PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Antti Isotalo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kalevi Sorsa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Isotalo comes to the cage accompanied by Battle Metal by Turisas. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Isotalo
vs
Sorsa

200 cm
23
205 lbs
14 - 7 - 1

188 cm
27
218 lbs
12 - 6 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

►Q150 Schwarzenegger Nutrition
►Q150 Schwarzenegger Nutrition

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 14 - 7 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Antti Isotalo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kalevi Sorsa!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Valeri Chadov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sorsa rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Isotalo moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sorsa shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Isotalo as he avoids it easily.
Sorsa misses with a few strikes there.
Isotalo falls off balance throwing a combination
and Sorsa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Sorsa uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Isotalo.
Sorsa bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Isotalo falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Sorsa counter with a right hand.
Sorsa misses with a two punch combination.
Sorsa throws a series of punches but Isotalo moves out of range.
A head kick misses from Isotalo.
Sorsa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Isotalo.
Isotalo misses with a few strikes there.

Isotalo throws a head kick that lands with a deafening thwack! The crowd roars as Sorsa stumbles backwards and falls to the mat. Isotalo follows into mount!

It looks like Kalevi Sorsa has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Isotalo thowing shots but they're missing.
A nice elbow there by Isotalo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sorsa holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Isotalo tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Isotalo unloads with some shots from mount but Sorsa bucks and avoids them well.
Isotalo has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Isotalo looking to finish with strikes here!
Isotalo prevents Sorsa from getting the reversal.
Isotalo landing strikes from the mount and Sorsa is in trouble!
Isotalo is landing with some decent strikes but Sorsa is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Isotalo looking to finish with strikes here!
Isotalo lands a heavy elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sorsa takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Sorsa wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Isotalo.
Isotalo lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sorsa looks gassed!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Isotalo throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Sorsa tries to hold on but Isotalo postures up.
Poor strikes thrown by Isotalo there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Sorsa is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Isotalo thowing shots but they're missing.
Isotalo fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Isotalo looking to ground and pound but Sorsa is blocking nicely.
Isotalo working the ground and pound effectively.
Isotalo lands a nice shot to the head.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Isotalo punching from mount but Sorsa doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Sorsa tries to hold on but Isotalo postures up.
Isotalo misses with a head shot.
Poor strikes thrown by Isotalo there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
A nice elbow there by Isotalo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Isotalo looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Sorsa is in all sorts of trouble here.
Isotalo connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Isotalo with good strikes from the mount here!
Sorsa is bucking up trying to escape but Isotalo cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A nice elbow there by Isotalo.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Isotalo with shots to the head and body - Sorsa looks very uncomfortable down there.
A nice elbow there by Isotalo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antti Isotalo dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Kalevi Sorsa's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Isotalo misses with a combination

and Sorsa counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Isotalo missing with punches from the bottom.
Isotalo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Isotalo manages to get to full guard.
Isotalo looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sorsa is one step ahead there.
Isotalo will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sorsa is breathing heavily.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Isotalo swings for the body but Sorsa moves out of range.
Sorsa falls off balance throwing a combination
and Isotalo counters with a stiff right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sorsa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Isotalo.
Sorsa displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Isotalo throws out the jab.
Antti Isotalo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Isotalo misses with a series of wild punches.
Isotalo misses with a double jab.
Sorsa avoids the body shot from Isotalo.
Sorsa lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Isotalo misses with a combination
and Sorsa counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Sorsa has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Sorsa there as he acknowledges the shot.
Isotalo throws a lazy right hand but Sorsa sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A nice combination there by Sorsa.
Isotalo thows a left - swing and a miss!
Sorsa takes a swing at Isotalo's ribcage but misses.
Antti Isotalo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Isotalo throws a left and a right that both miss
and Sorsa counters with a left and a right that stings Isotalo.
Sorsa misses with a body shot.
Antti Isotalo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sorsa moves away from the strike by Isotalo.
Sorsa misses the body punch
and Sorsa takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Isotalo throws a hook to the side of Sorsa's head but Sorsa sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Isotalo throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Isotalo waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sorsa.

Sorsa scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Sorsa is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Isotalo is throwing a few token shots, despite Sorsa being in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Isotalo tries to buck Sorsa off but Sorsa is having none of it.
Isotalo is working hard here to advance position.
Isotalo is trying to escape the position but Sorsa is controlling the position.
Isotalo struggling a bit here.
Isotalo tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Isotalo gets back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Isotalo makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Isotalo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kalevi Sorsa showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Kalevi Sorsa's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Sorsa throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Isotalo.
Sorsa fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Isotalo avoids it really well and circles away.
Isotalo dodges the punch combination from Sorsa.
Sorsa throws a hook but Isotalo blocks it.
Isotalo misses with an uppercut.
A punch combination from Isotalo misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sorsa displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Isotalo throws out the jab.
Isotalo rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sorsa moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Antti Isotalo is winning the standup battle so far.
Sorsa takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sorsa throws a left and a right that both miss
and Isotalo counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
A shot to the liver by Isotalo. Beautiful body shot.
Isotalo misses with a combination

and Sorsa counters with a single leg into guard. Isotalo didn't expect that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Isotalo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Antti Isotalo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Isotalo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Sorsa.
Isotalo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Isotalo seems keen to control Sorsa's posture.
Isotalo looking to control.

Sorsa avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

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.
Sorsa slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Isotalo had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Sorsa defends it easily.
Isotalo is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Isotalo looking for a guillotine here but Sorsa defends easily.
Isotalo can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Sorsa controls the pace.

Isotalo looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Sorsa wants to control from the top but Isotalo keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Sorsa avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sorsa trying to control but Isotalo is working from the bottom.
Isotalo is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Antti Isotalo.
Well Isotalo 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 29:28
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Antti Isotalo!