PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Pokerihai Bilismestari (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Soldier (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bilismestari comes to the cage accompanied by Jedi Mind Tricks - Heavy Metal Kings. Pokerihai Bilismestari had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Bilismestari
vs
Soldier

190 cm
26
222 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

186 cm
23
213 lbs
11 - 7 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Pokerihai Bilismestari!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Mike Soldier!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Tarja Halkonen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bilismestari ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Soldier moves away.
Soldier takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Bilismestari checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Pokerihai Bilismestari seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bilismestari throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Soldier tries to clinch up but Bilismestari circles away and keeps his distance.
Bilismestari avoids the head kick by Soldier.
Soldier with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Bilismestari to score with a decent uppercut.
Soldier misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Bilismestari lands with a thumping leg kick.
Soldier is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Bilismestari clinches.
Bilismestari taking a breather.
Soldier throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Bilismestari blocks it with crossed arms.
Soldier misses with an elbow strike.
Soldier with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bilismestari lands a nice uppercut.
Soldier looking to throw knees to the head but Bilismestari is blocking nicely.
Soldier landing knees to the head.
Soldier throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Bilismestari throws a punch but it's blocked by Soldier.
Bilismestari has Soldier pressed against the cage.
Bilismestari on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Soldier creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Soldier tries to land a knee to the head but Bilismestari blocks with his arms.
Soldier throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Soldier with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Soldier misses with a knee strike.
Bilismestari tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Soldier's elbow.
A short left from Bilismestari.
Bilismestari lands a hook to the side of the head.
Bilismestari lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Bilismestari leaning against his opponent.
Bilismestari doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Bilismestari creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Soldier landing knees to the head.
Bilismestari blocks an elbow strike.
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!
Soldier blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Bilismestari working aggressively here.
Soldier is looking to break free of the clinch but Bilismestari has double underhooks.
Bilismestari jumps guard but Soldier stands there with Bilismestari around his waist. Bilismestari gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Bilismestari lands a hook that snaps the head of Soldier backwards.
Soldier throws an elbow that misses.
Bilismestari misses with a hook from the clinch.
Nice elbow from Soldier.
Soldier tries a knee to the head but Bilismestari blocks it.
Soldier tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Bilismestari lands a shoulder strike.
Soldier blocks an uppercut.
Soldier misses with a knee strike.
Bilismestari stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bilismestari swings wildly with an uppercut but Soldier uses good head movement to avoid it.
Bilismestari tries to throw a body punch but Soldier avoids it by throwing Bilismestari back against the cage.
Bilismestari takes an elbow to the temple.
Bilismestari tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A knee to the head by Soldier.
The referee calls for Bilismestari to work.
Bilismestari misses with some punches.
Bilismestari blocks the elbow strike.
Bilismestari works on Soldier's body with a couple of short punches.
Bilismestari avoids the elbow strike from Soldier, against the cage.
Soldier pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Soldier misses with an elbow strike.

Bilismestari lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bilismestari slows the pace down in half guard.
Soldier avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Bilismestari.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bilismestari is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Pokerihai Bilismestari wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Soldier walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Bilismestari throws a push kick but Soldier slaps the foot to one side.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pokerihai Bilismestari dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Bilismestari fails with an attempt to clinch.

Bilismestari darts in and clinches Soldier up against the cage.
Soldier misses with an elbow over the top.
Soldier misses with a hook to the ribs.
Soldier throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Soldier misses with a knee to the head.
Soldier lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Bilismestari throws a punch but it's blocked by Soldier.
Bilismestari fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Soldier misses with a knee strike.
A knee to the head by Soldier.
A head punch on the inside from Bilismestari fails to land.
Soldier throws an elbow but it misses.
Good body shot from Bilismestari.
Bilismestari avoids a wild elbow strike from Soldier.

Bilismestari pulls Soldier into guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Soldier would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soldier being controlled here momentarily.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Pokerihai Bilismestari just wasn't active enough.

