PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Warrick Cager (ranked 3106 p4p, 2621 weight class) and Jukka Raikkonen (ranked 344 p4p, 299 weight class). Jukka Raikkonen has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Cager
vs
Raikkonen

175 cm
25
180
3 - 2 - 0

178 cm
25
177
3 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very quick

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Warrick Cager!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jukka Raikkonen!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, Michael Johnstone and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Raikkonen shoots and misses

and Cager counters by clinching up.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Raikkonen.

Cager breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Raikkonen shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cager defends it nicely.

Cager gets a clinch.
Raikkonen looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

Cager pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Raikkonen scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Raikkonen has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Raikkonen trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raikkonen might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Cager haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Raikkonen controlling his opponent.
Raikkonen tries to control but Cager wriggling away.

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.
Cager tries to hold on but Raikkonen pushes him away.
Cager definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Raikkonen fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Raikkonen trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Raikkonen throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raikkonen trying to control but Cager is having none of it.
Raikkonen looking to ground and pound but Cager is blocking nicely.
Cager is trying to escape the mount.
Raikkonen wants to control the pace but Cager is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Raikkonen landing shots from mount.
Raikkonen tries to control but Cager wriggling away.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jukka Raikkonen dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Raikkonen is trying hard to land a takedown here. Cager sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Cager tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Raikkonen manages to circle out of the way.
Cager tries to clinch up.

Raikkonen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Raikkonen won't allow Cager to sweep him here.
Raikkonen stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cager swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Cager has control of Raikkonen's left arm, preventing Raikkonen from doing any damage.
Raikkonen trying to control but Cager is working from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Raikkonen pushing down on Cager's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raikkonen sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Cager defending well though.
Cager keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Raikkonen is taking a breather. Cager says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Raikkonen is keen to just control but Cager is a slippery customer.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Raikkonen throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cager's waist but Cager gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Raikkonen off to one side.
Cager wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Cager wants to clinch up but Raikkonen keeps it at a distance.
Raikkonen has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

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.
Cager keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Warrick Cager has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jukka Raikkonen.
Cager is looking to clinch.
Cager defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Raikkonen.
Cager seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Raikkonen.
Raikkonen fails with a takedown attempt.
Raikkonen shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cager defends it nicely.
Raikkonen shoots in and drives through. Cager sprawls well.

Cager clinches.

Raikkonen has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Cager is trying to keep an underhook but Raikkonen manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Cager makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Cager.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raikkonen wants to control from the top but Cager keeps moving.
Raikkonen wants to pass the guard but Cager is keeping the position.
Raikkonen trying to control the position from guard on top but Cager is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Raikkonen engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Jukka Raikkonen has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Cager keeping moving, preventing Raikkonen from controlling successfully.
Cager managing to control the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Raikkonen fails to land the takedown.
Cager is looking to counter the offense by Raikkonen and move into the clinch.

Raikkonen shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Cager manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Raikkonen wants to pass the guard but Cager is keeping the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jukka Raikkonen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Raikkonen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Warrick Cager has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cager on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Cager tries to get out of the position.
Cager is refusing to be controlled, as Raikkonen sits in half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cager wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cager controlling the position for now.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Cager stuffs the takedown attempt from Raikkonen. Raikkonen gets slowly back to his feet.
Cager wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Raikkonen.
Cager keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Warrick Cager has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jukka Raikkonen.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Raikkonen is defended easily by Cager.
Cager is looking to counter the offense by Raikkonen and move into the clinch.
Raikkonen dives in and grabs Cager's left leg, looking for a takedown. Cager pushes down on Raikkonen's head and hops out.

Cager moves into range and clinches up with Raikkonen.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Cager tries to work over Raikkonen's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Raikkonen.
Raikkonen tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Cager avoids it.
Raikkonen takes a shot to the head.
Raikkonen misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Cager.

Cager's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Raikkonen misses with a takedown attempt - Cager sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Raikkonen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Cager is controlling Raikkonen's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Cager is refusing to be controlled, as Raikkonen sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cager preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Raikkonen wants to take a breather but Cager is having none of it.

That's four 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.
Cager is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Cager slaps away a takedown attempt from Raikkonen, before circling back to the center of the mat.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cager looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Raikkonen gets tackled into the cage by Cager. Cager maintains the clinch.

Cager breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Cager tries to clinch up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cager defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Raikkonen.
Cager wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Raikkonen fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Cager avoids it really well and circles away.
Cager is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Raikkonen.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Warrick Cager.
I think Raikkonen has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Winston Alpacca scores the fight 28:29
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 28:29
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jukka Raikkonen!