PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Aramis Knox (ranked 170 p4p, 220 weight class) and Verneri Ahma (ranked 24 p4p, 29 weight class). Knox comes to the cage accompanied by You're Going Down | Sick Puppies. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Knox
vs
Ahma

181 cm
31
167
22 - 9 - 0

172 cm
36
156
28 - 19 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Carnage Clothing
PWNAGE™

Vegan Gains
Voodoo Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 22 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Aramis Knox!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 28 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Verneri Ahma!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Matheus Silva and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knox fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Ahma looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
A jab lands there for Knox.
Ahma drops his hands momentarily and Knox takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Ahma slips a straight right by Knox.
Ahma cracks Knox with a right hand to the side of the head.
Knox scores with the left hand. Ahma knows he should have avoided that one.
Verneri Ahma seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ahma throws a poor cross that misses
letting Knox counter with a right hand.
Ahma is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Knox misses the shot to the body.
Ahma wants to land a leg kick but Knox is out of range.

Ahma takes the fight into the clinch.
Ahma blocks an uppercut.
Knox has Ahma pushed against the cage.
Ahma avoiding damage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Knox tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ahma manages to break the clinch.
Nice defenses there by Ahma.
Knox steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ahma.
Knox avoids the head kick by Ahma.
Aramis Knox is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ahma throws a series of punches but Knox avoids them all with ease.
Knox throws a jab but it's blocked by Ahma.
Ahma wants to land a leg kick but Knox is out of range.
Ahma throws a jab but it's blocked by Knox.
Knox scores with a jab to the body.
Knox bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Ahma's head backwards.
Ahma swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Knox counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Knox on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Knox fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Knox lands a nice hook to Ahma's body. Ahma takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Ahma.
Knox tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ahma is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Knox's shoulder. That is not cool.
Let's hope that Ahma has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Ahma trying to control the position but Knox is working away.
Knox is trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ahma just content to control the position.
Ahma wants to lay and pray for a moment but Knox keeps working.
Knox is letting Ahma control him for a moment.
Knox is looking to regain half guard here but Ahma keeps moving and retains side control.
Ahma controlling the position.
Knox manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
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. Knox connects with a nice short shot to Ahma's temple.
Ahma taking some punishment here, with Knox in his half guard.
Knox drops an elbow to the side of Ahma's head.
Ahma is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Knox scores with a couple of nice shots.
Ahma regains full guard. Nicely done.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Knox accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Knox postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Ahma controls Knox momentarily but Knox frees himself.
Knox throws a big elbow that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Aramis Knox dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Knox swats away the attempt to clinch by Ahma.
Knox stuns Ahma with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Ahma throws an off balance right hand
and Knox counters with a one-two to the body.
Ahma takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Ahma takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Knox scores with a nice head shot.
Ahma misses with a straight left.
Good standup being displayed there by Knox as he connects with a hook.

Ahma closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
A bit of stalling here from Ahma.
Knox is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ahma can do to turn this around?
Ahma blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Ahma works on Knox's body with a couple of short punches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ahma trying to stall but Knox improves his position.
Knox pushes Ahma back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Knox is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Ahma blocking some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox swings wildly with an uppercut but Ahma uses good head movement to avoid it.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Knox lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Ahma backwards.

Ahma gets control of Knox's arms and successfully pulls guard. Ahma will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Ahma managing to control the position.
Aramis Knox overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Knox chips away with some ground and pound.
Knox is looking to work some ground and pound but Ahma has wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knox trying to control but Ahma is working from the bottom.
Ahma working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Knox.
Knox works over Ahma with some ground and pound from guard.
Knox landing with the ground and pound.
Knox trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ahma is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Knox is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ahma trying to mount his opponent but Knox defends it.
Knox wants to improve his position but Ahma is controlling well.
Knox is working hard here to advance position.
Knox regains full guard. Nicely done.
Ahma slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

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

Knox working for submissions but it's allowed Ahma to get to half guard.
Knox tries to roll over but Ahma keeps him under control.
Knox is refusing to be controlled, as Ahma sits in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Knox is in trouble now - Ahma has advanced to mount!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Aramis Knox dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Knox with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Ahma looks to clinch
and Knox counters with a right hand to the body.
Verneri Ahma is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Knox closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

It looks like Aramis Knox has been cut.
Ahma slips a straight right by Knox.
Ahma feints a counter leg kick.
Knox lands a nice looking body shot.
Knox throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

Ahma gets a clinch.
Knox lands a shoulder strike.
Knox misses with a short punch on the inside.
Knox misses with some punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knox being controlled against the cage.
A short right from Knox on the inside.
Knox swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Knox breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Ahma drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Knox is looking for a triangle here but Ahma uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Ahma trying to control the position but Knox is working away.
Knox wants to control but Ahma postures up.
Ahma trying to control the action but Knox is working from the bottom.
Knox sneaks back into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ahma stands up out of the half guard.
Knox throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Ahma sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Knox takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Knox lunges at Ahma with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Ahma's hand.

Ahma gets a takedown into half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Knox is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ahma stalling.
Knox wants to get back to full guard.

Knox looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Verneri Ahma has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ahma is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Knox is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Ahma is taking a breather. Knox says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ahma is trying to control the action in half guard but Knox is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Aramis Knox is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ahma works his foot free and advances to mount.
Knox is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Knox is trying to reverse the position but instead Ahma has taken his back - oops!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ahma avoiding Knox 's attempts to control his hands.

Ahma looking for the RNC.

And that's the end of the fight!
Verneri Ahma comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Knox has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aramis Knox!
Aramis Knox thanked the fans post fight for their support.