PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mahti Sonni (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Davis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sonni comes to the cage accompanied by Aki & Turo - Mahtisonni - . These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Sonni
vs
Davis

170 cm
23
151 lbs
12 - 2 - 0

170 cm
25
150 lbs
15 - 7 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Gilop®
Gilop®

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mahti Sonni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 7 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joe Davis!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Fedor Mirinova and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sonni throws a jab but it's blocked by Davis.
Sonni misses with a wild body shot.
Sonni displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Davis throws out the jab.
Sonni fails to land the takedown.
Sonni connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Sonni shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Davis pinned against the cage. Davis gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Davis misses with a looping left.
Sonni misses with an uppercut. Davis saw that one coming.
Davis chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Sonni can pounce on him.
Sonni misses with a few strikes there.
Davis moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Davis is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Davis thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Sonni if he has to take too many more of those.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davis ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Sonni looks for a takedown but Davis sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mahti Sonni. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sonni throws a head kick that misses.
Davis throws an overhand right that lands on Sonni's shoulder, as Sonni tries to avoid the shot.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Davis scores with a shot to the side of Sonni's head.
Davis makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Sonni tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Davis's elbow.
Davis fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Sonni ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Sonni no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Davis looking to pass the guard.

Sonni is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Davis passes Sonni's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sonni is looking to control Davis's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Sonni avoid being mounted?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sonni gets full guard.
Davis postures up.
Davis trying to control the position from guard on top but Sonni is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sonni 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.
Davis looking to pass the guard.
Davis working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Sonni's head.
Sonni bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Davis's guard.
Sonni pushes down on Davis's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sonni winds up and cracks Davis with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Davis tries to get to full guard but Sonni has control of the leg.
Sonni thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Davis is pressing down on Sonni's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Davis has his hands on Sonni's head, controlling the position.
Davis is trying to keep Sonni in close.
Davis being controlled here, momentarily.
Sonni scoring with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davis trying to control the position.
Davis tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Sonni not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Davis circles away from the clinch attempt.
Davis takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sonni swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Davis looks to land a right hand but Sonni moved out of range.
Joe Davis is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fighters circling - Davis throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Davis ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sonni moves away.
Davis keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Sonni misses with a body shot.
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 Mahti Sonni will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Sonni throws a body punch but Davis moves out of range.
Sonni tries to clinch but Davis moves out of range.
Sonni slips a straight right by Davis.

Sonni instigates a clinch.
Sonni wants to take the fight to the mat but Davis manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Davis goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Davis struggles to land a body shot inside as Sonni controls his hands.

Sonni pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Davis throws a wild body kick that Sonni sees coming a mile off.
Mahti Sonni is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sonni just misses with a punch to the body.
Sonni fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Davis manages to avoid it.
Sonni misses with a wild body shot.
Nice defenses there by Sonni.
Davis throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Davis throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Sonni stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Sonni is looking to wear down Davis with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Sonni scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davis lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Sonni backs up against the cage.
Jab, jab by Sonni - just one landing.
Sonni misses with a low kick.
Sonni uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Davis.
Sonni lands an overhand right.
Davis ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

Sonni gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Davis tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sonni's elbow.
Davis lands a left hand.

Sonni is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Davis can't fight it off and eventually Sonni manages to take the fight to the floor. Davis looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sonni throwing strikes but missing.
Mahti Sonni overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Davis looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sonni is one step ahead there.
Sonni trying to control but Davis is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sonni scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Sonni got a little sloppy there for a moment and Davis has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Sonni has managed to get both his arms back between Davis's legs - danger averted.
Sonni preventing the sweep.
Sonni trying to control but Davis is working from the bottom.
Davis is trying to keep Sonni in close.
Sonni wants to control from the top but Davis keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Sonni works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Sonni sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Davis defending well though.
Davis is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Davis moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Davis looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sonni is one step ahead there.
Davis is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Sonni trying to control the position from guard on top but Davis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davis is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Sonni throws a right hand that Davis ducks under and follows up with a left that Davis also avoids with ease.
Sonni tries to clinch but Davis moves out of range.
A big right from Sonni misses.
Sonni ducks under a wild hook from Davis.
A punch lands to the side of Sonni 's head but he takes it in his stride.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sonni blocks a leg kick.
Sonni explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A chopping leg kick lands by Sonni.
Davis slaps away a takedown attempt from Sonni, before circling back to the center of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mahti Sonni dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Sonni gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Sonni ducks under a wild hook from Davis.
The fighters circling - Davis throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Joe Davis seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Davis misses with a low kick.
A cross from Sonni lands.
Davis looks to land a right hand but Sonni moved out of range.
Davis lands a body shot.
Sonni shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Davis defends it nicely.
Davis avoids the head kick by Sonni.
Sonni avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Davis throws out a loose jab but Sonni uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sonni misses with a straight left.
Sonni slips a straight right by Davis.
Davis misses with a looping left.
Sonni tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Davis swivels and escapes.
Sonni changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Davis throws a hook but Sonni blocks it.
Sonni throws a solid leg kick but Davis takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Sonni.
Sonni fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Davis looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Davis stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mahti Sonni. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sonni moves away from the strike by Davis.
Sonni lands an overhand right.
Davis misses the shot to the body.
Sonni throws a combination. Davis tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
A big left from Davis misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sonni changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Davis tries to avoid it but Sonni manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Davis to the ground. Davis escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Sonni throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sonni throws out a loose jab but Davis uses good head movement to avoid it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sonni throws a shot from downtown. Davis moves away and avoids it.
Davis scores with the left hand. Sonni knows he should have avoided that one.
Sonni fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Danga de danga de dang - Davis scores with a four punch combination!
Davis bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Sonni's head.
Sonni needs to keep his hands up - Davis had a free shot at his head there.
Davis misses with a wild combination.
Davis throws a shot to the body.
Sonni takes one on the chin but seems OK.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A thudding body kick lands there by Davis!
Sonni cracks a nice hook into Davis's ribs.
Sonni chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Davis throws a quick inside leg kick.
Sonni looks to land a left hand but Davis moved out of range nicely.
Sonni throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
letting Davis counter with a right hand.
Davis throws a shot to the body.
Sonni throws the kick towards the body but Davis avoids it.
Davis misses with a jab, cross combination.

Sonni throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Davis was covering up waiting for the punch and Sonni finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Davis looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Mahti Sonni is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sonni is fighting to break Davis's control of his arms but Davis is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Davis not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Sonni stands and throws Davis's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Davis prevents Sonni from moving into mount.
Sonni wants to lay and pray for a moment but Davis keeps working.
Sonni is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Davis is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Davis tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Sonni wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Davis sneaks back into half guard.
Joe Davis has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sonni lands with a punch from half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Joe Davis.
I think Sonni 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Mahti Sonni!
During a confident post fight interview, Mahti Sonni thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.