PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mikko Oittinen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Oittinen
vs
Smith

170 cm
20
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mikko Oittinen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, John Smith!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Marco Blurström and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Oittinen closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Oittinen lands in his opponent's guard.
Smith controls Oittinen momentarily but Oittinen frees himself.
Oittinen in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Oittinen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Smith utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Oittinen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Oittinen throws a big right hand that misses.
Oittinen landing some decent shots from guard.
Oittinen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Smith looking to hit a scissor sweep but Oittinen is one step ahead there.
Oittinen wanted to stand there but Smith had control of the position.
Smith lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Oittinen!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oittinen's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.

Smith jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Oittinen manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Oittinen is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Oittinen being controlled for a moment.
Smith's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Smith prevents Oittinen from escaping the position.
Oittinen is not content to let Smith control the position.
Smith is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Smith prevents Oittinen from escaping the position.
Oittinen is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Smith wants to lay and pray for a moment but Oittinen keeps working.
Oittinen knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Smith on the ground.
Oittinen tries to escape but Smith is in control.

Smith is trying to get an arm triangle but Oittinen is defending well.
Oittinen is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Smith happy to just control the position for now.
Smith working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Smith is looking to take a break and control but Oittinen is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Smith is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Oittinen knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Smith tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mikko Oittinen 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.

Smith shoots in for a takedown but Oittinen shows good takedown defense.

Smith gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Oittinen throws a punch but it's blocked by Smith.
Oittinen being controlled against the cage.
Oittinen wants a takedown but no success here.
Smith prevents the takedown attempt.
Oittinen gets underhooks to prevent Smith's takedown attempt.
Oittinen keeps control of Smith as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Smith tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Oittinen smiles and moves away.
Mikko Oittinen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Smith.

Smith darts in and clinches Oittinen up against the cage.
Smith is breathing heavily.
Oittinen tries to land knees in the clinch but Smith avoids the damage to the body.
Smith jumps guard but Oittinen stands there with Smith around his waist. Smith gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Smith jumps into guard, dragging Oittinen to the mat.
Oittinen is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Oittinen distracts Smith with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Oittinen scoring with punches to the head and body.
Smith preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Oittinen postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Oittinen throwing strikes but missing.
Smith avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Oittinen trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Smith bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Oittinen's guard.
Smith cracks Oittinen with a solid left hand.
Smith trying to control but Oittinen is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith postures up and lands a big shot to Oittinen's brow.
Smith is stalling in the full guard.
Oittinen wants to get back to his feet but Smith is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Oittinen keeping full guard, as Smith tries to pass.
Smith trying to control but Oittinen is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Oittinen cracks Smith with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Oittinen shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Smith holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Smith breaks the clinch.

Smith feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Oittinen wants to stand but Smith is controlling the position.
Smith trying to control the position from guard on top but Oittinen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith wants to get up but he can't break Oittinen's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Oittinen keeping moving, preventing Smith from controlling successfully.
Oittinen on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Oittinen tries to get out of the position.
Oittinen is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Oittinen tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Smith counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Smith showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Smith fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Oittinen lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

It looks like John Smith has been cut.
Smith stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Smith wants it to stay on the feet.

Smith scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Oittinen trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Smith content just to control the position here.
Oittinen is trying to stand.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith tries to control but Oittinen wriggling away.
Oittinen is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Smith wants to control the pace but Oittinen is squirming around nicely.
Smith is in the full mount, landing strikes.

Smith is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Oittinen is surviving well by controlling Smith's body position as best he can.
Oittinen really wants to buck Smith off and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Oittinen keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Smith manages to capitalize on a mistake by Oittinen to take his back!
Oittinen controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.

Smith has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Oittinen! Can he survive? No! He's out! Smith gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:02 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). John Smith!