PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Iiro Ankerias (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and gustaf thornqvist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ankerias comes to the cage accompanied by Teräsbetoni - Teräksen varjo. Iiro Ankerias has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Ankerias
vs
thornqvist

165 cm
19
160 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
18
160 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Very confident

MMADNESS clothing
Nutrition King

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Iiro Ankerias!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, gustaf thornqvist!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Matti Vanhoillinen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ankerias shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has thornqvist pinned against the cage. thornqvist gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

thornqvist gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Ankerias could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
thornqvist wants to sweep but no luck.
thornqvist throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
thornqvist 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.
Ankerias is stalling in the full guard.
Ankerias pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. thornqvist is keeping the position for now.
thornqvist not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
thornqvist keeping moving, preventing Ankerias from controlling successfully.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
thornqvist keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Ankerias tries for a takedown but thornqvist sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iiro Ankerias. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ankerias fails with the takedown.

Ankerias 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
thornqvist tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ankerias pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. thornqvist is keeping the position for now.
Ankerias sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Ankerias preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Iiro Ankerias dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ankerias tries for a takedown but thornqvist sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ankerias closes the distance and clinches up with thornqvist, looking for a takedown. Ankerias pushes thornqvist against the cage but thornqvist circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Ankerias gets the takedown into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ankerias controls the position from side control.
thornqvist is looking to reverse the position.
thornqvist is not content to let Ankerias control the position.
thornqvist sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ankerias is trying to control the action in half guard but thornqvist is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
thornqvist wants to get back to full guard.

thornqvist looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
thornqvist tries to get to full guard but Ankerias has control of the leg.
Ankerias has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Ankerias controlling the pace for now.
thornqvist can't escape the position.
thornqvist is breathing heavily.
thornqvist is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Ankerias content just to control the position here.
thornqvist tries to reverse the position but Ankerias maintains control.
Ankerias takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Ankerias looking to control but thornqvist is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
thornqvist working to try and regain half guard.
thornqvist has given up his back. Will we see Ankerias going for some submissions?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
thornqvist is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Ankerias controls the position.
thornqvist rolls, trying to escape but Ankerias keeps control of the position.
thornqvist wants to control his opponent's hands but Ankerias gets his hands free.
thornqvist tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Ankerias tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
thornqvist gets back to half guard.
thornqvist makes his way to full guard. A much better position for thornqvist.
thornqvist tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
thornqvist lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Ankerias!
thornqvist in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

thornqvist has control of Ankerias's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Ankerias regains control of the situation pretty easily.

thornqvist has control of Ankerias's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Ankerias regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Ankerias tries to lock up and control but thornqvist gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

thornqvist working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Ankerias tries to hold on but thornqvist pushes him away.
Ankerias holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as thornqvist tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Ankerias tries to hold on but thornqvist postures up.
thornqvist punching from mount but Ankerias doing a good job of avoiding damage.
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 Iiro Ankerias will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Ankerias feints and as thornqvist raises his hands in defense, Ankerias changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ankerias looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
thornqvist keeping moving, preventing Ankerias from controlling successfully.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Iiro Ankerias just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Ankerias tries for a takedown but thornqvist sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice sprawl there from thornqvist as Ankerias shoots in.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Ankerias shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with thornqvist but thornqvist pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iiro Ankerias. That's going to take a lot out of him.
thornqvist stuffs the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ankerias shoots in for a double leg but thornqvist sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Ankerias shoots in looking for a takedown. thornqvist tries to sprawl out of it but Ankerias keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. thornqvist manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Horrible takedown by Ankerias or perhaps it was just good defense by thornqvist which made him look bad.

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 Iiro Ankerias.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ankerias, 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:29
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!