PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mike Van Rijn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Martti Nakutin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Van Rijn comes to the ring accompanied by Francesco Zappalà - No Way Out. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Martti Nakutin was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Van Rijn
vs
Nakutin

196 cm
24
210 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

195 cm
20
214 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Solid 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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mike Van Rijn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Martti Nakutin!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Paul Aken and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Some wild striking there from Van Rijn.
Nakutin avoids the head kick by Van Rijn.
Van Rijn fails in his attempt to clinch.
An inside leg kick from Van Rijn misses.
Nakutin fails to land the takedown.

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

It looks like Martti Nakutin has been cut.
Van Rijn swings and misses with a hook to the body.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Van Rijn blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Van Rijn blocks an elbow strike from Nakutin.
Van Rijn stalling.
Van Rijn lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Van Rijn leaning his opponent against the ropes.
Van Rijn scores a nice knee to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Rijn utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Nakutin looks gassed!
Van Rijn comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Van Rijn lands a good knee to the midsection. Nakutin won't want to take too many of those.

Van Rijn breaks the clinch.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Van Rijn - that will leave a mark!
Nakutin blocks a head kick by Van Rijn.
Nakutin chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Van Rijn can pounce on him.
Mike Van Rijn seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Van Rijn closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Van Rijn 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 Nakutin's shoulder. That is not cool.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Van Rijn stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Van Rijn forces Nakutin back against the ropes and clinches.
Nakutin goes for a takedown in the clinch but Van Rijn prevents it.
Nakutin managing to block the knees to the body from Van Rijn.
Knees to the body from Van Rijn.
Van Rijn missing with knees to the body.
Nakutin working aggressively here.
A head punch on the inside from Nakutin fails to land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Van Rijn breaks the clinch.
Van Rijn tries to bum rush Nakutin with a series of wild strikes but Nakutin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Van Rijn tries a head kick but it misses.
Van Rijn connects with a body shot.
Nakutin takes a body punch but keeps moving.
A head kick misses from Van Rijn.
Van Rijn is looking to clinch but Nakutin is avoiding it.
A jab from Nakutin misses.
Van Rijn tries to clinch there but Nakutin circles away.
Nakutin takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Van Rijn throws a head kick but Nakutin moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakutin throws a left and a right that both miss

and Van Rijn counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Nakutin throws an elbow but it misses.
Nakutin takes an elbow to the forehead.

Van Rijn manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Van Rijn is controlling Nakutin's posture.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Van Rijn is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Van Rijn has his feet on Nakutin's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Van Rijn dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Martti Nakutin's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A combination from Van Rijn does no damage.
Van Rijn throws and low kick but Nakutin moves out of range easily.
Van Rijn lands a front kick.
Van Rijn is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Van Rijn moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Some wild striking there from Van Rijn.
Nakutin slips a jab and a cross from Van Rijn.
Nakutin is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Rijn slips under a jab.
A combination from Van Rijn does no damage.
Nakutin shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Nakutin takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

Van Rijn closes the distance and clinches.
Van Rijn connects with a nasty looking knee right to Nakutin's face.
Van Rijn connects with a knee to the head.
Van Rijn slowing the pace effectively.
Van Rijn lands an elbow inside that Nakutin shrugs off.
Van Rijn scores with a knee to the head.
Van Rijn comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Nakutin misses with an elbow over the top.

Van Rijn jumps guard and drags Nakutin to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Van Rijn is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakutin stops Van Rijn from standing up.

