PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Karelin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and LePeck Monsonde (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Karelin might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Russian National Anthem. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Karelin
vs
Monsonde

205 cm
26
279 lbs
10 - 6 - 0

197 cm
24
266 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 10 - 6 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alex Karelin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, LePeck Monsonde!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Ivan Kurochkin and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karelin slips a jab and a cross from Monsonde.
Monsonde throws a big shot that misses.
Karelin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Monsonde.

Karelin shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Monsonde napping and manages to drive through into side control!
An elbow from Karelin crashes against the mat.
Monsonde prevents Karelin from moving into mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Karelin misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Karelin 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.
Karelin controlling the position.
Karelin with the ground and pound but Monsonde regains half guard under the barage of strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Monsonde wants to get back to his feet.
Karelin thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Monsonde's head.

Monsonde pushes Karelin off and gets back to his feet.
Monsonde misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Karelin.
Monsonde throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Monsonde throws a series of punches but Karelin avoids them all with ease.
Monsonde throws a series of punches but Karelin moves out of range.
Monsonde takes a swing at Karelin's ribcage but misses.
Karelin shoots in but Monsonde avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Monsonde stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Monsonde wants it to stay on the feet.
Monsonde thows a body shot but no joy.
Karelin throws a body punch but Monsonde moves out of range.
Karelin looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Monsonde is fending him off so far but Karelin persists. Nope, Monsonde circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Karelin. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Karelin avoids a punch combination nicely.
Monsonde scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

It looks like Alex Karelin has been cut.
LePeck Monsonde is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Karelin is breathing heavily.
Monsonde throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Karelin dodges the punch combination from Monsonde.
Monsonde scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Karelin doesn't seem bothered though.
LePeck Monsonde seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Karelin takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Monsonde throws a series of punches but Karelin moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karelin avoids a punch combination nicely.
Monsonde jabs at Karelin's body.
Some wild striking there from Monsonde.
Monsonde throws a right and a left that both miss.
Monsonde rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Karelin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Karelin slips a jab and a cross from Monsonde.
A jab from Monsonde misses.
Monsonde misses with a jab, cross combination.
Karelin slips under a jab from Monsonde.
Karelin slips under a jab.
Monsonde misses with a body punch

and Karelin counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karelin in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Karelin trying to control the position from guard on top but Monsonde is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Karelin pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Monsonde is keeping the position for now.
Monsonde is looking to stand up but Karelin isn't so interested in that idea.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Karelin throwing strikes from guard but Monsonde blocks nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

LePeck Monsonde dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Alex Karelin's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Monsonde throws a combination that misses

and Karelin counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Monsonde!
Monsonde doing his best to control the position. Can he escape?
Monsonde avoids a series of strikes thrown by Karelin.
Karelin in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Karelin looking to finish with strikes here!
Monsonde holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Karelin tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Karelin dominating with strikes here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karelin throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Karelin scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Monsonde?
Karelin thowing shots but they're missing.
Monsonde is desperately trying to improve his position but Karelin has a good base and remains in mount.
Karelin throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Karelin throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Monsonde tries to lock up and control but Karelin gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Monsonde wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Karelin.
Monsonde is squirming around, avoiding Karelin's attempts to control the action.
Monsonde wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Karelin.
Karelin avoids the attempt from Monsonde to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karelin throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Karelin is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Monsonde can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Poor strikes thrown by Karelin there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Alex Karelin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Monsonde trying desperately to get to his feet.
Karelin controlling his opponent.
Karelin throws some wild stikes that Monsonde manages to avoid easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karelin thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Karelin trying to control but Monsonde is having none of it.
Karelin looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Karelin dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Alex Karelin's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Monsonde misses with a combination

and Karelin counters with a nice double leg into side control. Monsonde won't be happy with that.
Karelin prevents Monsonde from escaping the position.
Monsonde managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Karelin.
Karelin misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Karelin fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Karelin throws an elbow but Monsonde slips to the side and avoids it well.
Karelin postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Monsonde is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Monsonde defending against the ground and pound.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Monsonde misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Monsonde takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Monsonde misses with a wild body shot.
Karelin fails to land the takedown.
Monsonde is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Karelin rather than just go for the knockout.
Monsonde takes one to the chin there.
Monsonde misses with a double jab
and Karelin counters with a straight right hand.
Monsonde misses with a hook.
Monsonde misses with a hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Monsonde swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Monsonde takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Monsonde swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Karelin counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Monsonde blocking the ground and pound attempt from Karelin.
Monsonde is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Karelin scores with a couple of nice shots.
Karelin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Monsonde defending well though.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Monsonde can do anything to dispel that myth.
Karelin is controlling the pace.
Karelin thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Monsonde is staying active underneath Karelin, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Monsonde keeping control of the position.

Monsonde pushes Karelin off and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Karelin feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Karelin trying to control but Monsonde is working from the bottom.
Monsonde is looking to stand up but Karelin isn't so interested in that idea.
Karelin throws and elbow that misses. Monsonde uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Karelin's guard. Nice move by Monsonde!
Karelin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Monsonde is one step ahead there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alex Karelin showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Karelin 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 29:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Karelin!