PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Esa Wideroos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tommy Victorio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Victorio has chosen Nightingale - The Glory Days as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Esa Wideroos has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Wideroos
vs
Victorio

190 cm
28
220 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

197 cm
29
204 lbs
14 - 13 - 1

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Esa Wideroos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Tommy Victorio!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Donald Grub and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wideroos drives through and clinches with Victorio against the cage.

Victorio breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Victorio shoots in looking for a takedown. Wideroos tries to sprawl out of it but Victorio keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Wideroos manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Wideroos is looking to clinch but Victorio is avoiding it.
Victorio tries a head kick but it misses.

Victorio closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Victorio lands in his opponent's guard.
Victorio stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Wideroos swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Victorio controls from within his opponent's guard.
Wideroos looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Victorio is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Wideroos keeping moving, preventing Victorio from controlling successfully.
Victorio trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Victorio in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Victorio blocks a jab.

Victorio rushes Wideroos and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Wideroos misses with some punches.

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.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Victorio breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Wideroos throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Victorio fails with the takedown

and Wideroos counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Victorio decides to pull guard.
Victorio wants to stand and escape but Wideroos is having none of it.
Victorio looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Victorio is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Victorio keeping full guard, as Wideroos tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wideroos stands up over Victorio, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Wideroos throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Victorio controls Wideroos momentarily but Wideroos frees himself.
Victorio tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Victorio ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice takedown defense from Wideroos. No joy for Victorio on that attempt.
Esa Wideroos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tommy Victorio.
Victorio takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Esa Wideroos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wideroos stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Wideroos wants it to stay on the feet.
A jab from Wideroos misses.
Wideroos tries to close the distance and clinch up but Victorio swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Esa Wideroos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Victorio fails with a takedown attempt.
Victorio tries for a takedown but Wideroos sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Victorio takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Wideroos throws a wild body kick that Victorio sees coming a mile off.
Victorio shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Wideroos as he avoids it easily.
Wideroos misses with a low kick.

Victorio closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Victorio controlling the action here.
Victorio is looking to advance position but Wideroos won't allow it.
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 Esa Wideroos will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Wideroos throws a head kick that misses

and Victorio counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Victorio not doing much here.
Victorio wants to pass to mount but Wideroos is defending the position.
Victorio prevents Wideroos from improving his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Victorio seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Wideroos does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Victorio passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Wideroos!
Wideroos is desperately trying to improve his position but Victorio has a good base and remains in mount.
Victorio content just to control the position here.
Wideroos wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Victorio.
Wideroos is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Victorio punching from mount but Wideroos doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Wideroos tries to hold on but Victorio postures up.
Wideroos stops Victorio from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Victorio has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Victorio misses with a head shot.
Victorio can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Wideroos is looking to escape.
Victorio throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Wideroos because Victorio loaded up on that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Victorio tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Victorio's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Wideroos is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Victorio can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Wideroos is looking to escape.

Victorio goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Wideroos is on top in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Victorio looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Victorio keeping moving, preventing Wideroos from controlling successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Wideroos preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tommy Victorio 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. This is the final round!

Victorio rushes Wideroos and presses him up against the cage.
Victorio tries to pull guard but Wideroos holds him up against the cage and eventually Victorio drops back down to his feet.
Wideroos tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Victorio jumps guard but Wideroos turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Victorio fails to pull guard.
Esa Wideroos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tommy Victorio.

Victorio jumps into guard, dragging Wideroos to the mat.
Wideroos won't allow Victorio to sweep him here.
Victorio keeping moving, preventing Wideroos from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wideroos has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Victorio is proving hard to escape from.
Victorio is looking to sweep but instead, Wideroos has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Victorio is staying active underneath Wideroos, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Wideroos seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Tommy Victorio has got the better of the ground game so far.
Victorio wants to control but Wideroos is keeping busy and won't allow it.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Wideroos missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Ground and pound from Wideroos.
Well, if Wideroos is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Victorio tries to roll over but Wideroos keeps him under control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Victorio closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

Victorio takes the fight into the clinch.
Victorio's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Wideroos tries a knee to the head but Victorio blocks it.
Victorio tries to pull guard but Wideroos won't allow it.
Wideroos tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Wideroos looking to stall.
Wideroos missing with knees to the body.
Wideroos misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Victorio.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wideroos misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Victorio.
Victorio tries for a takedown but Wideroos manages to get underhooks.
Victorio blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Victorio fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Wideroos looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Victorio tightens his grip and picks Wideroos up, before dumping him to the ground. Wideroos manages to land in guard.
Victorio works over Wideroos with some ground and pound from guard.
Victorio wants to control from the top but Wideroos keeps moving.
Wideroos wants to sweep but no luck.
Wideroos looking to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Victorio looking to sit in guard and control but Wideroos gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Wideroos passes Victorio's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Victorio tries to roll over but Wideroos keeps him under control.

Victorio actively working from the bottom here.
Victorio wants to improve his position but Wideroos is controlling well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Victorio wants to control the action here but instead Wideroos manages to pass to full mount!

And that's the end of the fight!
Esa Wideroos showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Wideroos 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 James Atkins scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Esa Wideroos!