PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mirko Emelianenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bobby Fingers (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.

Emelianenko
vs
Fingers

179 cm
28
185 lbs
13 - 6 - 0

186 cm
23
193 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
World class boxer
Powerful

O'Brannigan's Fightwear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 6 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mirko Emelianenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Bobby Fingers!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Valeri Chadov and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Emelianenko is looking to clinch but Fingers is avoiding it.
Fingers tries to bum rush Emelianenko with a series of wild strikes but Emelianenko uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Fingers uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Emelianenko has time to react.
Emelianenko takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
A punch combination from Fingers misses.
Fingers takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Fingers lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

It looks like Mirko Emelianenko has been cut.
Fingers looks to land a combination but Emelianenko avoids it well.
Fingers throws a right and a left that both miss.

Emelianenko closes the distance and clinches.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Emelianenko works on Fingers's body with a couple of short punches.
Fingers wants to break the clinch but can't.
Emelianenko lands a body shot.
Fingers looks gassed!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Emelianenko lands a nice uppercut.
Fingers wants to break the clinch but can't.
Emelianenko throws a knee to the head but misses.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Good body shot from Emelianenko.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Emelianenko creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A right hand to the body from Emelianenko.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Bobby Fingers has been cut.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.
Good body shot from Emelianenko.
Good body shot from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko connects with a knee to the head.
Fingers takes a knee right on the jaw!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Emelianenko.
A short right from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko is stalling here.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Fingers takes a knee to the side of the body.
Emelianenko lands with a short shot to the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Emelianenko.
Nice body punch from Emelianenko - that landed with a thud.
Emelianenko lands a left hand.
A right hand to the body from Emelianenko.
Knees to the body from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Emelianenko throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Emelianenko scores with a shot to the side of Fingers's head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Emelianenko.

Emelianenko breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Emelianenko takes the fight into the clinch.
Emelianenko prevents a body shot from Fingers.
A short right from Emelianenko on the inside.
Emelianenko lands a left hand.
Emelianenko stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Emelianenko lands a right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.
Emelianenko lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko with a knee to the head.
A hook to the body from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Fingers or not.
Fingers takes a knee right on the jaw!
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Emelianenko lands with a short shot to the head.
Emelianenko with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Emelianenko is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Emelianenko is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

Emelianenko breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
A nice combination there by Fingers.

Emelianenko gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Fingers wants to get back to striking at distance but Emelianenko won't allow it.
Emelianenko connects with a knee to the head.
Emelianenko throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Fingerss head.
Emelianenko lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Fingers backwards.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Emelianenko obliges.
Emelianenko cracks Fingers with a nice body shot.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Emelianenko breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Fingers misses with a wild combination.
Emelianenko misses with a double jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fingers misses with a two punch combination.

Emelianenko closes the distance and clinches.
Emelianenko lands a body shot in the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Emelianenko - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Emelianenko obliges.
Emelianenko scores a nice knee to the body.
Emelianenko looking to throw knees to the head but Fingers is blocking nicely.
Emelianenko lands a body shot.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head.

Fingers breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Fingers misses with a few strikes there.

Emelianenko clinches with his opponent.
Fingers tries to break the clinch but Emelianenko is controlling the position.
Emelianenko pushes Fingers back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Fingers lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Emelianenko looking to throw knees to the head but Fingers is blocking nicely.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Fingers wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Fingers misses with a hook to the ribs.
Emelianenko working Fingers over with knees to the body.
Fingers takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Emelianenko breaks from the clinch.
Emelianenko throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Fingers.
Fingers misses with a jab, cross combination.
Emelianenko swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Fingers.

