PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joel Laston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rico Verhoeven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rico Verhoeven will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Laston
vs
Verhoeven

200 cm
26
270 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

196 cm
25
265 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

MayheM sportswear

Voodoo Nutrition

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joel Laston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Rico Verhoeven!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Aleksandr Martynov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Laston pushes Verhoeven up against the cage in a clinch.
Verhoeven scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Laston swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Verhoeven has a couple of punches blocked by Laston.
A head punch on the inside from Laston fails to land.
A short right from Verhoeven.
Laston tries a body shot but Verhoeven blocks it.
Laston doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
I was talking to Laston's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Verhoeven tries a body shot but Laston blocks it.
Laston tries to work over Verhoeven's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Laston fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Laston tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Laston misses with a punch to the body.
Verhoeven prevents a body shot from Laston.
Verhoeven lands a right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Verhoeven misses with a punch to the body.
Laston tries to throw a body punch but Verhoeven avoids it by throwing Laston back against the cage.
Verhoeven struggles to land a body shot inside as Laston controls his hands.
Verhoeven lands a shoulder strike.
Verhoeven cracks Laston with a nice body shot.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Verhoeven creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Laston lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laston misses with some punches.
Laston lands a hook that snaps the head of Verhoeven backwards.
Verhoeven scores with a hook to the body.
Laston tries to throw a body punch but Verhoeven avoids it by throwing Laston back against the cage.
Verhoeven is leaning against Laston and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Laston is breathing heavily.
Verhoeven scores with a shot to the side of Laston's head.
A shot in the inside from Verhoeven.
A shot in the inside from Verhoeven.

Laston is rocked!
Verhoeven throws a big uppercut that drops Laston! More strikes from Verhoeven and the referee jumps in to stop the fight! Laston lies dazed against the cage as Verhoeven celebrates with his cornermen!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rico Verhoeven!
During a confident post fight interview, Rico Verhoeven thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.