PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Kush (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kostas Christodoulou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Christodoulou has chosen 'You Make me wanna wait" by the Alter Boyz as his entrance music. Kostas Christodoulou is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Kush
vs
Christodoulou

185 cm
21
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 1

188 cm
21
219 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Improved boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, John Kush!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Kostas Christodoulou!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Christodoulou circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kush lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Kush tries for a takedown but Christodoulou sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Kush shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Christodoulou as he jumps to the side.

Kush scores a takedown into full mount!
Christodoulou is squirming around, avoiding Kush's attempts to control the action.
Christodoulou keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Christodoulou is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Christodoulou swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Christodoulou is trying desperately to improve position.
Kush wants to control the pace but Christodoulou is squirming around nicely.
Kush is really struggling to control Christodoulou but he's trying to hold on to the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Christodoulou is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Christodoulou is trying to escape the mount.
Kush avoids the attempt from Christodoulou to control.
Christodoulou is in all sorts of trouble here.
Kush with good strikes from the mount here!
Kush punishing his opponent with strikes.
Christodoulou is squirming around, avoiding Kush's attempts to control the action.
Christodoulou wants to hold on but Kush pushes him away.
Christodoulou looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Christodoulou is trying to stand back up.
Christodoulou looks gassed!
Kush is riding his opponent, not letting Christodoulou buck him off.
Kush lands strikes to the head.
Christodoulou is trying to break free.
Kush throwing wild punches that miss their target.
Christodoulou manages to reverse the position and now he's in Kush's guard. Nice work there by Christodoulou.
Kush controls Christodoulou momentarily but Christodoulou frees himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Christodoulou trying to control the position from guard on top but Kush is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Christodoulou postures up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Christodoulou fails in his attempt to clinch.
Kush circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kush tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Christodoulou counters with a nice double leg into side control. Kush won't be happy with that.
Kush throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.
Kush tries to improve position but can't.
Kush manages to work his way to half guard, despite Christodoulou's best efforts.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Kostas Christodoulou will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Kush scores with a nice right hand.
Christodoulou tries to clinch up
and Kush counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Kush lands an overhand right.

Kush scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Christodoulou wants to control but Kush postures up.
Christodoulou sneaks back into half guard.
Kush is pressing down on Christodoulou's thigh, looking to free his foot. Christodoulou is holding on for now.
Christodoulou is trying to get back to full guard.
Christodoulou tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Christodoulou slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Christodoulou working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Kush doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Kush manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Christodoulou looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kush is pushing down on Christodoulou's leg trying to pass to half guard. Christodoulou is fighting to maintain full guard but Kush has managed to sneak the leg through.
The fighters are battling for position here. Christodoulou manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Christodoulou looking to hit a scissor sweep but Kush is one step ahead there.
Christodoulou is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Christodoulou slips a nice elbow through Kush's hands, connecting with Kush's forehead.

Christodoulou stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
John Kush is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The fight stays on the outside here - Christodoulou looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kush throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Christodoulou swings and misses with a shot to the body

and Kush counters with a nice double leg into side control. Christodoulou won't be happy with that.
Who's going to make the next move?
Kush wants to control but Christodoulou is keeping him busy.
Christodoulou is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Christodoulou manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Kush wants to take a breather but Christodoulou is having none of it.
Kush works his way into side control.
Christodoulou wants to control but Kush postures up.
Kush lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

Kush decides to stand up, so the ref orders Christodoulou to his feet.
Kush misses with a takedown

and Christodoulou counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Christodoulou.
Kush working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Kush has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Christodoulou avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Christodoulou misses with an elbow strike.

Kush ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Kush no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Christodoulou trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kush is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Christodoulou is working Kush over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Kush wants to sweep here but Christodoulou controlling him for the moment.
Kush thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Christodoulou showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Kush keeping moving, preventing Christodoulou from controlling successfully.
Kush trying to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Kush dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Kush circles away from the clinch attempt

and Kush moves into the clinch.
Kush is looking to control Christodoulou's arms but Christodoulou gets an underhook and turns him. Now Kush has his back to the cage.
Kush is working for takedown but Christodoulou is calmly controlling the position for now.
Christodoulou lands a nice uppercut.
Christodoulou keeps control of Kush as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Christodoulou gets underhooks to prevent Kush's takedown attempt.
Still in the clinch, Christodoulou scores with a nice short uppercut.
Christodoulou using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Kush has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Kush escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kush throws a right hand that Christodoulou ducks under and follows up with a left that Christodoulou also avoids with ease.
Kush shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Christodoulou as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Kush. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Christodoulou scores a takedown into full mount!
Christodoulou takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Kush is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kush is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Kush tries to hold on but Christodoulou postures up.
Christodoulou scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Christodoulou controlling the pace for now.
Kush tries to hold on but Christodoulou pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kush is working to get back to half guard.
Christodoulou raining down shots from the mount!
Christodoulou pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Christodoulou avoids the attempt from Kush to control.
Christodoulou lands with some strikes.
Christodoulou can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Kush is looking to escape.
Christodoulou thowing shots but they're missing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kush tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The referee warns Kush that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
BOOM! Christodoulou connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Christodoulou takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Christodoulou's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Christodoulou putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Kush wants to control but Christodoulou is having none of it.
Christodoulou with a couple of short strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Christodoulou with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Kush is trying to escape the mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Christodoulou is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Kush can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Kush slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Kush manages to get to full guard.
Christodoulou trying to control the position from guard on top but Kush is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Christodoulou in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kostas Christodoulou comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Christodoulou has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kostas Christodoulou!