PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sauli Niinisto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kristen Kaczmarek (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.

Niinisto
vs
Kaczmarek

190 cm
19
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good knees
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Sauli Niinisto!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kristen Kaczmarek!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Niinisto scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Kaczmarek circles away from the clinch attempt.
Niinisto changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Kaczmarek tries to avoid it but Niinisto manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Kaczmarek to the ground. Kaczmarek escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Niinisto lands a head kick. Kaczmarek smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Kaczmarek looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
A chopping leg kick lands by Niinisto.
Kaczmarek tries for a takedown but Niinisto sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Kaczmarek lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Kaczmarek.
Niinisto scores with a kick to the body.
Niinisto lands a head kick. Kaczmarek smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Kaczmarek is looking to clinch but Niinisto is avoiding it.
Kaczmarek fails to land with a series of punches.
Niinisto keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Niinisto feints and then cracks Kaczmarek's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Kaczmarek down.
Kaczmarek looks gassed!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Niinisto has closed the distance and engaged Kaczmarek in a clinch.
Kaczmarek takes a knee right on the jaw!
Niinisto lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Kaczmarek tries to pull guard but Niinisto holds him up against the cage and eventually Kaczmarek drops back down to his feet.
Sauli Niinisto has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kristen Kaczmarek.

Niinisto has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Kaczmarek regains guard immediately.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kaczmarek has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Niinisto can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Niinisto is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Niinisto won't allow Kaczmarek to sweep him here.
Niinisto pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kaczmarek is keeping the position for now.
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.
Kaczmarek will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Kaczmarek is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Niinisto stays in close to Kaczmarek's body and controls the position.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Niinisto throws a head kick that half lands.
Niinisto fails with a takedown attempt.

Niinisto has taken the fight to the clinch.
Niinisto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kaczmarek lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niinisto landing knees to the head.
Niinisto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kaczmarek lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Niinisto lands a knee to the head.
Niinisto lands a knee to the body.
Niinisto is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Kaczmarek gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Niinisto wants a takedown but no success here.
Niinisto stalling against the cage.
Niinisto scores with a knee to the head.
Niinisto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Niinisto takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Niinisto is working for takedown but Kaczmarek is calmly controlling the position for now.
Kaczmarek tries for a takedown but Niinisto manages to get underhooks.
A knee to the head by Niinisto.
Niinisto lands a knee to the body.
Niinisto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Niinisto lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Niinisto pressing his opponent against the cage.
Niinisto avoiding damage as Kaczmarek throws knees to the body.
Kaczmarek looking for a takedown.
A knee to the head by Niinisto.
Kaczmarek wants to break the clinch but can't.
Knees to the body from Niinisto.
Niinisto displaying some good clinch control by pressing Kaczmarek up against the cage.
Kaczmarek jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Niinisto walks away with a smile on his face. Kaczmarek gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Niinisto rushes Kaczmarek and presses him up against the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Niinisto tries to score a body lock takedown but Kaczmarek shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Niinisto landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Niinisto leaning his opponent against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sauli Niinisto 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.

Niinisto scores with a head kick.

Niinisto gets a clinch.
Niinisto landing knees to the head.
Niinisto lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A knee to the head by Niinisto.
Niinisto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kaczmarek lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Niinisto avoiding damage.
Niinisto scores a nice knee to the body.
Kaczmarek is pressed up against the cage. Niinisto has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Kaczmarek down to the mat. Kaczmarek avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Kaczmarek wants to clinch up but Niinisto keeps it at a distance.
Kaczmarek fails with the takedown.

Niinisto clinches up against the cage.
Niinisto utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Niinisto drops down looking for an ankle pick but Kaczmarek pulls his leg out and moves away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niinisto tries to close the distance and clinch but Kaczmarek swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Niinisto gets a clinch.
Kaczmarek can't break the clinch.
Niinisto creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Kaczmarek's defenses.
Niinisto lands an elbow inside that Kaczmarek shrugs off.
Niinisto lands an elbow inside that Kaczmarek shrugs off.
Niinisto lands a nice knee to the body.
A knee to the head by Niinisto.
Niinisto stalling in the clinch.
Kaczmarek gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Niinisto.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sauli Niinisto. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kaczmarek takes a knee right on the jaw!
Niinisto stops a takedown attempt from Kaczmarek.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Niinisto obliges.
Niinisto goes for a takedown in the clinch but Kaczmarek prevents it.
Niinisto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Kaczmarek escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Niinisto darts in and clinches Kaczmarek up against the cage.
Niinisto landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Niinisto is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Kaczmarek pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Knees in the clinch landing for Niinisto.

Kaczmarek breaks from the clinch.

Niinisto moves into the clinch.
Niinisto prevents a takedown attempt there.
Niinisto connects with a knee to the head.
Niinisto prevents a takedown attempt there.
Niinisto lands an elbow inside that Kaczmarek shrugs off.
Niinisto landing knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niinisto scores with a knee to the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Niinisto.
Niinisto landing knees to the head.
Niinisto has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Kaczmarek avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Niinisto drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Kaczmarek gets the underhooks and prevents it.
The referee is keeping an eye on Niinisto - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kaczmarek takes a knee to the side of the body.

Niinisto turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Niinisto manages to end up in side control.
Niinisto takes a little break here. Kaczmarek wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Kaczmarek tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kaczmarek sneaks back into half guard.
Kaczmarek trying to control from the bottom.
Niinisto not doing much here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sauli Niinisto dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Kaczmarek takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Kaczmarek tries for a takedown but Niinisto circles away easily
and Niinisto counters with a big head kick but Kaczmarek shrugs it off.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Niinisto unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Kaczmarek takes a knee to the side of the body.
Niinisto lands a knee to the head.
Stalling in the clinch from Niinisto.
Niinisto landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Niinisto can't get the takedown.
Niinisto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Niinisto crunches a lovely knee into Kaczmarek's ribcage.
Niinisto lands a knee to the head.
Niinisto has Kaczmarek pushed against the cage.
Niinisto using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Niinisto unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kaczmarek lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niinisto wants a takedown.
Sauli Niinisto has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Kaczmarek slowing the pace effectively.
Niinisto working Kaczmarek over with knees to the body.
Niinisto lands a good knee to the midsection. Kaczmarek won't want to take too many of those.
Niinisto with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Niinisto lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Kaczmarek tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Niinisto with a knee to the head.
Niinisto dodges an elbow strike from Kaczmarek.
Kaczmarek tries to work over Niinisto's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Niinisto drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Kaczmarek gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sauli Niinisto. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Niinisto lands an elbow that stopped Kaczmarek in his tracks for a moment.
Niinisto landing knees to the body.
A bit of stalling here from Niinisto.
Niinisto landing knees to the head.
Kaczmarek is working for takedown but Niinisto is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Niinisto has Kaczmarek pressed against the cage, preventing Kaczmarek from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Niinisto connects with a knee to the head.
Kaczmarek wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Niinisto landing knees to the body.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

Niinisto turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Niinisto is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Kaczmarek will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kaczmarek looks frustrated here - throwing a couple of shots from the bottom though.
Niinisto in side control, just content to control the action for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niinisto has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Sauli Niinisto is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

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.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sauli Niinisto showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Niinisto has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sauli Niinisto!