Emelianenko clinches up with Fingers and pushes him back against the cage.
Emelianenko cracks Fingers with a nice body shot.
Nice body punch from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands a good knee to the midsection. Fingers won't want to take too many of those.
Good body shot from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko has Fingers pressed against the cage.
Emelianenko digs a right hand underneath Fingers's ribcage. Fingers let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the body.
Emelianenko manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Fingers can't break the clinch.
Fingers wants to break the clinch but can't.
Emelianenko with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Emelianenko is working Fingers over against the cage.
Nice body punch from Fingers.
Emelianenko scores with a hook to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mirko Emelianenko dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Fingers misses with a wild combination.
Mirko Emelianenko seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Emelianenko showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Fingers.
Fingers fails to land with a series of punches.
Fingers misses with a two punch combination.
Emelianenko connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

Emelianenko has managed to clinch.
Emelianenko throws a knee to the head but misses.
Fingers is trying to push Emelianenko away but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
A short right from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko keeps control of Fingers as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Fingers tries to circle away but Emelianenko has him pinned against the cage.

Emelianenko breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Emelianenko scoring well with a low kick there.

Emelianenko clinches with his opponent.
Fingers can't break the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Emelianenko keeps control of Fingers as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Fingers working aggressively here.
Fingers wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A frustrated look appears on Fingers's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A right hook to the body lands for Emelianenko.
A right handed body shot lands from Emelianenko.
A shot in the inside from Emelianenko.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko pushes Fingers back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Emelianenko cracks Fingers with a nice body shot.
Emelianenko lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Stalling in the clinch from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Fingers can do to turn this around?
A short uppercut from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Fingerss head.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the body.
Emelianenko lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A short uppercut from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko pushes Fingers back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Emelianenko working Fingers over with knees to the body.
Emelianenko lands a left hand.
Emelianenko lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A hook to the body from Emelianenko.
Fingers takes a knee right on the jaw!
Emelianenko with a knee to the head.
Emelianenko lands a body shot.
Emelianenko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Fingers's face.
Fingers is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Emelianenko lands with a light punch inside.
Emelianenko prevents Fingers from breaking the clinch.
Emelianenko has Fingers pressed against the cage, preventing Fingers from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
The referee is keeping an eye on Emelianenko - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Emelianenko lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko stalls.
Emelianenko softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Emelianenko missing with knees to the body.
Fingers wants to break free but Emelianenko has control.
Fingers is trying to break free.
Emelianenko is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Fingers wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Good body shot from Fingers.
Emelianenko lands a body punch.
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fingers lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Emelianenko lands an uppercut.
Emelianenko digs a right hand underneath Fingers's ribcage. Fingers let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Emelianenko works on Fingers's body with a couple of short punches.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Emelianenko as Fingers tries to tie him up.
Emelianenko lands a good knee to the midsection. Fingers won't want to take too many of those.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Fingers is looking to break free of the clinch but Emelianenko has double underhooks.
Emelianenko lands a body shot.
Emelianenko lands a body shot in the clinch.
Mirko Emelianenko has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Emelianenko controlling the action here for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Emelianenko lands a shoulder strike.
Fingers is trying to break free.
Emelianenko pushes Fingers back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Emelianenko manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Fingers looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Emelianenko misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Fingers.
Emelianenko lands a body shot.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.
Emelianenko landing knees to the head.
Emelianenko tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Fingers tries to break the clinch but Emelianenko is controlling the position.
Fingers wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Fingers stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Emelianenko has Fingers pressed against the cage, preventing Fingers from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko is controlling him.
Emelianenko with an attempt at a knee that misses.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Emelianenko breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fingers throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Mirko Emelianenko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A nice inside leg kick there by Emelianenko. That's going to slow Fingers down.

Emelianenko closes the distance and clinches.
Emelianenko scores a nice knee to the body.
Nice body punch from Emelianenko.
Fingers is working Emelianenko over against the cage.
Fingers wants to get back to striking at distance but Emelianenko won't allow it.
Fingers is trying to push Emelianenko away but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Emelianenko lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Fingers or not.
Emelianenko landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Emelianenko just leaning against Fingers, taking a breather.
Emelianenko digs a right hand into Fingers's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Fingers's gas tank.
Emelianenko stalling in the clinch.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Emelianenko - that landed with a thud.

