PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Harri Mulqvist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johannes van Bruggen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johannes van Bruggen has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Mulqvist
vs
van Bruggen

187 cm
27
212 lbs
15 - 5 - 0

185 cm
24
210 lbs
12 - 4 - 1

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 15 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Harri Mulqvist!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Johannes van Bruggen!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Matti Vanhoillinen and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mulqvist closes the distance and clinches.
van Bruggen wants to stall.

Mulqvist has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but van Bruggen regains guard immediately.
van Bruggen trying to keep a closed guard but Mulqvist is proving a slippery customer.
Mulqvist throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as van Bruggen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Mulqvist trying to control the position from guard on top but van Bruggen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mulqvist working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of van Bruggen's head.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as van Bruggen holds on and takes a little breather.
Mulqvist throwing strikes from guard but van Bruggen blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mulqvist pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. van Bruggen is keeping the position for now.
Mulqvist stopping the sweep attempt from van Bruggen.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mulqvist trying to control the position from guard on top but van Bruggen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
van Bruggen misses the shot to the body.
Mulqvist tries a low kick but van Bruggen avoids it.
van Bruggen looks to land a right hand but Mulqvist moved out of range.
Mulqvist checks a leg kick.
Mulqvist throws a right and a left that van Bruggen avoids nicely.
Mulqvist moves away from the strike by van Bruggen.

Mulqvist shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. van Bruggen manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Mulqvist tries to free his leg and advance position but van Bruggen is retaining full guard.
van Bruggen keeping moving, preventing Mulqvist from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

van Bruggen is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Mulqvist trying to control but van Bruggen is working from the bottom.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Mulqvist controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Harri Mulqvist wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
van Bruggen misses with a lunging right hand
and Mulqvist counters with a nice body kick.
van Bruggen throws a lazy right hand but Mulqvist sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
van Bruggen lands with an uppercut that bounces Mulqvist off the cage and back into rage.
Mulqvist wants to slow van Bruggen down by chopping away at his legs.
Johannes van Bruggen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Mulqvist stuffs the takedown.
Mulqvist misses with a straight left.
Mulqvist steps to the side to avoid the strikes from van Bruggen.
Mulqvist uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by van Bruggen.
Mulqvist feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to van Bruggen's calf.
Mulqvist fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and van Bruggen has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
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!

Mulqvist moves into the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mulqvist misses with a short punch on the inside.
van Bruggen lands a left hand that snaps the head of Mulqvist backwards.
The referee calls for van Bruggen to work.
Mulqvist has a couple of punches blocked by van Bruggen.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Harri Mulqvist dominated that round.
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.

Mulqvist misses the shot to the body.
van Bruggen takes a swing at Mulqvist's ribcage but misses.
van Bruggen cracks a nice hook into Mulqvist's ribs.
van Bruggen scores with a hook to the body. Mulqvist takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
van Bruggen slips a jab from Mulqvist.
Mulqvist thows a body shot but no joy.
Nice takedown defense from Mulqvist. No joy for van Bruggen on that attempt.
Mulqvist lunges at van Bruggen with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by van Bruggen's hand.
Mulqvist avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Mulqvist dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Mulqvist lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Mulqvist thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on van Bruggen if he has to take too many more of those.
A looping hook to the body misses from Mulqvist. van Bruggen does a little dance to reset his feet.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
van Bruggen stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and van Bruggen wants it to stay on the feet.
Mulqvist keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from van Bruggen.
Mulqvist throws a leg kick which misses van Bruggen's front leg but catches the back leg as van Bruggen tries to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A bone on bone clash there as van Bruggen blocks the leg kick.
Mulqvist misses the shot to the body.
Mulqvist shoots for a double leg takedown but van Bruggen sprawls well. He's pushed Mulqvist's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Horrible takedown by van Bruggen or perhaps it was just good defense by Mulqvist which made him look bad.
Mulqvist is looking to wear down van Bruggen with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
van Bruggen closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mulqvist circles away.
Harri Mulqvist has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Johannes van Bruggen.
Mulqvist displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as van Bruggen throws out the jab.

van Bruggen drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Mulqvist manages to get back to half guard.
van Bruggen is trying to control the action in half guard but Mulqvist is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Mulqvist trying to control but van Bruggen postures up.
Mulqvist is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of van Bruggen's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take van Bruggen's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mulqvist looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mulqvist somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
van Bruggen turns into Mulqvist and is now in his guard.
Mulqvist wants to sweep here but van Bruggen controlling him for the moment.
van Bruggen pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Mulqvist is keeping the position for now.
Mulqvist tries to land a sweep but no joy.
van Bruggen trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Mulqvist wants to get back to his feet but van Bruggen is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Mulqvist 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.
van Bruggen slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Mulqvist trying to control but van Bruggen is working from the bottom.
van Bruggen is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mulqvist trying to control the position from guard on top but van Bruggen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mulqvist is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because van Bruggen is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Harri Mulqvist has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Mulqvist uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by van Bruggen.
Mulqvist with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mulqvist is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by van Bruggen.
van Bruggen misses with a wild body shot.
Mulqvist shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. van Bruggen defends it nicely.
van Bruggen moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Harri Mulqvist dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

van Bruggen dodges the punch combination from Mulqvist.
van Bruggen misses with a straight left.
Mulqvist turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
van Bruggen throws a predictable looking body shot

and Mulqvist counters with a shoot takedown. van Bruggen fights it but they end up in guard.
Mulqvist trying to move into half guard but instead van Bruggen has managed to sweep!
Mulqvist keeping full guard, as van Bruggen tries to pass.
van Bruggen must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Mulqvist controls van Bruggen momentarily but van Bruggen frees himself.
Mulqvist pulls van Bruggen in to control the position.
van Bruggen stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Mulqvist swivels though and keeps the full guard.
van Bruggen engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's one minute gone in the round.
van Bruggen wants to pass the guard but Mulqvist is keeping the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Harri Mulqvist just wasn't active enough.
Mulqvist tries a head kick but it misses.
van Bruggen misses with an uppercut
and Mulqvist counters with a nice body shot.
Mulqvist pivots, looking for a leg kick but van Bruggen is out of range and Mulqvist settles back down.
van Bruggen tries to clinch there but Mulqvist circles away.
Mulqvist tries to clinch there but van Bruggen circles away.
van Bruggen throws a big shot that misses.
Mulqvist moves away from the strike by van Bruggen.
Mulqvist throws a body punch but van Bruggen moves out of range.
van Bruggen uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Mulqvist.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A bone on bone clash there as van Bruggen blocks the leg kick.
van Bruggen avoids a kick to the body.
van Bruggen scores with a punch to the head.
Mulqvist cracks van Bruggen with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
van Bruggen sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Mulqvist fakes high and swings low for a body shot but van Bruggen manages to avoid it.
van Bruggen moves out of range as Mulqvist strikes.
Harri Mulqvist is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
This has been an exciting period of action!

van Bruggen gets the takedown into side control.
van Bruggen in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Mulqvist regains half guard, as van Bruggen was trying to land strikes.
Mulqvist is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of van Bruggen's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take van Bruggen's back!
Mulqvist controlling the position well here. van Bruggen rolled but Mulqvist kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harri Mulqvist overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Mulqvist's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Johannes van Bruggen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

And that's the end of the fight!
Harri Mulqvist showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Mulqvist 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Harri Mulqvist!