PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Melvin Reem (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Emilio Izturis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Reem comes to the cage accompanied by Fabolous - My Time ft. Jeremih. Emilio Izturis is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Reem
vs
Izturis

180 cm
19
192 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

190 cm
20
190 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very quick

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Fast

Beefwear
FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Melvin Reem!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Emilio Izturis!
The judges for this bout are Andrew Berry, Richard Clark and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Izturis bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Reem's head backwards.
Reem turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Izturis swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Reem punishes Izturis's body with a nice straight punch.
Izturis blocks the body kick.
Izturis swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Reem is looking to land body kicks.
Izturis misses with a body shot
and Reem counters with a stiff right hand.
Izturis swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Izturis just misses with a punch to the body.
Reem digs a good hook to Izturis's body.
Reem lands a slapping body shot.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Reem attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Izturis just misses with a punch to the body.
Emilio Izturis seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Izturis lands with a nice body punch.
Reem bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Izturis is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Reem.
Izturis uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Reem.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Izturis, as that shot connected.
Reem misses with a low kick.
Reem swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Izturis counters with a right hand to the body.
Izturis fails with a takedown attempt.
Izturis is trying hard to land a takedown here. Reem sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Reem ducks right into an uppercut from Izturis.
Izturis scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Reem doesn't seem bothered though.

Reem tries to sprawl but Izturis drives through with a takedown into half guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Izturis seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Reem does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Izturis wants to lay and pray for a moment but Reem keeps working.
Izturis thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Reem's head.
Reem is not content to let Izturis control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Izturis not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Izturis slows the pace down in half guard.
Reem blocking the ground and pound attempt from Izturis.
Reem knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Izturis on the ground.
Reem blocking the ground and pound attempt from Izturis.
Reem on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Reem tries to get out of the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Izturis tries to pass to full mount but Reem defends it.

Izturis is trying to work for a kimura but Reem is defending well.
Izturis content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Izturis is keen to just control but Reem is a slippery customer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reem blocking the ground and pound attempt from Izturis.
Izturis is looking to advance position but Reem won't allow it.
Izturis throwing shots but Reem is blocking nicely.
Izturis not doing much here.
Reem tries to roll over but Izturis keeps him under control.
Reem slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Izturis has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Izturis trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emilio Izturis dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Izturis moves out of range as Reem throws a body kick.
Izturis uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Reem.
Izturis takes a swing at Reem's ribcage but misses.
Izturis blocks a jab.
A jab from Izturis misses.
Izturis loads up on a big right hand but Reem slips the punch.
Nice body kick there by Reem.
Izturis ducks under a wild hook from Reem.
Izturis avoids a punch combination nicely.
A jab from Izturis does it's job there.

Izturis 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.
Reem working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Izturis.
Izturis not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reem wants to sweep here but Izturis controlling him for the moment.
Reem keeping moving, preventing Izturis from controlling successfully.
Reem preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Reem working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Izturis.
Emilio Izturis has got the better of the ground game so far.
Reem working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Izturis.
Izturis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Izturis throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Izturis controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Izturis makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Izturis seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Izturis working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Izturis is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Izturis works over Reem with some ground and pound from guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Izturis keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Reem's head.
Izturis connects with a couple of short punches.
Reem is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Izturis controls from within his opponent's guard.
Reem is trying to keep Izturis in close.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Melvin Reem wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Izturis throws the left hand but Reem avoids the punch easily.

Reem gets caught flat footed, as Izturis shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Izturis throws an elbow that misses. Reem uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Izturis's guard. Nice move by Reem!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Izturis pulls Reem in close to prevent any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Izturis is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Izturis working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Reem keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
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.

Izturis is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emilio Izturis showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Izturis misses with a body shot.
Reem misses with a body shot.
Reem punishes Izturis's body with a nice straight punch.
Izturis's corner calls for a 1-2. Izturis obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Reem moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Izturis lands with a straight right. Reem didn't see that one coming.
Reem is looking to chop away at Izturis's legs.
Reem misses with an attempted mid kick.
Izturis just misses with a punch to the body.
Izturis shoots in looking for a takedown but Reem manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Izturis's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Izturis looks to throw a body kick
and Reem counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Izturis lands a nice hook to Reem's body. Reem takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Izturis digs a good body shot into Reem's ribs.
Reem misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Izturis.
Izturis fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
A swing and a miss from Izturis.
Reem misses with a kick to the body.
Reem throws a body punch but Izturis moves out of range.
Izturis throws a hook but Reem blocks it.
Izturis shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Melvin Reem has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Emilio Izturis.
Izturis punishes Reem's body with a nice straight punch.
Reem uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Izturis.
Reem scores with a three punch combo!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A slow jab from Izturis misses its intended target.
Izturis ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Reem moves away.
Izturis misses with an uppercut
and Reem counters with a nice uppercut.

Izturis changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Reem looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Reem struggling a bit here.
Reem is not content to let Izturis control the position.
You can see the frustration on Reem's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Emilio Izturis is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Reem trying to remain calm as Izturis controls from the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reem isn't going anywhere.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Reem slaps away a takedown attempt from Izturis, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Reem throws a chopping leg kick but Izturis manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Izturis throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Izturis misses with a straight left.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Izturis on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Izturis fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Reem to the ground. Izturis is now in Reem's guard.
Reem looking to control.
Izturis showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Reem looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Melvin Reem has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Izturis sitting in guard here, content to control.

Reem has his foot on Izturis's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Izturis works his way back into a safe position though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Izturis is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Emilio Izturis comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Izturis winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Emilio Izturis!
Our winner, Emilio Izturis, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.