PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Juha Niska (ranked 2341 p4p, 2294 weight class) and Rob Smith (ranked 350 p4p, 344 weight class). I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Niska
vs
Smith

193 cm
39
212
33 - 24 - 1

185 cm
27
220
15 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Stoner's Killer Apparel

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 33 - 24 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Juha Niska!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 12 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rob Smith!
The judges for this bout are Alyssa Summers, Anthony Taglia and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Niska fails to land with a series of punches.
Smith throws out a counter right but Niska avoids it with no problem.
Smith has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Niska tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Smith manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Smith looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Niska misses with a takedown
letting Smith counter with a right hand.
Niska throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Smith.
Smith swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Juha Niska seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Smith dodges the punch combination from Niska.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Niska looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Smith wants to counter with a clinch but Niska pushes him away.
Niska looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Smith misses with a series of wild punches.
Niska tries to clinch but Smith moves out of range.
Niska throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Smith looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Niska looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Smith tries to counter with a clinch but Niska shakes him off and moves away.
Niska tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Smith paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Niska slips under a jab from Smith.
Niska tries to clinch up
and Smith counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Niska thinking.
Niska tries to clinch but Smith moves out of range.
Smith throws a lazy uppercut
and Niska counters with a straight right hand.
Niska takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Niska fails with an attempt to clinch.
It seemed like Smith was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Smith is looking to clinch but Niska is avoiding it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niska swings for the body but Smith moves out of range.
Smith looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Niska is looking to clinch but Smith is avoiding it.
Smith looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.

Niska moves into range and clinches up with Smith.
Smith scores with a shot to the side of Niska's head.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Smith as Niska tries to tie him up.
Smith presses Niska against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Niska stalling in the clinch but Smith improves position.
Niska misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Smith.
A nice left hand lands by Smith.
Niska blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith tries to circle away but Niska has him pinned against the cage.
Niska prevents the takedown attempt.
Niska blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Niska taking a breather.
Come on Niska - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Niska comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Rob Smith has been cut.
Niska blocking some punches.
Niska using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Smith has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Smith fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Smith misses with the head strike.
Niska struggles to land a body shot inside as Smith controls his hands.
Smith struggles to land a body shot inside as Niska controls his hands.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rob Smith dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rob Smith's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Niska lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Niska lands with a shot to the body.
Smith blocks a leg kick.
Niska throws a leg kick
and Smith counters with a nice uppercut.
Smith misses with an uppercut. Niska saw that one coming.
Niska tries to close the distance and clinch up but Smith swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Smith tries to counter with a clinch but Niska shakes him off and moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Smith shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Niska but Niska pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Niska misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice cross by Niska.
Smith tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Niska manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Niska half committed to a counter leg kick.

Smith gets tackled into the cage by Niska. Niska maintains the clinch.
Smith tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Smith throws a punch but it's blocked by Niska.
A bit of stalling here from Niska.
Niska is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Smith doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Niska prevents the takedown attempt.
Smith struggles to land a body shot inside as Niska controls his hands.
Smith lands with a left to the head.
Smith swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Niska blocks an uppercut.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Niska.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Niska.
A hook to the body from Smith.
Niska working aggressively here.
Smith wants to break free but Niska has control.
Niska blocking some punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niska slows down the pace here.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Smith blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Smith breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Niska tries to clinch there but Smith circles away.
Smith drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Niska digs a good body shot into Smith's ribs.
Smith fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Niska throws a big counter combination but Smith scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Juha Niska has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rob Smith.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Niska tries to clinch but Smith moves away
letting Smith counter with a right hand.
Niska scores with a jab. Smith acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Niska ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Smith moves away.
Smith swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Niska looks to land a left hand but Smith moved out of range nicely.
Smith tries to counter by closing the distance.
Niska displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Smith throws out the jab.
Smith throws a jab but it's blocked by Niska.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Niska cracks Smith with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

Niska clinches up with Smith and pushes him back against the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Juha Niska dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Rob Smith's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Smith moves out of range as Niska throws a body kick.
Smith tries to counter with a clinch but Niska shakes him off and moves away.
Smith is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Niska.
Niska is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.

Niska scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Still in half guard, Niska seems content to control.
Niska has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Niska continues to stall.

Niska seems to be working for a kimura but Smith defends the submission attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Niska controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niska tries to pass to full mount but Smith defends it.
Niska wants to take a breather but Smith is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Niska looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Smith avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

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.
Niska lands with a cross.
Smith with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Niska to score with a decent uppercut.

Niska darts in and clinches Smith up against the cage.
Niska is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Smith can do to turn this around?
Smith is trying to drag Niska to the mat but Niska just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Niska missing with knees to the body.
Juha Niska has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Smith misses with the head strike.
Niska creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Smith breaks from the clinch.
Niska is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Niska throws a head kick but Smith moves out of range.
Niska tries to move into range but Smith moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Niska throws a nice looking combination but Smith bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Smith pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Smith pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Niska delivers a nice body kick.
Smith walks forward, straight into a front kick from Niska.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith misses with a straight right.
As Smith looks to move away, Niska throws a big counter combo but Smith just gets out of the way.
A big right from Niska misses.
It seemed like Smith was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Niska pulls out of a head kick attempt.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Smith! But no joy.
Smith jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Niska misses with a double jab
and Smith counters with a nice uppercut.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Crunch! Niska slams his shin into Smith's torso.
Smith throws an off balance right hand
and Niska counters with a nice uppercut.

And that's the end of the fight!
Juha Niska showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Niska has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Alyssa Summers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Juha Niska!
A less than humble Juha Niska misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.