PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kraig Mackey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Azizmullah Khabukthakar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kraig Mackey has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Mackey
vs
Khabukthakar

190 cm
18
225 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

189 cm
18
270 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kraig Mackey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Azizmullah Khabukthakar!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Konstantin Menshow and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mackey shoots in and bounces Khabukthakar off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Khabukthakar is looking for a triangle but Mackey pushes his legs off easily.
Mackey wants to pass the guard but Khabukthakar is keeping the position.

Khabukthakar looking for subs off his back but Mackey has passed one foot through into half guard.
Khabukthakar tries to get to full guard but Mackey has control of the leg.

Khabukthakar is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Mackey pulls his head out easily.

Khabukthakar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Khabukthakar looks gassed!
Khabukthakar has hold of Mackey's hands but Mackey slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mackey tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Khabukthakar.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mackey working over Khabukthakar with some ground and pound. Khabukthakar looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Mackey working Khabukthakar over with strikes.
Khabukthakar is refusing to be controlled, as Mackey sits in half guard.
Khabukthakar is looking for a sweep. Mackey is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Mackey is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Khabukthakar actively working from the bottom here.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Mackey in particular looking to stall.

Mackey stands up out of the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Khabukthakar shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Khabukthakar was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Khabukthakar throwing strikes here but Mackey is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Mackey tries to lock up and control but Khabukthakar gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Mackey gets back to half guard.

Mackey looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Mackey on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Mackey tries to get out of the position.
Mackey keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

Khabukthakar is looking for a kimura here.
Khabukthakar is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Mackey reverses the position - he's now on top in Khabukthakar's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mackey slips nicely into half guard.
Still in half guard, Mackey seems content to control.
Khabukthakar is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Khabukthakar looking for submissions off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Khabukthakar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Mackey decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Mackey has taken the fight to the clinch.

Mackey breaks the clinch.
Khabukthakar should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Khabukthakar blocks a low kick nicely.
Khabukthakar looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Mackey misses with a series of wild punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kraig Mackey dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Mackey fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Khabukthakar sprawls well initially but Mackey persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

Mackey postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Khabukthakar to stand up.

Mackey gets a clinch.

Mackey breaks from the clinch.
Kraig Mackey is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Khabukthakar tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Mackey counters with a takedown into side control.
Mackey wants to lay and pray for a moment but Khabukthakar keeps working.
Khabukthakar is looking for a sweep.

Mackey is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Khabukthakar is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Khabukthakar prevents Mackey from moving into mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mackey wants to lay and pray for a moment but Khabukthakar keeps working.
Khabukthakar is looking to regain half guard here but Mackey keeps moving and retains side control.
Mackey tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Mackey wants to lay and pray for a moment but Khabukthakar keeps working.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Khabukthakar shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Mackey manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Khabukthakar advances position into side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mackey managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Khabukthakar.
Khabukthakar throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Mackey regains half guard, as Khabukthakar was trying to land strikes.
Khabukthakar missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Khabukthakar looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Mackey is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Khabukthakar's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Khabukthakar's back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Khabukthakar manages to reverse the position and now he's in Mackey's guard. Nice work there by Khabukthakar.
Mackey working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Khabukthakar.
Mackey is adopting a defensive guard.
Mackey manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Mackey scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Khabukthakar?
Khabukthakar sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khabukthakar actively working from the bottom here.
Khabukthakar wants to improve his position but Mackey is controlling well.
Mackey lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Mackey here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.

Khabukthakar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Mackey is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Mackey trying to control from half guard but Khabukthakar is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kraig Mackey dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Khabukthakar clinches but Mackey breaks the clinch

and Mackey counters with a nice double leg into side control. Khabukthakar won't be happy with that.

Mackey tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Mackey has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Khabukthakar is looking to reverse the position.
Mackey is looking to take a break and control but Khabukthakar is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Khabukthakar manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Khabukthakar is looking to improve his position.
Mackey throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Khabukthakar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Khabukthakar misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Kraig Mackey overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Mackey misses with a takedown

and Khabukthakar holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Mackey tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Khabukthakar smiles and moves away.
Mackey has his takedown stuffed
and Khabukthakar makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kraig Mackey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mackey pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Khabukthakar throws a combination. Mackey tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Khabukthakar is looking to slow Mackey down with leg kicks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mackey has his takedown stuffed

and Khabukthakar counters with a single leg into guard. Mackey didn't expect that.

Khabukthakar postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Mackey is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Khabukthakar, into his guard.

Khabukthakar looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Mackey got a little sloppy there for a moment and Khabukthakar has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Mackey has managed to get both his arms back between Khabukthakar's legs - danger averted.
Mackey slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mackey is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Khabukthakar is looking for a triangle but Mackey pushes his legs off easily.
Mackey seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Mackey wants to pass the guard but Khabukthakar is keeping the position.

Khabukthakar working for a triangle but Mackey defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khabukthakar has his foot on Mackey's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Mackey works his way back into a safe position though.
Khabukthakar has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Mackey has passed into side control.
Khabukthakar trying to remain calm as Mackey controls from the top position.
Khabukthakar is looking for a sweep.
Khabukthakar is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Khabukthakar is trying to work for a sweep but Mackey has mounted him!
Khabukthakar is trying to escape the mount.
Azizmullah Khabukthakar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kraig Mackey is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Mackey controlling from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Azizmullah Khabukthakar comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Mackey 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kraig Mackey!