PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Erlan Baltabekov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aleksander Emelianenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aleksander Emelianenko has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Erlan Baltabekov's chin.

Baltabekov
vs
Emelianenko

176 cm
18
240 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

198 cm
18
265 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite 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 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Erlan Baltabekov!
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, Aleksander Emelianenko!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Valeri Chadov and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Baltabekov tries to close the distance and clinch but Emelianenko swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Baltabekov will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Emelianenko shoots in but Baltabekov avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Baltabekov really is a fat lump.
No luck for Emelianenko with that takedown attempt.
Emelianenko avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Baltabekov keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Erlan Baltabekov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aleksander Emelianenko.
Emelianenko dives in and grabs Baltabekov's left leg, looking for a takedown. Baltabekov pushes down on Emelianenko's head and hops out.
Baltabekov tries to clinch but Emelianenko moves out of range.
Baltabekov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Emelianenko manages to avoid it.
Baltabekov throws a nice looking combination but Emelianenko bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Baltabekov throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Emelianenko.
Baltabekov looks to land a combination but Emelianenko avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko shoots for a double leg takedown but Baltabekov sprawls well. He's pushed Emelianenko's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Emelianenko shoots in but no luck this time.
Baltabekov looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Emelianenko is fending him off so far but Baltabekov persists. Nope, Emelianenko circles away and we're back to standing.
Emelianenko displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Baltabekov.
Emelianenko stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Emelianenko wants it to stay on the feet.
Baltabekov is breathing heavily.

Baltabekov moves into the clinch.

Baltabekov's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Baltabekov keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Emelianenko fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Baltabekov scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Emelianenko is trying to get back to full guard.
Baltabekov working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baltabekov tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Emelianenko.
Emelianenko is looking to control Baltabekov's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Emelianenko avoid being mounted?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Baltabekov perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Emelianenko is controlling Baltabekov's position as best he can from this difficult position.

Emelianenko actively working from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baltabekov wants to pass the guard but Emelianenko is defending well.
Baltabekov missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Baltabekov is thwarting Emelianenko's attempts to control the position.
Baltabekov tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Emelianenko misses with some strikes from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko is trying to escape back to his feet but Baltabekov uses the scramble to pass into side control.
Emelianenko is trying to buck Baltabekov off.

Baltabekov is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Emelianenko has escaped the position, nice work there.

Baltabekov decides to stand back up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Baltabekov throws a right hand that Emelianenko ducks under and follows up with a left that Emelianenko also avoids with ease.
Baltabekov keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erlan Baltabekov dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Baltabekov tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Emelianenko swivels and escapes.
Baltabekov tries to clinch there but Emelianenko circles away.
Baltabekov shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Emelianenko as he jumps to the side.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Baltabekov as he jumps to the side.
Baltabekov keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

Emelianenko moves into the clinch.

Baltabekov escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
A low kick from Emelianenko is predictable there

and Baltabekov counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Emelianenko's guard now.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Emelianenko wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko has a closed guard, preventing Baltabekov from standing up.
Emelianenko is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Baltabekov wants to control from the top but Emelianenko keeps moving.

Emelianenko looking for subs off his back but Baltabekov has passed one foot through into half guard.
Emelianenko wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baltabekov passes the guard and advances to mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Baltabekov lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Emelianenko hang on?
Emelianenko tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Baltabekov trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Emelianenko blocking the ground and pound.
Emelianenko blocking the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baltabekov thowing shots but they're missing.
Emelianenko wants to hold on but Baltabekov pushes him away.
Emelianenko bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Baltabekov keeping moving, preventing Emelianenko from controlling successfully.
Baltabekov wants to sweep here but Emelianenko controlling him for the moment.
Emelianenko wants to control from the top but Baltabekov keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Emelianenko drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Emelianenko jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Emelianenko trying to control the position from guard on top but Baltabekov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Baltabekov wants to sweep but no luck.
Baltabekov is trying to keep Emelianenko in close.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Emelianenko preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erlan Baltabekov dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Baltabekov has a takedown stuffed.
Emelianenko leaves Baltabekov with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Emelianenko displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Baltabekov.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Erlan Baltabekov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nice cross by Emelianenko.
Erlan Baltabekov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Baltabekov tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Emelianenko manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Emelianenko closes the distance and clinches up with Baltabekov, looking for a takedown. Emelianenko pushes Baltabekov against the cage but Baltabekov circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Emelianenko tries to clinch up
and Baltabekov counters with a left and a right that stings Emelianenko.
Erlan Baltabekov is winning the standup battle so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelianenko fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Baltabekov tries to clinch up.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Baltabekov is defended easily by Emelianenko.
Emelianenko is looking to clinch.

Emelianenko pushes Baltabekov up against the cage in a clinch.
Baltabekov looking to stall.
Emelianenko trying to land knees to the body.
Baltabekov fails to pull guard.
A frustrated look appears on Emelianenko's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko is leaning against Baltabekov and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

Emelianenko pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Emelianenko.
Emelianenko will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Emelianenko pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Baltabekov fails with an attempt to clinch.
Emelianenko tries to clinch but Baltabekov moves out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Emelianenko is defended easily by Baltabekov.

Baltabekov closes the distance and pushes Emelianenko back into the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baltabekov drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Emelianenko gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Emelianenko fails to pull guard.
Emelianenko tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Baltabekov smiles and moves away.
Emelianenko dodges the punch combination from Baltabekov.
Horrible takedown by Baltabekov or perhaps it was just good defense by Emelianenko which made him look bad.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko tries to clinch there but Baltabekov circles away.
Baltabekov with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Emelianenko to score with a decent uppercut.
Emelianenko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Baltabekov throws a looping overhand right but Emelianenko ducks down to avoid it.
Emelianenko fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Baltabekov has a takedown stuffed.
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.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Aleksander Emelianenko.
I think Baltabekov 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Erlan Baltabekov!