PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Aaron Gutierrez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rand James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gutierrez comes to the cage accompanied by The Final Countdown, really.. Rand James has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gutierrez
vs
James

180 cm
20
260 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

191 cm
23
290 lbs
7 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aaron Gutierrez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rand James!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Johanna Lukiainen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
James scores with a head kick. Gutierrez tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
James lands a head shot.
Gutierrez tries to clinch up.

Gutierrez drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Gutierrez misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
James defending against the ground and pound.
James avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Gutierrez.
Gutierrez in side control, throwing shots but James defends.
The ground and pound from Gutierrez seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Gutierrez working the strikes but James uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
James keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
James blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gutierrez.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gutierrez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Gutierrez landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Gutierrez missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gutierrez throwing shots but James is blocking nicely.
Gutierrez is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and James reverses the position - he's now on top in Gutierrez's guard.
Gutierrez wants to sweep but no luck.
James wants to control from the top but Gutierrez keeps moving.
Gutierrez tries to land a sweep but no joy.
James looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez 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.
James trying to control the position from guard on top but Gutierrez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
James is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
James wants to control from the top but Gutierrez keeps moving.
James tries to free his leg and advance position but Gutierrez is retaining full guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
James trying to control the position from guard on top but Gutierrez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
James is pushing down on Gutierrez's leg trying to pass to half guard. Gutierrez is fighting to maintain full guard but James has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez is staying active underneath James, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

James wants to work for an arm triangle but Gutierrez is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Gutierrez is positioning himself well to prevent James advancing to mount.
Gutierrez is looking for a sweep. James is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
James is pressing down on Gutierrez's thigh, looking to free his foot. Gutierrez is holding on for now.

James is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Gutierrez has managed to free his arm - good work.
James trying to advance position but Gutierrez counters by regaining guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
James trying to control but Gutierrez is working from the bottom.

James drops back, looking for a kneebar! Gutierrez looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Gutierrez looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Gutierrez!
Gutierrez in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gutierrez throwing strikes but James manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Gutierrez regains half guard.
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 Aaron Gutierrez 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.

A punch combination from James misses.
A left lands for James.
Rand James is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Gutierrez tries to close the distance and clinch up but James swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Gutierrez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. James manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
James fakes the leg kick and cracks Gutierrez in the body.
James circles away from the clinch attempt.
Gutierrez moves to clinch but James breaks away
and James counters with a two punch combo.
Gutierrez wants to clinch up but James keeps it at a distance.
James lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Gutierrez fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with James, pushing him back against the cage.
James goes for a takedown in the clinch but Gutierrez prevents it.

James manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Aaron Gutierrez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gutierrez is working James over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
James is breathing heavily.
James avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gutierrez in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gutierrez throws and elbow that misses. James uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Gutierrez's guard. Nice move by James!
James wants to pass the guard but Gutierrez is keeping the position.
Gutierrez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in James's guard.
Gutierrez trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Gutierrez with a flurry of punches that miss.
Gutierrez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Gutierrez trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as James works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
James keeping full guard, as Gutierrez tries to pass.
Gutierrez working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
James keeping full guard, as Gutierrez tries to pass.
Gutierrez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Gutierrez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Gutierrez working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
James utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James can't keep his opponent in guard - Gutierrez advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Gutierrez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed James's head.
Gutierrez looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks James with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Gutierrez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Gutierrez throwing shots but James is blocking nicely.
Gutierrez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed James's head.
James is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Gutierrez scores with a couple of nice shots.
Gutierrez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
James is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Gutierrez scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez winds up and cracks James with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
James keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gutierrez looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Gutierrez throwing shots but James is blocking nicely.
James avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gutierrez.
Gutierrez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Gutierrez scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Gutierrez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gutierrez looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Gutierrez throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Gutierrez looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aaron Gutierrez dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Gutierrez tries to clinch up but James circles away and keeps his distance.
Gutierrez changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. James tries to avoid it but Gutierrez manages to keep hold of a leg and drag James to the ground. James escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
James throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Horrible takedown by Gutierrez or perhaps it was just good defense by James which made him look bad.
James lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
James with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gutierrez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. James manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
James throws a head kick that Gutierrez semi-blocks.
Gutierrez shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts James as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Aaron Gutierrez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gutierrez leaves James with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
James misses with a double jab.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gutierrez is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
James thumps Gutierrez with a low kick.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by James!
James circles away from the clinch attempt.
James swats away the attempt to clinch by Gutierrez.
James fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Gutierrez on the side of the head.
Gutierrez shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts James as he jumps to the side.
Rand James seems to be getting the better of the standup.
James stuffs the takedown.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Gutierrez is defended easily by James.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James thuds his shin into the meat of Gutierrez's side.
A head kick from James lands but Gutierrez takes it in his stride.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gutierrez dives in and grabs James's left leg, looking for a takedown. James pushes down on Gutierrez's head and hops out.
James looks to land a combination. Gutierrez sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
James throws a right hand that Gutierrez ducks under and follows up with a left that Gutierrez also avoids with ease.
James throws a nice outside leg kick.
James lands a high kick!
James is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Gutierrez tries to clinch but James is having none of it.
Gutierrez shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as James sprawls well. James wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Gutierrez gets slowly back to his feet.
James lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown by Gutierrez or perhaps it was just good defense by James which made him look bad.
James throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Gutierrez shoots in and drives through. James sprawls well.
James scores with a push kick.
A shot to the liver by James. Beautiful body shot.
James bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Gutierrez darts in trying to clinch
and James counters with an outside leg kick.
Gutierrez chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before James can pounce on him.
Rand James has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gutierrez shoots in looking for a takedown but James manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gutierrez's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Gutierrez has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
James scores with a head kick.
Gutierrez on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gutierrez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A nice leg kick lands there from James.
James keeps the fight on the outside.
James swinging wildly here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gutierrez is looking to clinch.
Aaron Gutierrez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Gutierrez fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but James avoids it really well and circles away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rand James comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Gutierrez 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 29:29
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Aaron Gutierrez!