PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ales Zhandunka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vladamir Harkonen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Vladamir Harkonen acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Zhandunka
vs
Harkonen

220 cm
22
275 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

191 cm
23
285 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Decent elbows
Very strong

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Powerful

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ales Zhandunka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Vladamir Harkonen!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, John Kavanagh and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zhandunka fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

Harkonen scores with a takedown into Zhandunka's guard.
Harkonen with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Harkonen pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Zhandunka is keeping the position for now.
Harkonen lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Harkonen trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zhandunka on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Zhandunka tries to get out of the position.
Zhandunka preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Harkonen content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Harkonen with a flurry of punches that miss.
Harkonen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Harkonen thows a big elbow that misses.

Harkonen decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhandunka wants to clinch up but Harkonen keeps it at a distance.

Harkonen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Zhandunka is trying to improve his position.
Harkonen grinds an elbow into Zhandunka's temple.
Harkonen scoring with punches from side control.
Harkonen tries to score with some ground and pound. Zhandunka controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Harkonen has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Harkonen misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Harkonen tries to score with some ground and pound. Zhandunka controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Zhandunka dodges the ground and pound from Harkonen.
An elbow from Harkonen crashes against the mat.
Harkonen fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harkonen working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Harkonen landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Zhandunka regains half guard.
Zhandunka is breathing heavily.
Harkonen wants to pass the guard but Zhandunka is defending well.
Harkonen working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Harkonen not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Zhandunka avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Harkonen.
Harkonen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Harkonen not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Zhandunka blocking the ground and pound attempt from Harkonen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harkonen looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Zhandunka with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Harkonen working Zhandunka over with strikes.
Harkonen scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Zhandunka is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Harkonen scores with a couple of nice shots.
Harkonen is nestled in close to Zhandunka, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Zhandunka is looking for a sweep. Harkonen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Harkonen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Zhandunka's head.
Harkonen passes to side control.
Zhandunka knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Harkonen on the ground.
Harkonen in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Harkonen creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Zhandunka sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harkonen cracks Zhandunka with a big elbow.
Sloppy strikes there by Harkonen.
Harkonen tries to score with some ground and pound. Zhandunka controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Harkonen in side control lands a decent elbow.
Harkonen throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Harkonen working the head with strikes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zhandunka tries to buck Harkonen off but Harkonen is having none of it.
Harkonen working the head and body with strikes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
You can see the frustration on Zhandunka's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Harkonen looks up at the clock and then as Zhandunka takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Harkonen smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vladamir Harkonen dominated that 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.

Harkonen shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Harkonen passes the guard and advances to mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harkonen unloading with bombs!
Harkonen cracks Zhandunka with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Harkonen punishing his opponent with strikes.
Harkonen scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Zhandunka?
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Harkonen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Harkonen looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harkonen with the ground and pound from mount.
Harkonen breaks from Zhandunka's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Harkonen with a couple of short strikes.
Zhandunka is bucking up trying to escape but Harkonen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
BOOM! Harkonen connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Harkonen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Harkonen putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Harkonen dominating with strikes here.
Harkonen lands with some strikes.
Zhandunka is bucking up trying to escape but Harkonen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Vladamir Harkonen has got the better of the ground game so far.
Harkonen scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Zhandunka?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Harkonen cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Harkonen with the ground and pound from mount.
Harkonen looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Harkonen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Zhandunka is in all sorts of trouble here.
Harkonen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Harkonen landing strikes from the mount.
A nice elbow there by Harkonen.
Harkonen with shots to the head and body - Zhandunka looks very uncomfortable down there.
Harkonen landing shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhandunka taking shots to the head.
Harkonen fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Harkonen with shots to the head and body - Zhandunka looks very uncomfortable down there.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Harkonen cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Harkonen jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Zhandunka manages to avoid the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Harkonen decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Zhandunka stalks Harkonen and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Harkonen's face. Harkonen staggers backwards, shaken.
Zhandunka misses with a two punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harkonen shoots in for a takedown but Zhandunka shows good takedown defense.
Zhandunka wants to clinch.
Zhandunka misses with a wild body shot.
Some wild striking there from Zhandunka.
Ales Zhandunka seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harkonen avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Zhandunka misses with a few strikes there.
Zhandunka with a lazy takedown attempt

and Harkonen counters with a shoot takedown. Zhandunka fights it but they end up in guard.
Harkonen stands up over Zhandunka, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Zhandunka will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Harkonen accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Harkonen scoring with punches to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Harkonen passes into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Vladamir Harkonen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Harkonen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Zhandunka is trying to get back to full guard.
Harkonen is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Zhandunka is looking for a sweep. Harkonen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Harkonen winds up and cracks Zhandunka with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Zhandunka is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Harkonen scores with a couple of nice shots.
Harkonen tries to pass to full mount but Zhandunka defends it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Zhandunka on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harkonen working over Zhandunka with some ground and pound. Zhandunka looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Harkonen drops an elbow to the side of Zhandunka's head.
Harkonen trying to control from half guard but Zhandunka is working away.
Harkonen thows a huge punch but Zhandunka dodges it nicely.
Harkonen winds up and cracks Zhandunka with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Harkonen connects with a nice short shot to Zhandunka's temple.
Harkonen looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Harkonen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Zhandunka's head.
Harkonen passes to full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zhandunka is in a horrible position here. Harkonen smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Zhandunka is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Harkonen has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Harkonen breaks from Zhandunka's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Harkonen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Harkonen punching from mount but Zhandunka doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Harkonen throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Zhandunka tries to lock up and control but Harkonen gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Harkonen is landing with some decent strikes but Zhandunka is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Harkonen landing strikes from the mount.
Ales Zhandunka has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harkonen landing shots from mount.
Harkonen looking to finish Zhandunka with some ground and pound. This is bad for Zhandunka!
Poor strikes thrown by Harkonen there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

Harkonen jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Zhandunka manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Zhandunka is looking for a sweep.
Harkonen looks up at the clock and then as Zhandunka takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Harkonen smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

Harkonen working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Zhandunka avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Harkonen.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
An elbow from Harkonen crashes against the mat.
Harkonen in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Harkonen throws an elbow but Zhandunka slips to the side and avoids it well.
Zhandunka avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Harkonen.
Harkonen throwing shots but missing, from side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vladamir Harkonen comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Harkonen winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 John Roberts scores the fight 24:30
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 24:30
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 24:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Vladamir Harkonen!