Soldier forces Bilismestari back against the cage and clinches.
Soldier throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Bilismestari blocks it with crossed arms.
Bilismestari misses with a hook from the clinch.
Bilismestari is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Soldier to keep the fight standing.
Bilismestari tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Soldier just stands there and leans against the cage.
Bilismestari throws a punch but it's blocked by Soldier.
Bilismestari takes an elbow to the forehead.
Bilismestari throws a punch but it's blocked by Soldier.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Soldier lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like Pokerihai Bilismestari has been cut.
Soldier tries a knee to the head but Bilismestari blocks it.
Soldier stalling in the clinch but Bilismestari improves position.
Bilismestari doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Soldier with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
A short left from Soldier.
Bilismestari tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Soldier throws an elbow that misses.
Soldier with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Bilismestari stalling the fight.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bilismestari throws a head punch that misses.
Soldier landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Soldier throws an elbow that misses.

Bilismestari has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Soldier regains guard immediately.
Bilismestari is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bilismestari has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Bilismestari'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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Pokerihai Bilismestari.
Soldier tries to close the distance and clinch but Bilismestari swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Soldier tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Bilismestari manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Soldier misses with a wild combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bilismestari doesn't manage to clinch there - Soldier circles away.
Bilismestari throws a hook but Soldier blocks it.

Bilismestari takes the fight into the clinch.
Soldier lands an elbow inside.
Bilismestari taking a breather.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Bilismestari.
A short left from Soldier.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Soldier.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bilismestari misses with the head strike.
Soldier using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Bilismestari has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Soldier misses with a short punch on the inside.
Bilismestari is looking to control Soldier's arms but Soldier gets an underhook and turns him. Now Bilismestari has his back to the cage.
Bilismestari takes an elbow to the temple.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Pokerihai Bilismestari will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Pokerihai Bilismestari's cut.
That's time! Bilismestari's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Bilismestari tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Soldier manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Bilismestari takes a kick to the side of the head.
A punch combination from Bilismestari misses.
Soldier tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bilismestari swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Nice straight punches there by Bilismestari. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Bilismestari.
Bilismestari works the jab nicely.
Bilismestari fails in his attempt to clinch.
Soldier is looking to clinch but Bilismestari is avoiding it.
Soldier swats away the attempt to clinch by Bilismestari.
Bilismestari feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Soldier's calf.
Bilismestari swats away the attempt to clinch by Soldier.
Bilismestari doesn't manage to clinch there - Soldier circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soldier is looking to clinch.
Soldier tries to clinch but Bilismestari is having none of it.
Bilismestari tries to clinch but Soldier moves out of range.
Soldier wants to clinch up but Bilismestari keeps it at a distance.
Bilismestari swats away the attempt to clinch by Soldier.
Mike Soldier is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Soldier gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A short uppercut from Bilismestari.
Soldier tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Bilismestari slows down the pace here.
Soldier is trying to stall.
Pokerihai Bilismestari is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Soldier with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Soldier looking to throw knees to the head but Bilismestari is blocking nicely.
Soldier being controlled against the cage.
Soldier throws an elbow but it misses.
Soldier looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Soldier with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
The referee is keeping an eye on Bilismestari - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Soldier tries to throw a body punch but Bilismestari avoids it by throwing Soldier back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soldier misses with an elbow over the top.
Bilismestari pressing his opponent against the cage.
Soldier misses with an elbow strike.
Soldier working aggressively here.
Soldier with a knee to the head.
A hook to the body from Bilismestari.
Soldier trying to land knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Bilismestari.
Bilismestari avoids the elbow strike from Soldier, against the cage.
Soldier throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soldier misses with an elbow strike.
Soldier misses with a knee strike.
Bilismestari lands with a right to the head.
A head punch on the inside from Soldier fails to land.
Bilismestari scores with a nice hook to the head.
Soldier using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Bilismestari has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Soldier looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Mike Soldier seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Soldier misses with an elbow over the top.
Bilismestari lands a hook 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!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Soldier misses with a knee strike.

Bilismestari is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Soldier can't fight it off and eventually Bilismestari manages to take the fight to the floor. Soldier looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Mike Soldier has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bilismestari sitting in guard here, content to control.

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 Pokerihai Bilismestari.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Bilismestari, 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Pokerihai Bilismestari!