PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Andreas Reinhardt (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Naja Shankara (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shankara is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Pow!. Andreas Reinhardt is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Reinhardt
vs
Shankara

193 cm
20
210 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

185 cm
28
215 lbs
10 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

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 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Andreas Reinhardt!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Naja Shankara!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Sergei Dronov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Reinhardt drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Reinhardt working the strikes but Shankara uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Shankara is staying active underneath Reinhardt, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Reinhardt thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Shankara's head.
Reinhardt is trying to control the action in half guard but Shankara is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Shankara trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Reinhardt manages to pass to mount!
Shankara avoids a series of strikes thrown by Reinhardt.
Shankara avoids a series of strikes thrown by Reinhardt.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Shankara can do anything to dispel that myth.
Shankara holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Reinhardt tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reinhardt unloads with some shots from mount but Shankara bucks and avoids them well.
Reinhardt unloads with some shots from mount but Shankara bucks and avoids them well.
Shankara avoids a series of strikes thrown by Reinhardt.
Reinhardt throwing strikes here but Shankara is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Shankara really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Reinhardt. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Reinhardt throws some wild stikes that Shankara manages to avoid easily.
Reinhardt throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Reinhardt with good strikes from the mount here!
Reinhardt looking to finish with strikes here!
Reinhardt thowing shots but they're missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shankara avoids a series of strikes thrown by Reinhardt.
Reinhardt lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Reinhardt thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Reinhardt connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Reinhardt throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Reinhardt scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Shankara?
Shankara avoids a strike by Reinhardt and manages to complete a very nice reversal in the process, to end up in Reinhardt's guard! Fantastic escape!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt has control of Shankara's left arm, preventing Shankara from doing any damage.
Reinhardt wants to stand and escape but Shankara is having none of it.
Shankara must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Reinhardt is adopting a defensive guard.

We're going to have a standup here because Andreas Reinhardt wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Reinhardt avoids the body shot from Shankara.

Shankara rushes Reinhardt and presses him up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt wants to break the clinch but can't.
Shankara has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Shankara has Reinhardt pressed against the cage, preventing Reinhardt from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Shankara tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Reinhardt's elbow.
Shankara blocking some punches.
Shankara misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Shankara misses with a short punch on the inside.
Reinhardt lands with a short head shot on the inside.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Reinhardt stalling in the clinch but Shankara improves position.
Shankara tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Shankara lands with a short shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andreas Reinhardt dominated that round.
That's time! Reinhardt's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Shankara is looking to score with low kicks.
Reinhardt moves out of range of the body kick from Shankara.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Shankara.
Shankara looks to land a right hand but Reinhardt moved out of range.
Shankara ducks under a wild hook from Reinhardt.
Shankara throws a shot from downtown. Reinhardt moves away and avoids it.
Reinhardt looks to land a right hand but Shankara moved out of range.
Shankara tries to work over Reinhardt's front leg with a kick but Reinhardt checks it.
Shankara swinging wildly here.
Shankara tries to close the distance and clinch up but Reinhardt swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Reinhardt takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Shankara stuffs the takedown.
A looping hook to the body misses from Reinhardt. Shankara does a little dance to reset his feet.
A jab from Shankara finds it's way through Reinhardt's defenses.
Reinhardt shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Shankara as he avoids it easily.
Shankara needs to keep his hands up - Reinhardt had a free shot at his head there.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Reinhardt feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Reinhardt trying to control the position from guard on top but Shankara is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Reinhardt throwing strikes from guard but Shankara blocks nicely.
Reinhardt in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Reinhardt trying to control the position from guard on top but Shankara is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Reinhardt throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Reinhardt throwing strikes from guard but Shankara blocks nicely.
Reinhardt working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Reinhardt postures up in Shankara's guard and throws a big left but Shankara blocks it.
Reinhardt trying to control but Shankara is working from the bottom.
Andreas Reinhardt overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Reinhardt is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Shankara is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Reinhardt pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Shankara is keeping the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Reinhardt throws a strike but Shankara rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Reinhardt tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Andreas Reinhardt has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Reinhardt defending well as Shankara loads up on a big left hand.
Shankara throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Reinhardt swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Shankara ducks right into an uppercut from Reinhardt.
Reinhardt showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Shankara.
Shankara lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Reinhardt misses with the combination.
A looping hook to the body misses from Shankara. Reinhardt does a little dance to reset his feet.
Shankara turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

Reinhardt shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Reinhardt was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Reinhardt lands a heavy elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andreas Reinhardt dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Shankara stuffs the takedown attempt from Reinhardt. Reinhardt gets slowly back to his feet.
Shankara throws a leg kick which misses Reinhardt's front leg but catches the back leg as Reinhardt tries to avoid it.
Shankara throws a shot from downtown. Reinhardt moves away and avoids it.
Reinhardt misses the jab.
Reinhardt tries to score a power double leg takedown but Shankara sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Reinhardt somewhat.
Reinhardt misses the shot to the body.

Reinhardt shoots in and gets a takedown into Shankara's guard.
Shankara pulls Reinhardt in close to prevent any damage.
Reinhardt throwing strikes from guard but Shankara blocks nicely.
Reinhardt pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Shankara is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reinhardt thows a big elbow that misses.
Reinhardt is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Reinhardt content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Reinhardt wants to control from the top but Shankara keeps moving.
Naja Shankara has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt is looking to work some ground and pound but Shankara has wrist control.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Shankara misses with a head kick.
Shankara cracks a nice hook into Reinhardt's ribs.
Reinhardt cracks Shankara with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Reinhardt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Andreas Reinhardt. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shankara on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Shankara connects with a body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shankara has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Reinhardt finds it's way round the side to connect with Shankara's head.
Reinhardt connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Reinhardt swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Reinhardt fails to land the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Shankara.
Shankara pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Shankara displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Reinhardt.
Andreas Reinhardt is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Reinhardt ducks under a wild hook from Shankara.
Shankara tries to clinch there but Reinhardt circles away.
Shankara lands a two punch combo.
Shankara fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Reinhardt checks it well.
Shankara throws the kick towards the body but Reinhardt avoids it.
Andreas Reinhardt seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shankara tries to clinch there but Reinhardt circles away.
Shankara's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Reinhardt connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Shankara scrambles back to his feet.
Shankara takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Shankara throws a right and a left that both miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reinhardt keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Shankara.
Reinhardt takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Nice jab there from Reinhardt.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Reinhardt takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Naja Shankara is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shankara fails in his attempt to clinch.

Reinhardt looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Reinhardt scoring with some ground and pound.
Shankara takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Reinhardt works a leg free and moves into half guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Reinhardt is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Reinhardt missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andreas Reinhardt showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Reinhardt, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andreas Reinhardt!