PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dimitri Emelianenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andy Luther (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Emelianenko comes to the cage accompanied by Era - The Mass. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Emelianenko
vs
Luther

190 cm
18
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
20
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Dimitri Emelianenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Andy Luther!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Colin Fotheringham and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Luther throws a shot to the body.

Emelianenko decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Luther is trying to get back to full guard.
Luther taking some punishment here, with Emelianenko in his half guard.
Emelianenko trying to control from half guard but Luther is working away.
Luther trying to control from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Luther is looking to improve his position.
Luther regains full guard. Nicely done.
Luther is trying to keep Emelianenko in close.
Luther keeping full guard, as Emelianenko tries to pass.
Luther keeping moving, preventing Emelianenko from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Luther with a poor takedown

and Emelianenko counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Luther!
Luther can't escape the position.
Emelianenko is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Luther should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Luther taking shots to the head.

Luther is rocked!
Emelianenko knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Luther on the ground.
Luther working to try and regain half guard.
Luther is still in real trouble! Can Emelianenko finish him?
Emelianenko lands a heavy elbow.
Luther is desperately trying to improve his position but Emelianenko has a good base and remains in mount.
Luther looks gassed!
Emelianenko is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Luther can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Emelianenko punishing his opponent with strikes.
Luther bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Emelianenko throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Luther seems to have recovered his senses.
Emelianenko will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Luther wants to control from the top but Emelianenko keeps moving.
Emelianenko has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Luther has passed into side control.
Luther trying to control the position but Emelianenko is working away.
Emelianenko tries to improve position but can't.
Luther is looking to take a break and control but Emelianenko is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Emelianenko is looking for a sweep.
Emelianenko parries the strikes from Luther easily there. Luther is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Emelianenko to escape.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Emelianenko fails with the takedown
and Luther counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Emelianenko is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Luther tries to clinch there but Emelianenko circles away.

Emelianenko gets the takedown into side control.
Luther on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Emelianenko scoring with punches from side control.
Emelianenko works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Luther is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Emelianenko is putting a hurting on Luther here, landing some big shots from side control.
Luther is looking to reverse the position.
Emelianenko working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Luther is not content to let Emelianenko control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko working the body and head with strikes.
Emelianenko landing a few strikes.
Emelianenko is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Luther will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Emelianenko trying to control the action but Luther is working from the bottom.
Emelianenko in side control lands a decent elbow.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Emelianenko controls the position from side control.
Luther taking a bit of punishment here - Emelianenko scoring with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Emelianenko.
Luther throws a sloppy head kick and Emelianenko moves out of range easily.
Luther keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Emelianenko tries to clinch up but Luther circles away and keeps his distance.
Emelianenko misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Luther tries for a takedown but Emelianenko circles away easily

and Emelianenko counters with a takedown into side control.
Luther sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Luther manages to get to full guard.
Emelianenko pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Luther is keeping the position for now.
Luther working a defensive guard here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Luther manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Emelianenko shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Luther's guard.
Luther keeping full guard, as Emelianenko tries to pass.
Emelianenko working some strikes from top position.
Emelianenko has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Emelianenko tries to free his leg and advance position but Luther is retaining full guard.
Emelianenko landing some decent shots from guard.
Luther looking to control.

Luther looking for a guillotine here but Emelianenko defends easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Emelianenko with a nice head shot there.
Emelianenko looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Emelianenko throwing strikes from guard but Luther blocks nicely.
Emelianenko trying to control the position from guard on top but Luther is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko throwing strikes but missing.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Luther blocks a head kick by Emelianenko.
Luther tries to close the distance and clinch but Emelianenko swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Luther uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Emelianenko.
Luther with a lazy takedown attempt

and Emelianenko counters with a takedown into side control.
Emelianenko in side control lands a decent elbow.
Emelianenko working the head with strikes.
Luther is trying to control Emelianenko's posture but Emelianenko avoids it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Emelianenko tries to move into full mount but can't pass Luther's legs.
Emelianenko trying to control the action but Luther is working from the bottom.
Dimitri Emelianenko overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Emelianenko working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.

Emelianenko closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Emelianenko lands in his opponent's guard.
Luther looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Emelianenko scoring with punches to the head and body.
Luther will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dimitri Emelianenko dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Emelianenko looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Emelianenko decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Emelianenko lands with a punch from half guard.
Luther tries to get to full guard but Emelianenko has control of the leg.
The fighters are battling for position here. Luther manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Emelianenko looking to pass the guard.
Luther looking to control.
Emelianenko looking to pass the guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Emelianenko postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Luther lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Emelianenko!
Luther prevents Emelianenko from getting the reversal.
Luther tries to control but Emelianenko wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Luther is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Emelianenko tries to hold on but Luther pushes him away.
Emelianenko working to try and regain half guard.
Emelianenko is working hard here to advance position.
Luther tries to control but Emelianenko wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Luther sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Emelianenko is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Luther avoids the attempt from Emelianenko to control.
Emelianenko is wriggling around trying to escape.
Luther scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Emelianenko wants to hold on but Luther pushes him away.
Luther lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Luther lands a nice shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Emelianenko tries to reverse the position but Luther maintains control.
Emelianenko is squirming around, avoiding Luther's attempts to control the action.
Emelianenko is working to get back to half guard.
Luther controlling from the full mount.
Luther trying to control but Emelianenko is having none of it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Emelianenko is looking to get to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Dimitri Emelianenko.
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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27

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