Fingers breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Fingers throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Emelianenko.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Emelianenko tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Emelianenko tries to close the distance and clinch up but Fingers swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Fingers throws a nice looking combination but Emelianenko bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Emelianenko moves into the clinch.
Emelianenko lands with a right to the head.
Emelianenko avoiding damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mirko Emelianenko dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Emelianenko cracks a nice hook into Fingers's ribs.
Fingers rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Emelianenko moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Fingers throws a right hand that Emelianenko ducks under and follows up with a left that Emelianenko also avoids with ease.
Emelianenko throws a series of punches but Fingers avoids them all with ease.
Fingers swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Emelianenko moves into range and clinches up with Fingers.
Emelianenko lands a nice knee to the body.
Emelianenko lands a left hand that snaps the head of Fingers backwards.
Fingers can't break the clinch.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Emelianenko.
Fingers wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Emelianenko connects with a knee to the head.
Emelianenko with a knee to the head.
Emelianenko stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Emelianenko lands a body punch in the clinch.
Emelianenko lands with a light punch inside.
Fingers wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Emelianenko lands a shoulder strike.
Emelianenko lands an uppercut.
Emelianenko lands a body punch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Emelianenko crunches a lovely knee into Fingers's ribcage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.

Emelianenko escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Fingers throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Emelianenko gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
A body shot lands from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands with a right to the head.
Fingers is trying to force a seperation but Emelianenko has the dominant position.
Emelianenko digs a right hand into Fingers's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Fingers's gas tank.
Emelianenko digs a right hand into Fingers's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Fingers's gas tank.
Emelianenko stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Emelianenko presses Fingers against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Emelianenko lands a body shot in the clinch.
Emelianenko landing knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Emelianenko.
Knees in the clinch landing for Emelianenko.
Nice body punch from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Fingers's face.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Emelianenko creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Nice body punch from Fingers - that landed with a thud.
Emelianenko looking to throw knees to the head but Fingers is blocking nicely.
Fingers lands a body punch in the clinch.
Emelianenko misses with a knee to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fingers breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Fingers throws a nice looking combination but Emelianenko bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Emelianenko is looking to clinch but Fingers is avoiding it.
Emelianenko dodges the punch combination from Fingers.

Emelianenko drives through and clinches with Fingers against the cage.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Emelianenko controlling the action here for a moment.
Emelianenko connects with a nasty looking knee right to Fingers's face.
Fingers wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Fingers tries to break free but Emelianenko pushes him back against the cage.
Emelianenko throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Fingerss head.
A frustrated look appears on Fingers's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Fingers misses with a punch to the body.
Fingers is trying to push Emelianenko away but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Emelianenko stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
A nice right hand lands inside from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fingers tries to circle away but Emelianenko has him pinned against the cage.
Emelianenko working Fingers over with knees to the body.
Emelianenko stalling the fight.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko has him pressed against the cage.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Fingers being controlled against the cage.

Emelianenko's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A decent looking cross lands there for Fingers.
Emelianenko tries to clinch but Fingers moves out of range.
A head kick misses from Fingers.
Emelianenko is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Emelianenko clinches.
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section.
A hook to the body from Emelianenko.
Fingers is trying to force a seperation but Emelianenko has the dominant position.
Fingers is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Emelianenko holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section. Fingers lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Mirko Emelianenko is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Fingers takes a knee right on the jaw!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fingers wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Emelianenko lands an uppercut.
Emelianenko keeps control of Fingers as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Emelianenko scores with a knee to the head.
Fingers is trying to break the clinch but Emelianenko is controlling him.
Emelianenko lands a hook to the side of the head.
Emelianenko unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Fingers tries to break free but Emelianenko pushes him back against the cage.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Emelianenko takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Bobby Fingers has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Emelianenko lands a knee to the body.
Fingers is looking to control Emelianenko's arms but Emelianenko gets an underhook and turns him. Now Fingers has his back to the cage.
Emelianenko using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
A knee to the head by Emelianenko.
Emelianenko connects with a knee to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Knees to the body from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Fingers misses with a punch on the inside.
Fingers gets through Emelianenko's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Emelianenko.
A left hand lands to the body for Fingers.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mirko Emelianenko showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Emelianenko, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:25
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mirko Emelianenko!