PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sparring John (ranked 884 p4p, 1551 weight class) and Aleksandr Zuev (ranked 124 p4p, 203 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

John
vs
Zuev

194 cm
24
205
8 - 4 - 1

201 cm
26
215
9 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Shadow Realm Apparel

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sparring John!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Aleksandr Zuev!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Steve Montenegro and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zuev misses with the combination.
Zuev pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
John is looking for a counter combo.
A looping hook to the body misses from Zuev. John does a little dance to reset his feet.
John's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Zuev connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! John scrambles back to his feet.
Zuev scores with a hook.
John misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Aleksandr Zuev seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
John avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
John looks to score with a jab to the body but Zuev is just out of range.
Zuev throws a right and a left that John avoids nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zuev lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Zuev misses with a combination
and John counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Zuev keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Zuev throws a body kick, spinning off balance
enabling John to counter with a crisp jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zuev buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Zuev lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
John avoids the body shot from Zuev.
It looked like John wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Zuev wants to clinch.
Zuev just misses with a punch to the body.
Zuev connects with a jab.
John dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A big right from Zuev misses.
John has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Zuev.
Zuev has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Zuev misses with a low kick.
Zuev scores with a nice strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zuev tests John's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Zuev misses with a low kick.
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!
Zuev tests John's chin there with a solid looking shot.
John slips a straight right by Zuev.
Sloppy strikes from John. Those never looked like landing.

John tries to keep at a distance but Zuev has taken the fight into the clinch.
Zuev using the Thai plumb to throw knees but John has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
I was talking to John's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
John misses with a body punch.
John tries to break free but Zuev pushes him back against the cage.

Zuev breaks from the clinch.
Zuev is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! John had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
John takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Zuev changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
John blocks a head kick by Zuev.
Zuev closes the distance but John moves to the side
and John counters with a right hand to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zuev uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by John.
Zuev throws a combination. John tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Zuev throws a head kick that misses.
John blocks a head kick by Zuev.
John was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
John blocks the body kick.
Zuev misses with a combination
and John cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Zuev keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Zuev jabs John right on the nose. John blinks but takes it well.
John avoids the head kick by Zuev.
A quick step to the side and John tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
John throws a series of punches but Zuev avoids them all with ease.
John dodges the punch combination from Zuev.
John throws a big counter combination but Zuev scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
John avoids the body shot from Zuev.
John bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
John lands with a right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
John misses with a wild body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from John. Zuev does a little dance to reset his feet.
John is looking to wear down Zuev with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
John throws a poor cross that misses
and Zuev counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
John ducks right into an uppercut from Zuev.
Zuev throws an ugly left hook that misses
and John counters with a nice body shot.

Zuev takes the fight into the clinch.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Zuev creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

John breaks from the clinch.
John scores with a nice strike.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Aleksandr Zuev dominated that round.
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.

Zuev closes the distance and clinches.

It looks like Aleksandr Zuev has been cut.
A quick uppercut on the inside from John.
A quick uppercut on the inside from John.

John pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Zuev scores with a nice strike.
John swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Zuev motions for John to come forward. Zuev throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Zuev has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
John blocks a head kick by Zuev.
A head kick misses from Zuev.
John staying out of range there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zuev misses with a body kick.
Zuev connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed John momentarily.
Zuev uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Zuev closes the distance looking to clinch
and John counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Zuev.
Zuev throws a head kick that misses.
It looked like John wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

Zuev forces John back against the cage and clinches.

Zuev breaks the clinch.
Zuev lands with a right hand.
Zuev throws a combination that misses
and John counters with a right hand to the body.
Zuev is breathing heavily.
John takes a swing at Zuev's ribcage but misses.
Zuev throws a leg kick but John sees it coming and checks it nicely.
John looks to throw the jab but Zuev is out of range.
Zuev looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
John swings and misses with a hook to the body.
John takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
As Zuev looks to move away, John throws a big counter combo but Zuev just gets out of the way.
Zuev throws a series of punches but John moves out of range.
Aleksandr Zuev seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice leg kick from Zuev, right into the meat of the thigh.
John takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Zuev moves in looking to clinch but John pushes him off.
John went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
John fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
John wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Zuev throws a looping overhand right but John ducks down to avoid it.
John misses with a body shot.
Zuev throws out a counter right but John avoids it with no problem.
Zuev tries to clinch up.
John cracks Zuev with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
John connects with a body shot.
John misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Zuev.
Zuev thows a left - swing and a miss!
John scores with a jab. Zuev acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
John takes a swing at Zuev's ribcage but misses.
Zuev steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.
Zuev throws a predictable looking body shot
and John counters with a left right combination that sends Zuev crashing to the mat - John wastes no time in diving on top of him and pounding Zuev out for a TKO! Devastating finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:12 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Sparring John!
Sparring John decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.