PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Arttu Nieminen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paavali Pietari (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pietari has chosen The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up as his entrance music. Arttu Nieminen looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Nieminen
vs
Pietari

182 cm
21
183 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

200 cm
20
188 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
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 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Arttu Nieminen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Paavali Pietari!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Tarja Halkonen and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pietari checks a leg kick.
Pietari swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Pietari is looking to clinch but Nieminen is avoiding it.
Nieminen tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Nieminen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Pietari closes the distance and pushes Nieminen back into the cage.
Pietari gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Arttu Nieminen has been cut.
Knees in the clinch landing for Pietari.
Nieminen tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Pietari smiles and moves away.
Nieminen clinches but Pietari breaks the clinch

and Pietari counters with a head kick that drops Nieminen to the mat! Nieminen scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nieminen dodges the punch combination from Pietari.
Pietari lands with a kick to the temple. Nieminen shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Pietari lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Pietari throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Nieminen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pietari misses with a straight left.
Nieminen darts in trying to clinch
and Pietari makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Nieminen really felt that one!
Pietari defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Nieminen.
Nieminen tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Pietari counters with a head kick. That will keep Nieminen thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Nieminen is breathing heavily.
Pietari scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Nieminen doesn't seem bothered though.
Nieminen shoots in and drives through. Pietari sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Arttu Nieminen. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Nieminen scores a takedown into full mount!

Nieminen moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Pietari has worked his arm free - good work by Pietari!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Pietari is trying to improve his position.
Pietari wants to control but Nieminen postures up.

Nieminen has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Pietari is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Nieminen with a lazy takedown attempt
and Pietari counters with a two punch combo.
Pietari throws a sloppy head kick and Nieminen moves out of range easily.
Pietari looks to land a combination but Nieminen avoids it well.
Nice defenses there by Nieminen.
Nieminen has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

Arttu Nieminen's cut is getting worse.
Nieminen lands with a nice body punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pietari has taken the fight to the clinch.
Nieminen lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Pietari with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Pietari's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nice takedown defense from Pietari. No joy for Nieminen on that attempt.
Paavali Pietari is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Pietari moves into the clinch.
Pietari with a knee to the head.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

Pietari breaks from the clinch.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Nieminen crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Pietari - the referee stops the clock and Nieminen gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Pietari. Nieminen manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Pietari misses with a two punch combination.
Nieminen closes the distance but Pietari moves to the side
letting Pietari counter with a right hand.

Nieminen has Pietari up against the cage in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pietari keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Nieminen's efforts to push away.
Nieminen tries to pull guard but Pietari won't allow it.
Nieminen looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Pietari blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Nieminen is trying to break the clinch but Pietari is controlling him.

Pietari breaks the clinch.
Pietari lands with a slapping head kick.
Pietari will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Nieminen falls off balance throwing a combination
and Pietari counters with a big head kick but Nieminen shrugs it off.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Nieminen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Nieminen dodges the punch combination from Pietari.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paavali Pietari dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Arttu Nieminen's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Nieminen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Nieminen with a nice head shot there.
Nieminen wants to control from the top but Pietari keeps moving.

Nieminen gets to his feet. Pietari looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Pietari tries a head kick but it misses.
Nieminen avoids the head kick by Pietari.
Paavali Pietari seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Nieminen is looking to clinch.
Pietari misses with a combination

so Nieminen counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Nieminen is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pietari had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Nieminen defends it easily.
Nieminen is in close to Pietari's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Pietari is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nieminen is controlling him.
Nieminen trying to control the position from guard on top but Pietari is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Nieminen gets to his feet. Pietari looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Nieminen lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Nieminen looks to clinch
and Pietari counters with a head kick. That will keep Nieminen thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Pietari tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Nieminen paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Pietari gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Pietari kicks Nieminen off and gets to his feet.
Pietari circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nieminen tries to clinch but Pietari is having none of it.
Pietari thows a leg kick but Nieminen checks it

and Nieminen counters with a nice double leg 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!
Nieminen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Pietari trying to hold on to Nieminen's head to control him but Nieminen postures up.
Nieminen lands with a punch from half guard.

Nieminen is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Pietari defends it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nieminen not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Nieminen trying to control the action but Pietari is working from the bottom.
Nieminen is really struggling to control Pietari but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Pietari is looking to escape.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Pietari rushes Nieminen and presses him up against the cage.
Nieminen jumps guard but Pietari stands there with Nieminen around his waist. Nieminen gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Nieminen has had enough of the clinch but Pietari keeps him there for the moment.
Pietari has Nieminen pressed against the cage, preventing Nieminen from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Nieminen successfully pulls guard.

Nieminen pushes Pietari off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Nieminen, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Pietari.
Nieminen tries to clinch
and Pietari counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Nieminen is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Good shot there by Pietari.
Pietari tries to close the distance and clinch up but Nieminen swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Nieminen throws a front kick that sends Pietari stumbling back into the cage.
Pietari doesn't manage to clinch there - Nieminen circles away.
Pietari misses with a double jab.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nieminen shoots in for a takedown but Pietari shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Pietari throws a sloppy head kick and Nieminen moves out of range easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Arttu Nieminen dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Arttu Nieminen's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Nieminen has closed the distance and engaged Pietari in a clinch.

Pietari breaks the clinch.
Nieminen is looking to clinch but Pietari is avoiding it.
Pietari tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Pietari throws a lazy head kick

and Nieminen counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Pietari!

Nieminen with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Pietari is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Nieminen wants to control the pace but Pietari is squirming around nicely.
Pietari wants to control but Nieminen is having none of it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nieminen thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pietari holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Nieminen tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Nieminen working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Pietari tries to hold on but Nieminen postures up.
Poor strikes thrown by Nieminen there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Pietari is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
A nice elbow there by Nieminen.

Nieminen is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Pietari has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Pietari tries to hold on but Nieminen pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Pietari is bucking up trying to escape but Nieminen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Arttu Nieminen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Nieminen with shots to the head and body - Pietari looks very uncomfortable down there.
Pietari'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.
Nieminen putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Nieminen working the ground and pound effectively.
Nieminen prevents Pietari from getting the reversal.
Nieminen lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Pietari hang on?
Nieminen prevents Pietari from getting the reversal.
Nieminen lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Pietari hang on?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pietari is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Pietari taking shots to the head.
Nieminen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Nieminen looking to finish Pietari with some ground and pound. This is bad for Pietari!
Pietari'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.

Nieminen is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Pietari has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Nieminen putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nieminen in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Nieminen is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Pietari can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Nieminen thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Pietari working to try and regain half guard.
The referee warns Pietari that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Arttu Nieminen showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Nieminen 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Arttu Nieminen!