Van Rijn pushes Nakutin off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Van Rijn has managed to clinch.
Van Rijn has Nakutin pressed against the ropes.
Van Rijn blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nakutin stops a takedown attempt from Van Rijn.
Van Rijn lands a nice knee to the body.
Van Rijn tries to land a knee to the head but Nakutin blocks with his arms.
Van Rijn tries to land knees in the clinch but Nakutin avoids the damage to the body.
Nakutin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakutin tries to break the clinch but Van Rijn is controlling the position.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Van Rijn lands a good knee to the midsection. Nakutin won't want to take too many of those.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Van Rijn obliges.
Come on Van Rijn - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Nakutin takes a knee to the side of the body.
Nakutin wants to stall.
Van Rijn lands a knee to the body.
Van Rijn stalling against the ropes.
Van Rijn crunches a lovely knee into Nakutin's ribcage.
Van Rijn lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Van Rijn's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Van Rijn lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
The referee calls for Van Rijn to work.
Nakutin wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Van Rijn utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Van Rijn breaks from the clinch.
Nakutin moves forwards but Van Rijn connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Nakutin tries to close the distance and clinch but Van Rijn swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Van Rijn tries to clinch up
and Nakutin counters with a nice kick to the body.
Van Rijn lands with a slapping head kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Van Rijn does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

Van Rijn pushes Nakutin up against the ropes in a clinch.
Van Rijn tries to score a body lock takedown but Nakutin shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Van Rijn dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Martti Nakutin's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Van Rijn lands a head kick. Nakutin smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Mike Van Rijn is winning the standup battle so far.
Nakutin misses with a hook. Van Rijn ducked under it nicely.
Nakutin swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Van Rijn counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Van Rijn cracks Nakutin with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Van Rijn connects with a crisp jab.
Nakutin takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Van Rijn closes the distance and clinches up with Nakutin, looking for a takedown. Van Rijn pushes Nakutin against the ropes but Nakutin circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Van Rijn fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Nakutin.
Van Rijn is looking to clinch.
Van Rijn closes the distance and lands a one-two.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Van Rijn clinches with his opponent.
Van Rijn stalling in the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Van Rijn creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Nakutin's defenses.
Van Rijn stalling in the clinch but Nakutin improves position.
Van Rijn is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Mike Van Rijn has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Van Rijn breaks the clinch.
Nakutin throws a big shot that misses.
Van Rijn uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Nakutin.
Van Rijn looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Nakutin is fending him off so far but Van Rijn persists. Nope, Nakutin circles away and we're back to standing.
Nakutin tries to score a power double leg takedown but Van Rijn sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Nakutin somewhat.
Van Rijn throws a front kick that sends Nakutin stumbling back into the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Van Rijn, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Van Rijn connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Van Rijn throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Van Rijn is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Van Rijn throws a right and a left that Nakutin avoids nicely.
Van Rijn throws a sloppy head kick and Nakutin moves out of range easily.
Some wild striking there from Van Rijn.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakutin looks to clinch
and Van Rijn counters with a three punch combo that has Nakutin backing up. Nakutin nods at Van Rijn to acknowledge the strikes.
Van Rijn rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Nakutin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Nakutin smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Van Rijn jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Nakutin doesn't manage to clinch there - Van Rijn circles away.
Nakutin throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Van Rijn's head.
Mike Van Rijn is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nakutin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Van Rijn was well out of range. Poor timing from Nakutin.
Nakutin takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Nakutin waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Van Rijn.
Nakutin on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Mike Van Rijn is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Van Rijn clinches.
Van Rijn comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Martti Nakutin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Nakutin is looking to control Van Rijn's arms but Van Rijn gets an underhook and turns him. Now Nakutin has his back to the ropes.
Van Rijn scores a nice knee to the body.
Nakutin blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Van Rijn is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nakutin can do to turn this around?
Van Rijn throws a knee to the head but misses.
Nakutin misses with a hook from the clinch.
Van Rijn crunches a lovely knee into Nakutin's ribcage.
Nakutin tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nakutin is trying to break free.
Van Rijn scores a nice knee to the body.
Van Rijn blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nakutin working aggressively here.
Nakutin swings wildly with an uppercut but Van Rijn uses good head movement to avoid it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Van Rijn showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Van Rijn 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 30:25
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:25
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Van Rijn!