PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rauli Raunio (ranked 1309 p4p, 195 weight class) and The Sun God Ra (ranked 1507 p4p, 225 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Raunio
vs
Sun God Ra

198 cm
35
207 lbs
20 - 16 - 0

189 cm
39
222 lbs
24 - 19 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

RAGS of a RONIN
FORCEE

FORCEE

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 20 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rauli Raunio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 19 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, The Sun God Ra!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Dillan Fox and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ra fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Raunio manages to avoid it.
Ra keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Ra closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Raunio blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ra tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Raunio avoids it.
Raunio avoids the elbow strike from Ra, against the cage.
Raunio throws a head punch that misses.
Raunio wants to stall.
Raunio on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Ra tries to land knees in the clinch but Raunio avoids the damage to the body.

Raunio gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Ra regains guard.
Raunio throws a big right hand that misses.
Raunio has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Ra utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ra is trying to hold Raunio in close to prevent damage but Raunio has managed to pass into half guard.
Raunio missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ra is not content to let Raunio control the position.
Ra slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Ra avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Raunio controlling from the top position.
Raunio trying to control but Ra is working from the bottom.
Raunio throwing strikes from guard but Ra blocks nicely.

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.
Raunio trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Raunio with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Raunio trying to control the position from guard on top but Ra is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Raunio with a flurry of punches that miss.
Raunio has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Ra being controlled here, momentarily.
Raunio won't allow Ra to sweep him here.
Raunio wants to control from the top but Ra keeps moving.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Ra lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ra throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Raunio scores with a jab to the body.

Ra rushes Raunio and presses him up against the cage.
Raunio gets through Ra's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Raunio blocks an elbow strike from Ra.
Ra misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Raunio.
Raunio dodges an elbow strike from Ra.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ra.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
A body shot lands from Raunio.
A nice left hand lands by Raunio.
Raunio avoiding damage as Ra throws knees to the body.
Ra lands an elbow just above Raunio 's eye.
Raunio goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ra looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Raunio lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ra creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
With the fighters up against the cage, Ra throws an elbow but misses.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Raunio.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raunio lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Raunio.
Raunio lands a left hand that snaps the head of Ra backwards.
Ra's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Raunio makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Raunio changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Ra fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Nice jab there from Ra.
Raunio staying out of range there.
Ra throws a big shot that misses.
Raunio was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Raunio takes a body punch but keeps moving.
The Sun God Ra is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ra swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Raunio staying out of range there.
Ra pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Raunio swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Ra ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Ra takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Raunio lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

It looks like The Sun God Ra has been cut.
Ra misses the shot to the body.
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 Rauli Raunio will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on The Sun God Ra's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ra throws out a powerful jab.
Ra looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Raunio swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Raunio getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Raunio takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

Ra is rocked!
Ra tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Raunio was well out of range. Poor timing from Ra.
Raunio tried to counter with a leg kick but Ra avoided it.
Ra is still on wobbly legs! Can Raunio finish him?
Raunio feints and then cracks Ra's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Ra down.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ra looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ra seems to have recovered his senses.
Raunio bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Ra lands with a right hand.
The fighters circling - Ra throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
An attempted straight right counter from Raunio misses the target.
Raunio connects with a body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Raunio walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Ra drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Raunio swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Ra's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:38 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rauli Raunio!
A less than humble Rauli Raunio misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.