PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mike Cope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Anouska Nikolaev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cope comes to the ring accompanied by Slayed. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Cope
vs
Nikolaev

176 cm
20
153 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

178 cm
19
151 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

5th Round
5th Round

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mike Cope!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Anouska Nikolaev!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Aleksandr Martynov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nikolaev chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Cope can pounce on him.
Nikolaev throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Cope.
Nikolaev throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Cope throws a head kick but Nikolaev moves out of range.
Cope misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nikolaev lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Nikolaev throws a combination that misses

and Cope counters with a single leg into guard. Nikolaev didn't expect that.
Cope trying to control the position from guard on top but Nikolaev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cope working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Cope pushes down on Nikolaev's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Cope 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.
Cope is looking to take a break and control but Nikolaev is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cope frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Cope scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Nikolaev?

Cope is working for a guillotine from mount but Nikolaev frees his head quite easily.
Cope lands a heavy elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cope is going olschool here, as he tries to force Nikolaev to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Nikolaev shrugs it off.
Nikolaev is bucking up trying to escape but Cope cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Cope landing punches.
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!

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Cope has control of Nikolaev's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Nikolaev regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Cope fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cope jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Nikolaev is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Nikolaev and Cope has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Cope throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Cope advances to full mount.
Cope thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

Cope jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Nikolaev manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Cope is putting a hurting on Nikolaev here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cope tries for a kimura but Nikolaev is defending well.

Cope has an Americana. Nikolaev didn't react quickly enough there and he's in big trouble now! He tries to squirm out but is forced to tap! Cope is delighted and gyrates infront of the ring girls. They seem to like the attention - it'll be interesting to see if Cope hooks up with any of them at the after show party.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:45 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Mike Cope!