves out of range as Zakharov throws a body kick.
Qiang sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Zakharov is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Qiang.
Zakharov misses with a body kick.
Zakharov throws a sloppy head kick and Qiang moves out of range easily.
A low kick from Qiang is predictable there
letting Zakharov counter with a right hand.
Zakharov moves out of range as Qiang strikes.
Zakharov throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Qiang drops his hands momentarily and Zakharov takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

It looks like Hao Qiang has been cut.
Qiang blocks a jab.
Zakharov connects with a single shot there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zakharov keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Qiang.
Zakharov thinks about countering with a body kick.
Hao Qiang seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zakharov misses with a straight left.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Qiang pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Qiang misses the shot to the body.
Zakharov misses the shot to the body.
Qiang throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Zakharov keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Zakharov uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Qiang.
Zakharov tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zakharov throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Qiang.
Zakharov throws a body punch but Qiang moves out of range.
Zakharov misses with a two punch combination.
Qiang swings widly with a right hand
letting Zakharov counter with a right hand.
Zakharov pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Zakharov ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Qiang ducks under a wild hook from Zakharov.
Qiang dodges the punch combination from Zakharov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zakharov throws a head kick that half lands.
Qiang throws a jab but it's blocked by Zakharov.
Qiang slips under a jab.
Zakharov throws the kick towards the body but Qiang avoids it.
Qiang throws out a loose jab but Zakharov uses good head movement to avoid it.
Zakharov uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Qiang.
Qiang scores with a decent looking hook.
Qiang looks to land a left hand but Zakharov moved out of range nicely.
Qiang throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Zakharov on the side of the head.
Zakharov bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A shot to the liver by Zakharov. Beautiful body shot.
Qiang avoids a kick to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zakharov with a nice cross.
Qiang moves out of range of the body kick.
Zakharov scores with a head kick. Qiang tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zakharov connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That has opened up Hao Qiang's cut even more.
Zakharov misses with an uppercut.
Zakharov lands a leg kick that knocks Qiang off balance momentarily.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Zakharov. Qiang shrugs it off though.
Qiang tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Zakharov was well out of range. Poor timing from Qiang.
Qiang steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Zakharov.
Qiang scores with a head kick. Zakharov tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Qiang thows a left - swing and a miss!
Zakharov keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Qiang blocks a head kick by Zakharov.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Zakharov.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Zakharov fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Leonid Zakharov dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hao Qiang'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.

Zakharov bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Qiang steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Zakharov.
Qiang misses with a hook.
Zakharov lands a jab to Qiang's midsection.
Qiang throws a body punch but Zakharov moves out of range.
Decent striking displayed by Zakharov there.
Qiang just misses with a punch to the body.
Nice jab there from Qiang.
Zakharov scoring well with a low kick there.
Qiang avoids the head kick by Zakharov.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Qiang! But no joy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Qiang.
Qiang keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Qiang looks to score with a jab to the body but Zakharov is just out of range.
It looked like Zakharov wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
A telegraphed right hand from Qiang misses the target.
Zakharov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Qiang can do to turn this around?
Zakharov scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zakharov thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Qiang if he has to take too many more of those.
Qiang throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Qiang throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Zakharov.
Zakharov scores with a sloppy right hand. Qiang should have avoided that one.
Qiang throws an off balance right hand
and Zakharov counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Qiang lands a nice shot to the body.
Leonid Zakharov is winning the standup battle so far.
Zakharov slips a jab from Qiang.
Qiang swings widly with a right hand
and Zakharov counters with a lovely straight right hand!

The cut above Hao Qiang's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Qiang on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Zakharov. Qiang does a little dance to reset his feet.
Qiang looks to land a left hand but Zakharov moved out of range nicely.
Zakharov throws a half hearted mid kick.
Zakharov throws out a loose jab but Qiang uses good head movement to avoid it.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with each other but Qiang might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Zakharov has got the better of the exchanges.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zakharov throws a body punch but Qiang moves out of range.
Qiang's corner calls for a 1-2. Qiang obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zakharov lands with a hook. Qiang tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Qiang throws a jab but it's blocked by Zakharov.
Zakharov 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.
Qiang getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Qiang slips under a jab from Zakharov.
Qiang swings widly with a right hand
and Zakharov counters with a nice body shot.
Zakharov looks to land a body kick but Qiang moved away.
Qiang swings for the body but Zakharov moves out of range.
Qiang steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Zakharov.
Qiang lands a nice looking body shot.
Qiang throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Qiang lunges at Zakharov with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Zakharov's hand.
Zakharov avoids the head kick by Qiang.
Qiang uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Zakharov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Decent striking displayed by Qiang there.
Zakharov scores with a hook to the body. Qiang takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Zakharov tries to land a body kick
and Qiang counters with a straight right hand.
Qiang finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Zakharov ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Zakharov tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Qiang fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Zakharov is out of range.
Qiang missing with a left hand there. Zakharov was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Qiang blocks a head kick by Zakharov.
A head kick misses from Qiang.
Zakharov throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Zakharov lands a nice looking kick to the body. Qiang takes a step back to recover.
Qiang is breathing heavily.
Qiang swings away with a body shot that misses
and Zakharov counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Qiang takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.

Hao Qiang's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A jab from Zakharov finds it's way through Qiang's defenses.
Qiang misses with a left hand
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Zakharov chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Qiang takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Qiang throws a jab but it's blocked by Zakharov.
Qiang stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Zakharov.
Zakharov throws a head kick that misses
and Qiang counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Qiang moves out of range of the strikes.
Qiang is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Qiang misses with a hook to the body
and Zakharov counters with a straight right hand.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Hao Qiang's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:49 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Leonid Zakharov!
Leonid Zakharov thanked the fans post fight for their support.