PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Taz Devil (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johan Herberg (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Taz Devil could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Johan Herberg's chin.

Devil
vs
Herberg

175 cm
24
157 lbs
12 - 9 - 1

160 cm
28
167 lbs
12 - 6 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 9 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Taz Devil!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Johan Herberg!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Matti Vanhoillinen and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Herberg tries for a takedown but Devil circles away easily
and Devil makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Nice sprawl there from Devil as Herberg shoots in.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Herberg.
Taz Devil has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Johan Herberg.
Nice uppercut there from Devil.
Herberg shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Devil counters with a right hand to the body.

Herberg gets a takedown into half guard.
Herberg is trying to control the action in half guard but Devil is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Herberg scoring with strikes to the body and head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Devil manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Herberg moves to clinch but Devil breaks away
and Devil connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Herberg scores with a takedown into Devil's guard.
Devil wants to stand and escape but Herberg is having none of it.
Herberg passes Devil's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Devil regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Herberg.
Herberg stops Devil from standing up.
Herberg working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Devil wants to stand but Herberg is controlling the position.
Herberg pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Devil is keeping the position for now.
Devil avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Herberg trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Herberg is looking to work some ground and pound but Devil has wrist control.

Devil manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Devil misses with a head kick.
Herberg fails with a takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Herberg tries for a takedown but Devil circles away easily
and Devil makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Devil throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Herberg sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Herberg fails with a takedown attempt.
Devil thows a left - swing and a miss!
Devil fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Herberg tries for a takedown but Devil sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Devil misses with an uppercut. Herberg saw that one coming.
Devil digs a good hook to Herberg's body.

That's four 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.
Herberg tries for a takedown but Devil circles away easily
and Devil counters with a right hand to the body.
Devil lands with a nice body kick.
Herberg looks gassed!
Herberg misses with a takedown attempt
and Devil counters with a nice kick to the body.
Devil misses with a right hand

and Herberg counters with a takedown into side control.
Devil wants to get back to his feet but Herberg drags him back down.
Devil is trying to control Herberg's posture but Herberg avoids it.
Herberg prevents Devil from escaping the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Devil is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Herberg's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Taz Devil will probably get the nod.
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.

Herberg shoots and misses
and Devil counters with a nice leg kick.
Devil bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Herberg's head.
Devil is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Devil keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Devil chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Devil leaves Herberg with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Taz Devil has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Johan Herberg.

Herberg drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Herberg has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Herberg has gone for a leg lock! Devil slips out almost immediately though and dives into Herberg's guard.
Devil has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Devil is looking to stand up but Herberg won't let him.
Herberg is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Herberg is on top in guard.
Herberg throwing strikes but missing.
Herberg is in close to Devil's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Herberg throws a big right hand that misses.
Herberg controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Herberg looking to sit in guard and control but Devil gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Herberg looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Devil pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Herberg is keeping the position for now.
Herberg looking to control.
Devil tries to stand but Herberg is controlling from the bottom.
Herberg controls Devil momentarily but Devil frees himself.
Herberg is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Well, if Herberg is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Herberg is keen to just control but Devil is a slippery customer.

Herberg is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Herberg sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Devil defending well though.
Devil looks like he's trying to stand up.
Devil keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's four 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.
Herberg uses his free foot to push down on Devil's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Devil.
Herberg lands a big shot there that rocks Devil but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Herberg thowing shots but they're missing.
Devil in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Herberg raining down shots from the mount!
Devil is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johan Herberg showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Herberg has his takedown stuffed
and Devil counters with a thumping low kick.
Devil lands an overhand right.
Johan Herberg is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Herberg has his takedown stuffed
and Devil counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Herberg fails to land the takedown.
Taz Devil has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Johan Herberg.
Herberg is looking to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Herberg takes a jab right on the kisser.
Devil avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Herberg with a lazy takedown attempt
and Devil counters with a big head kick but Herberg shrugs it off.
Herberg takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Herberg misses with a takedown
and Devil finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Nice body punch from Devil.
Devil tries to land a front kick but Herberg steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Herberg shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Devil sprawls well. Devil wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Herberg gets slowly back to his feet.
Devil looks to land a body kick but Herberg moved away.
Devil works Herberg's body with a nice hook.
Devil pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Devil throws a hook but Herberg avoids it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Devil pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Herberg misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Herberg shoots in looking for a takedown. Devil tries to sprawl out of it but Herberg keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Devil manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Devil pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Herberg fails with the takedown.
Devil scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Devil's jab looks to have found its range, popping Herberg under the eye.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Devil throws a sloppy head kick and Herberg moves out of range easily.
Herberg with a poor takedown
and Devil cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Devil misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Devil scores with a jab to the jaw.
Devil scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Herberg on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Devil is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Herberg looks to clinch
and Devil counters with a good, hard body kick but Herberg shrugs it off.
Herberg sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Taz Devil is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Devil keeps Herberg at a distance using the push kick.
Herberg has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Devil.
Devil throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Devil scores with a nice strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Herberg crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Devil - the referee stops the clock and Herberg gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Devil. Herberg manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Herberg takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Donk. Devil catches Herberg right on the button with a cross.
Herberg has his takedown stuffed
and Devil counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Herberg takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Devil bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Devil keeps Herberg at a distance using the push kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Devil lets loose with a powerful body kick. Herberg will feel that in the morning.
Devil pushes Herberg away with a front kick.
Devil lands with a straight right. Herberg didn't see that one coming.

And that's the end of the fight!
Taz Devil showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Devil 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 28:28
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Taz Devil!