PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ari Tetheran (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Victor Kovalev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Tetheran
vs
Kovalev

190 cm
23
215 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

186 cm
21
215 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Very confident

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 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ari Tetheran!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Victor Kovalev!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Daniel Franklin and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tetheran misses with a two punch combination.

Kovalev rushes Tetheran and presses him up against the cage.
A right hook to the body lands for Kovalev.
Kovalev struggles to land a body shot inside as Tetheran controls his hands.
Kovalev content to slow the pace in the clinch.
A short right from Kovalev on the inside.
Tetheran working hard to break the clinch.
Tetheran tries to circle away but Kovalev has him pinned against the cage.

Tetheran is trying to trip Kovalev. He has hold of a leg but Kovalev is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Tetheran persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Kovalev pulls Tetheran in to control the position.
Kovalev has a closed guard, preventing Tetheran from standing up.
Kovalev has control of Tetheran's left arm, preventing Tetheran from doing any damage.
Tetheran loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Tetheran throws a big right hand that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tetheran tries to free his leg and advance position but Kovalev is retaining full guard.
Kovalev controlling the position.
Tetheran tries to free his leg and advance position but Kovalev is retaining full guard.
Tetheran throws an elbow that misses. Kovalev uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Tetheran's guard. Nice move by Kovalev!
Kovalev stands up over Tetheran, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Kovalev controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Kovalev works over Tetheran with some ground and pound from guard.
Kovalev has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Kovalev is in close to Tetheran's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Kovalev is stalling in the full guard.
Tetheran keeping moving, preventing Kovalev from controlling successfully.
Tetheran is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tetheran is trying to control the position but Kovalev postures up.
Kovalev in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Tetheran avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Tetheran utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Kovalev keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Tetheran's head.

Tetheran has his foot on Kovalev's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Kovalev works his way back into a safe position though.
Kovalev trying to control the position from guard on top but Tetheran is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kovalev throwing strikes from guard but Tetheran blocks nicely.
Kovalev landing some decent shots from guard.
Kovalev lands a couple of elbows.
Kovalev scoring with some ground and pound.
Kovalev slips nicely into half guard.
Tetheran knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Kovalev on the ground.

Kovalev wants to work for an arm triangle but Tetheran is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kovalev prevents Tetheran from standing back up.
Kovalev throwing shots but Tetheran is blocking nicely.

Kovalev wants to work for an arm triangle but Tetheran is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Kovalev uses his free foot to push down on Tetheran's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Tetheran.
Kovalev lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Tetheran is squirming around, avoiding Kovalev's attempts to control the action.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kovalev landing punches.
Tetheran is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Kovalev wants to control the pace but Tetheran is squirming around nicely.
Kovalev landing strikes from the mount.
Tetheran is looking to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kovalev lands a big elbow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tetheran taking shots to the head.
Tetheran is trying to escape the mount.
Kovalev content just to control the position here.
Tetheran is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Tetheran trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Kovalev breaks from Tetheran's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Tetheran is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Kovalev goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Tetheran is on top in guard.
Tetheran throwing strikes but missing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Victor Kovalev dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Kovalev shoots in but Tetheran avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Decent striking displayed by Tetheran there.

Kovalev rushes Tetheran and presses him up against the cage.
Tetheran can't break the clinch.
Kovalev's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
The crowd are getting on Kovalev's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

Tetheran's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A left and a right from Tetheran both land. Nice combination.
Ari Tetheran seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tetheran lands with a nice body punch.
Tetheran throws a head kick that misses
and Kovalev connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Tetheran drops Kovalev with a straight right hand, right on the button! Tetheran follows him down to the mat and pounds him out with hammerfists until the referee jumps in to end the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ari Tetheran!