PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Pavel Nakhimov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chester Taylor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chester Taylor is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Nakhimov
vs
Taylor

200 cm
19
208 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

193 cm
21
216 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Self confident

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Determined

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Pavel Nakhimov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Chester Taylor!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Igor Prikhodko and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nakhimov is looking to clinch but Taylor is avoiding it.
Nakhimov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Taylor was well out of range. Poor timing from Nakhimov.
Nice sprawl there from Nakhimov as Taylor shoots in.
Chester Taylor seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Taylor fails with the takedown.
Nakhimov throws a big shot that misses.
Nakhimov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Taylor manages to avoid it.
Taylor ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Taylor 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.
Nakhimov avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Taylor trying to control the position from guard on top but Nakhimov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nakhimov is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Taylor lands a couple of digs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taylor lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Taylor wants to control from the top but Nakhimov keeps moving.
Nakhimov is looking to stand up but Taylor isn't so interested in that idea.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Taylor throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Nakhimov works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Taylor trying to control the position from guard on top but Nakhimov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nakhimov wants to stand but Taylor is controlling the position.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Taylor scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taylor keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nakhimov tries for a takedown but Taylor circles away easily

and Taylor moves into the clinch.

Taylor breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Nakhimov keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nakhimov throws a series of strikes that have Taylor backpedaling.

Taylor shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Taylor was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Taylor with a couple of short strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nakhimov takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Taylor has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Taylor scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Nakhimov?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taylor lands a nice shot to the head.
Nakhimov is breathing heavily.
Taylor fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Taylor looking to control and managing it successfully.
I looks like Taylor might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Taylor fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Nakhimov taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taylor looking to control and managing it successfully.
Taylor is landing with some decent strikes but Nakhimov is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Taylor unloading with bombs!
Taylor has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nakhimov's face.
Nakhimov wants to get back to his feet.
Taylor raining down shots from the mount!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nakhimov taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Taylor decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Nakhimov wants to get back to his feet.
Taylor trying to control from half guard but Nakhimov is working away.
Nakhimov is trying to stand up here but Taylor is controlling him well.
Taylor frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Nakhimov is bucking up trying to escape but Taylor cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Nakhimov in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

Taylor working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taylor dominating with strikes here.
Nakhimov is trying to stand up.
Nakhimov taking shots to the head.
Nakhimov is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Taylor controlling his opponent.
Taylor landing punches.
Taylor can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Nakhimov is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taylor is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Chester Taylor has got the better of the ground game so far.
Taylor is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Taylor lands a heavy elbow.
Taylor lands a big elbow.
Taylor lands with some strikes.
Nakhimov wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Taylor pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taylor controlling the position easily from mount.
Nakhimov wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Taylor controlling his opponent.
Taylor has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nakhimov's face.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Taylor lands a heavy elbow.
Taylor looking to control but Nakhimov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Taylor controlling the pace for now.
You get the feeling that Nakhimov really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Taylor controlling the position easily from mount.
Taylor punishing his opponent with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chester Taylor showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Taylor shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nakhimov as he jumps to the side.
Taylor shoots in and drives through. Nakhimov sprawls well.
Nakhimov misses with a head kick.

Nakhimov lands a big head kick that sends Taylor tumbling to the mat! Nakhimov takes a step backwards and waves Taylor back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Taylor is rocked!

It looks like Chester Taylor has been cut.

Taylor closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Taylor lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Nakhimov kicks Taylor off and gets back to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Taylor clinches up with Nakhimov and pushes him back against the cage.

Nakhimov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Taylor takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nakhimov misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Taylor.
Taylor looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakhimov fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Nakhimov misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Pavel Nakhimov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Nakhimov gets caught flat footed, as Taylor shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Nakhimov keeping full guard, as Taylor tries to pass.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Taylor accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Taylor 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 two minutes gone in the round.
Nakhimov is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Taylor looking to sit in guard and control but Nakhimov gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Nakhimov is looking to stand up but Taylor won't let him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Taylor kicks Nakhimov off and gets to his feet.
Nakhimov fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Pavel Nakhimov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nakhimov just misses with a punch to the body.
Nakhimov is looking to wear down Taylor with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.

Taylor clinches with his opponent.

Nakhimov breaks from the clinch.

Taylor gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Nakhimov pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Taylor shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Taylor was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Taylor landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakhimov squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Taylor lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Nakhimov hang on?
Taylor has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nakhimov's face.
Taylor controlling from mount.
Nakhimov really wants to buck Taylor off and get back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Taylor with good strikes from the mount here!
Taylor can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Nakhimov is looking to escape.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chester Taylor comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Taylor winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 26:30
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 26:30
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chester Taylor!