PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Bogdan Agapov (ranked 4745 p4p, 498 weight class) and Phil Maroni (ranked 7273 p4p, 609 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Agapov might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Dear Mr. Fantasy. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Agapov
vs
Maroni

181 cm
22
194 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

177 cm
29
190 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Freebok (85% Laundry)

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 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Bogdan Agapov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Phil Maroni!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Colin Fray and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Agapov falls off balance throwing a combination

and Maroni counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Maroni is trying to control. Agapov wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Maroni is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Agapov has managed to free his arm - good work.
Agapov is controlling Maroni's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Maroni prevents Agapov from improving his position.
Agapov knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Maroni on the ground.

Maroni looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maroni wants to take a breather but Agapov is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Maroni is looking for a kimura here.
Agapov is looking to improve his position.
Agapov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Maroni is working away from the top position though.
Agapov's coaches at St Petersburg MMA Gym have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
Maroni is trying to control the action in half guard but Agapov is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Agapov is trying to stand up here but Maroni is controlling him well.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Agapov keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Maroni has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Agapov.
Agapov lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

It looks like Phil Maroni has been cut.
Maroni's coach down at was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Maroni's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Maroni scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Agapov rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Maroni moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
The fighters circling - Maroni throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
As Maroni looks to move away, Agapov throws a big counter combo but Maroni just gets out of the way.
Maroni is looking to slow Agapov down with leg kicks.
Maroni has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Agapov tries to land a front kick but Maroni steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

Agapov lands a left and a right that send Maroni crashing to the mat, dazed. Agapov thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

Maroni is rocked!
A big right followed by a crushing left from Agapov knocks Maroni out cold! Ouch - that one's going to be featured in highlight reels for years to come!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:43 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Bogdan Agapov!
A relieved looking Bogdan Agapov thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.
Phil Maroni was interviewed post fight and said 'He was the better man tonight'.