PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alexander Emelyanenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Punch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Paul Punch looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Emelyanenko
vs
Punch

202 cm
25
275 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
23
215 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alexander Emelyanenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Paul Punch!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Emelyanenko slips a jab and a cross from Punch.
Punch misses with a wild combination.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Punch manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Punch looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Emelyanenko moves in looking to clinch but Punch pushes him off.
Punch throws a series of punches but Emelyanenko avoids them all with ease.
Emelyanenko throws a right and a left that both miss.
Punch uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Emelyanenko.
Punch throws the left hand but Emelyanenko avoids the punch easily.
Emelyanenko will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Emelyanenko fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Sloppy strikes from Punch. Those never looked like landing.
Punch throws a right and a left that Emelyanenko avoids nicely.
Emelyanenko tries for a takedown but Punch circles away easily
and Punch counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alexander Emelyanenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Emelyanenko misses with a few strikes there.
Paul Punch is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelyanenko shoots for a double leg takedown but Punch sprawls well. He's pushed Emelyanenko's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Emelyanenko moves in looking to clinch but Punch pushes him off.
No joy there for Punch, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Punch looks gassed!
Punch throws a body punch but Emelyanenko moves out of range.
Punch misses with a wild combination.
Punch throws a series of strikes that have Emelyanenko backpedaling.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Paul Punch seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Punch stuffs the takedown.
Emelyanenko tries to close the distance and clinch up but Punch swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Punch scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Punch throws a right and a left that both miss.
Punch misses with a double jab.
Punch misses with the combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Punch stuffs the takedown.
Emelyanenko throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Horrible takedown by Emelyanenko or perhaps it was just good defense by Punch which made him look bad.
Punch lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Emelyanenko throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Punch swinging wildly here.

Punch gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Emelyanenko wants to get up but he can't break Punch's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko wants to control from the top but Punch keeps moving.
Punch avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Emelyanenko postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Emelyanenko 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.

We're going to have a standup here because Alexander Emelyanenko wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
No joy there for Punch, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown but Punch shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Punch misses with the combination.

Emelyanenko closes the distance and pushes Punch back into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Punch is looking to control Emelyanenko's arms but Emelyanenko gets an underhook and turns him. Now Punch has his back to the cage.
Emelyanenko wants a takedown.
Punch leaning his opponent against the cage.
Emelyanenko connects with a knee to the head.
Punch scores with a shot to the side of Emelyanenko's head.
Punch is trying to break the clinch but Emelyanenko has him pressed against the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The referee calls for Punch to work.
Emelyanenko is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Punch is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Alexander Emelyanenko will probably get the nod.
That's time! Emelyanenko's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

No joy there for Punch, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Emelyanenko throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Emelyanenko avoids a punch combination nicely.
Emelyanenko has a takedown stuffed.
Punch misses with a double jab
enabling Emelyanenko to counter with a crisp jab.
Alexander Emelyanenko is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Punch throws a right and a left that Emelyanenko avoids nicely.
Emelyanenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Punch pinned against the cage. Punch gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Punch circles away from the clinch attempt.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Emelyanenko rushes Punch and presses him up against the cage.
Punch tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Punch's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Emelyanenko pulls guard.
Punch won't allow Emelyanenko to sweep him here.
Punch looking to pass the guard.
Punch slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Paul Punch has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Punch throws a sloppy body shot
and Emelyanenko counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Punch is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Emelyanenko closes the distance and clinches up with Punch, looking for a takedown. Emelyanenko pushes Punch against the cage but Punch circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alexander Emelyanenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Emelyanenko lands a head kick!
Punch misses with a few strikes there.
Emelyanenko has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Emelyanenko throws a one two combo.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Punch connects with a nice looking jab.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Punch throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Emelyanenko fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Punch throws a right hand that Emelyanenko ducks under and follows up with a left that Emelyanenko also avoids with ease.
Alexander Emelyanenko is winning the standup battle so far.
Emelyanenko connects with a high kick.
Punch throws a nice looking combination but Emelyanenko bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
A punch lands to the side of Punch 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Punch throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Emelyanenko on the side of the head.
Punch lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Emelyanenko tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Punch swivels and escapes.
Punch throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Emelyanenko.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Punch scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Emelyanenko doesn't seem bothered though.
Punch swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Left hook, right uppercut from Punch.
Punch misses with a two punch combination.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Punch as he avoids it easily.
Punch misses with the combination.
Punch avoids the head kick by Emelyanenko.
Punch throws a series of punches but Emelyanenko avoids them all with ease.
Emelyanenko fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Emelyanenko is looking to clinch.
Punch lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Alexander Emelyanenko will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Punch throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Emelyanenko counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Punch is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Emelyanenko shoots in but Punch avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Punch stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Punch wants it to stay on the feet.
Emelyanenko will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alexander Emelyanenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Punch swats away the attempt to clinch by Emelyanenko.
A lazy left from Punch finds it's target.
Punch throws a right and a left that both miss.
A punch combination from Punch misses.
A combination from Punch does no damage.
Emelyanenko throws a right and a left that both miss.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Punch keeps the fight on the outside.
Punch throws a right and a left that Emelyanenko avoids nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Emelyanenko misses with a jab, cross combination.
Emelyanenko shoots in looking for a takedown. Punch tries to sprawl out of it but Emelyanenko keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Punch manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Punch scores with a one two! Emelyanenko had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Emelyanenko is trying hard to land a takedown here. Punch sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Emelyanenko shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Punch as he jumps to the side.
Punch's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Punch duly obliges.
Emelyanenko looks for a takedown but Punch sprawls well.
Punch misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelyanenko scores with a head kick. Punch tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Punch is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Punch with a nice cross.
Emelyanenko shoots for a takedown but Punch saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Some wild striking there from Punch.
Punch tries to bum rush Emelyanenko with a series of wild strikes but Emelyanenko uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Emelyanenko uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Punch.
Emelyanenko throws a one two combo.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch but Punch moves out of range.
Punch looks to land a combination but Emelyanenko avoids it well.

Emelyanenko instigates a clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Punch lands a nice uppercut.

Emelyanenko breaks from the clinch.
Punch throws a right and a left that Emelyanenko avoids nicely.
A combination from Punch does no damage.
Emelyanenko shoots for a takedown but Punch saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Emelyanenko dives in and grabs Punch's left leg, looking for a takedown. Punch pushes down on Emelyanenko's head and hops out.
Paul Punch has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Punch misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Emelyanenko tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Punch manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Punch misses with a series of wild punches.
Emelyanenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Punch pinned against the cage. Punch gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Emelyanenko lands a slapping body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Punch connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Emelyanenko momentarily.
Emelyanenko dodges the punch combination from Punch.
Punch throws a series of punches but Emelyanenko moves out of range.
Punch swinging wildly here.
Emelyanenko fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Punch misses with a wild combination.
Alexander Emelyanenko is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Emelyanenko misses with a takedown
and Punch counters with a two punch combo.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Paul Punch.
I think Emelyanenko 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Alexander Emelyanenko!