PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Franklin James Gatti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Musta Surma (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Musta Surma has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

James Gatti
vs
Surma

150 cm
27
158 lbs
15 - 9 - 0

167 cm
29
152 lbs
15 - 17 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 15 - 9 - 0, fighting out of New York, Franklin James Gatti!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 17 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Musta Surma!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Ben Zyskovitsi and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Surma rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Gatti moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Surma throws a left and a right that both miss
and Gatti counters with a three punch combo that has Surma backing up. Surma nods at Gatti to acknowledge the strikes.

Surma gets a clinch.
Gatti blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Gatti tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Gatti tries to break free but Surma pushes him back against the cage.
Gatti blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Surma tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Gatti is trying to break the clinch but Surma has him pressed against the cage.
Nice elbow from Surma.
Surma creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Gatti pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Gatti avoids a punch combination nicely.
Surma fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Gatti manages to avoid it.
Gatti avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gatti misses with a body shot.
Surma waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Gatti.
A slapping leg kick lands for Gatti.

Surma gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Gatti tries to work over Surma's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Gatti tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Surma's elbow.
Gatti avoiding damage as Surma throws knees to the body.
Gatti displaying some good clinch control by pressing Surma up against the cage.

Gatti manages to break the clinch.
Surma will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Surma lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gatti circles away quickly and effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Surma throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gatti sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Gatti dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Surma swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Gatti connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

It looks like Musta Surma has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Surma slips a jab and a cross from Gatti.
Musta Surma seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Surma lands a nice looking body shot.
Surma tries to clinch but Gatti moves away
and Gatti counters with a nice body shot.
Surma throws a leg kick but Gatti sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Surma ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gatti moves away.
A punch lands to the side of Surma 's head but he takes it in his stride.
A jab lands there for Surma.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Surma misses with a series of wild punches.
Gatti looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Gatti blocks the body kick.
Gatti throws a lazy uppercut
and Surma counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Surma throws a series of punches but Gatti avoids them all with ease.
Gatti swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Gatti scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Gatti just misses with a punch to the body.
Gatti buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Gatti with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gatti looks to land a left hand but Surma moved out of range nicely.
Surma tries to clinch up.
Gatti is looking to land body kicks.

Surma closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Surma lands in his opponent's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Surma with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Surma decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Gatti fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Surma takes a swing at Gatti's ribcage but misses.
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 Franklin James Gatti will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Musta Surma's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Sloppy strikes from Surma. Those never looked like landing.
Gatti swats away the attempt to clinch by Surma.
Gatti throws a body punch but Surma moves out of range.
Gatti tries to work over Surma's front leg with a kick but Surma checks it.
Franklin James Gatti is winning the standup battle so far.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Gatti.
Surma throws a combination that misses
and Gatti finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Gatti showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Surma.
Gatti just misses with a punch to the body.
Musta Surma is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Surma swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Danga de danga de dang - Surma scores with a four punch combination!
Gatti lands a nice shot to the body.
Surma tries to clinch but Gatti moves out of range.
Gatti checks a low kick from Surma.
Gatti avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Surma misses with a few strikes there.
Surma takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Surma will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Surma misses with a double jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Surma needs to keep his hands up - Gatti had a free shot at his head there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Surma tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Gatti counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gatti is looking to wear down Surma with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Gatti keeps the fight on the outside.
Surma defending well as Gatti loads up on a big left hand.
Gatti swats away the attempt to clinch by Surma.
Surma looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Gatti misses with an uppercut. Surma saw that one coming.
Gatti drops his hands momentarily and Surma takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

Gatti is rocked!

Surma moves into the clinch.
Oh Gatti is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Surma lands an elbow inside.
Gatti is pressed against the cage. Surma pushes back and unleashes a big elbow that really hurts Gatti! Two more big strikes from Surma and Gatti crumples to the mat and taps out furiously due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Musta Surma!
Musta Surma was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.