PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Julma Henri (ranked 3922 p4p, 0 weight class) and Costel Rusu (ranked 3462 p4p, 0 weight class). Rusu has chosen "Deșteaptă-te, române!" by Anton Pann as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Henri
vs
Rusu

188 cm
24
190 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

200 cm
27
190 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Knockout power

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Julma Henri!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Costel Rusu!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Viktor Lagutenko and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rusu shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Henri defends it nicely.

Henri rushes Rusu and presses him up against the cage.

Henri breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Henri lands a right hook to the body.
Rusu misses with a head kick.
Rusu looks winded!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A head kick misses from Henri.

Rusu gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Henri to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Henri not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henri pushing down on Rusu's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Well, if Henri is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Henri tries to pass to full mount but Rusu defends it.
Henri not doing much here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Henri is thwarting Rusu's attempts to control the position.
Rusu is trying to stand back up but Henri is controlling him
Rusu is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Henri trying to control the pace.
Henri winds up and cracks Rusu with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henri tries to stand and escape but Rusu is controlling the position.
Henri with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Henri stuffs the takedown.

Henri moves into range and clinches up with Rusu.

Henri tightens his grip and picks Rusu up, before dumping him to the ground. Rusu manages to land in guard.
Henri tries to stand but Rusu is controlling from the bottom.

Henri decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Rusu, up you get!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rusu showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Henri.
Rusu is trying hard to land a takedown here. Henri sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
As Rusu looks to move away, Henri throws a big counter combo but Rusu just gets out of the way.
Julma Henri has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Costel Rusu.

Henri shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Rusu napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Rusu being controlled for a moment.

Henri is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Rusu is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
You can see the frustration on Rusu's face as Henri controls the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Julma Henri 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.

Henri clinches up with Rusu and pushes him back against the cage.
Henri jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Rusu walks away with a smile on his face. Henri gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Henri shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Henri was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Rusu wants to get back to his feet but Henri is dominant here and he's now got Rusu's back!
Rusu trying to control but not successfully.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Henri controlling the positon.
Henri is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rusu can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rusu is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Henri looking for the choke from the back.
Henri lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Rusu hold on?!

Henri has managed to slip his arm under Rusu's chin. This could be all over... yep, Rusu is tapping out! Submission win for Henri.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:53 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Julma Henri!