PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Khalifa Khan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hermanni Holopainen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Khan comes into the arena with Prodigal Son blaring out of the sound system. Holopainen has chosen Black&Yellow as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Khan
vs
Holopainen

196 cm
21
290 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

196 cm
23
280 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Khalifa Khan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Hermanni Holopainen!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Chris Saunders and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khan stuffs the takedown attempt from Holopainen. Holopainen gets slowly back to his feet.

Holopainen moves into the clinch successfully.
Holopainen tries to break the clinch but Khan is controlling the position.
Khan is working Holopainen over against the cage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Holopainen as Khan tries to tie him up.
Khan tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Holopainen jumps guard but Khan stands there with Holopainen around his waist. Holopainen gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Khan tries a body shot but Holopainen blocks it.

Holopainen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Holopainen tries to close the distance and clinch but Khan swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Khan circles away from the clinch attempt.
Khan wants to clinch up but Holopainen keeps it at a distance.
Khalifa Khan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Holopainen shoots in and drives through. Khan sprawls well.
Khalifa Khan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hermanni Holopainen.
Khan fails with the takedown.
A head kick misses from Holopainen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holopainen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Khan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Holopainen dodges the punch combination from Khan.
Holopainen doesn't manage to clinch there - Khan circles away.
Holopainen scores with a jab. Khan acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Holopainen has taken the fight to the clinch.
Holopainen stalling in the clinch.
Holopainen has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Khan avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

Holopainen drags the fight down to the ground.
Khan postures up in Holopainen's guard and throws a big left but Holopainen blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Khan accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Khan with a flurry of punches that miss.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Holopainen is looking to stand up but Khan isn't so interested in that idea.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Holopainen is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Khan is aware though and is defending well.
Khan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Holopainen managing to control the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Khan accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Khan missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
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!
Holopainen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Khan trying to control the position from guard on top but Holopainen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Holopainen preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holopainen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Khan looking to pass the guard.

Khan drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Holopainen manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Khan has Holopainen in his guard.
Khan wants to improve his position but instead Holopainen has moved into half guard.
Khan is pressing down on Holopainen's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Holopainen wants to get up but he can't break Khan's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Holopainen won't allow Khan to sweep him here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khan is working an open guard so Holopainen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Khan throws a head kick that misses.
Khan moves in looking to clinch but Holopainen pushes him off.
A punch combination from Khan misses.

Khan gets caught flat footed, as Holopainen shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Khan is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Holopainen wants to control from the top but Khan keeps moving.
Khan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Holopainen is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Khan looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Holopainen passes into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hermanni Holopainen will probably get the nod.
That's time! Khan's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Holopainen tries to clinch up but Khan circles away and keeps his distance.
Holopainen tries to clinch up but Khan circles away and keeps his distance.

Holopainen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Khan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Khan goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Khan misses with a hook from the clinch.

Holopainen pulls guard successfully.

Holopainen has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Khan off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Khan gets tackled into the cage by Holopainen. Holopainen maintains the clinch.
Khan doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Holopainen avoiding damage.
Holopainen can't break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holopainen fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Holopainen jumps guard but Khan stands there with Holopainen around his waist. Holopainen gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Khan stalling in the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khan.
Khan tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Holopainen's elbow.
Holopainen blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Khan can't find room to land a body shot as Holopainen controls the action.
Khan is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Khalifa Khan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hermanni Holopainen.
Khan tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Holopainen tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Khan smiles and moves away.
Holopainen misses with a head kick.

Holopainen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holopainen working the head and body with strikes.
Khan is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Hermanni Holopainen has got the better of the ground game so far.
Khan looks to move to half guard but instead Holopainen has passed into mount! Damn!
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!
Khan is in all sorts of trouble here.
Holopainen lands a big shot there that rocks Khan but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Holopainen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Holopainen looking to control but Khan is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Holopainen controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holopainen throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Khan takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

Holopainen jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Khan manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Khan is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Holopainen decides to stand back up. Holopainen steps back and let's Khan get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khan moves into the clinch successfully.
Khan misses with a hook from the clinch.
Holopainen is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Khan is keeping busy.
Khan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Holopainen looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Holopainen tries to pull guard but Khan holds him up against the cage and eventually Holopainen drops back down to his feet.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Holopainen as Khan tries to tie him up.
Khan goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Holopainen blocks a punch to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Holopainen blocking some punches.
Khan tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Holopainen is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hermanni Holopainen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Khan shoots in for a takedown but Holopainen shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Khan fails to land the takedown.

Holopainen closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Khan quickly recovers to half guard.
Khan trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Holopainen wants to control the pace but Khan is squirming around nicely.
Khan tries to lock up and control but Holopainen gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Holopainen prevents Khan from getting the reversal.
Khan is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holopainen putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Khan is squirming around, avoiding Holopainen's attempts to control the action.
Holopainen controlling his opponent.
Khan is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Holopainen lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Khan hang on?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Khan tries to reverse the position but Holopainen maintains control.
Holopainen is landing with some decent strikes but Khan is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan working to try and regain half guard.
Holopainen wants to control the pace but Khan is squirming around nicely.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Holopainen cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Holopainen lands a big shot there that rocks Khan but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Hermanni Holopainen is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Holopainen prevents Khan from getting the reversal.
Holopainen with the ground and pound from mount.
Holopainen tries to control but Khan wriggling away.
Khan tries to reverse the position but Holopainen maintains control.
Khan is bucking up trying to escape but Holopainen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan is wriggling around trying to escape.
BOOM! Holopainen connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Holopainen lands a heavy elbow.
Khan tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Holopainen postures up and throws a big right hand. BOOM! Right on the button! Khan is out cold - huge knockout for Holopainen!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:42 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Hermanni Holopainen!
Hermanni Holopainen decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.