PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joe Kaplan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kike Furia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Kaplan
vs
Furia

185 cm
24
252 lbs
3 - 3 - 1

170 cm
25
260 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Prefers standup

Springfield HW Nutrition
Springfield HW Nutrition

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 3 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joe Kaplan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kike Furia!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Stewart Dunkirk and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kaplan gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Furia looking to throw knees to the head but Kaplan is blocking nicely.
Kaplan drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Furia gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Kaplan is trying to push Furia away but Furia has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Furia lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

It looks like Joe Kaplan has been cut.
Furia with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Furia landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Furia with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Furia looking to throw knees to the head but Kaplan is blocking nicely.
Furia connects with a knee to the head.
Kaplan working aggressively here.
Furia using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Kaplan has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Kaplan wants to stall.
Furia using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Kaplan has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Furia looks gassed!
Kaplan digs a right hand underneath Furia's ribcage. Furia let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Furia throws a knee to the head but misses.
Kaplan wants a takedown but no success here.
Furia landing knees to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kaplan looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joe Kaplan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Furia tries a knee to the head but Kaplan blocks it.
Kaplan looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Kaplan tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Furia smiles and moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kaplan scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Kaplan is nestled in close to Furia, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Kaplan 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.
Nice strikes from Kaplan there.
Kaplan lands with a punch from half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kaplan seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Kaplan passes to full mount!
Kaplan lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Kaplan connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kaplan controlling from the full mount.
Kaplan punishing his opponent with strikes.
Kaplan in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Kaplan cracks Furia with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Kaplan working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Kaplan lands a big shot to the head and Furia winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:03 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Joe Kaplan!