PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Takuma Sakazaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antero Siren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sakazaki
vs
Siren

195 cm
22
235 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

200 cm
18
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Takuma Sakazaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Antero Siren!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Marco Blurström and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Siren closes the distance and clinches up with Sakazaki, looking for a takedown. Siren pushes Sakazaki against the cage but Sakazaki circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A head kick misses from Siren.
Siren will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Sakazaki shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Sakazaki tries to stand but Siren is controlling from the bottom.

Sakazaki stands and steps away. Siren gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Siren misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sakazaki tries to clinch up but Siren circles away and keeps his distance.
Sakazaki slips a jab and a cross from Siren.

Sakazaki gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Siren wants to get back to striking at distance but Sakazaki won't allow it.
Sakazaki misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Sakazaki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Siren throws a head kick that Sakazaki semi-blocks.
Siren misses with a series of wild punches.
Siren misses with a two punch combination.
Sakazaki is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Siren.

It looks like Takuma Sakazaki has been cut.
Siren throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sakazaki shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Sakazaki was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Siren in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
You get the feeling that Siren really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Siren is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Sakazaki dominating with strikes here.
Siren is trying to stand up.
Siren looks gassed!
Sakazaki punching from mount but Siren doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Siren tries to buck Sakazaki off but he can't manage it.
Sakazaki fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Siren is bucking up trying to escape but Sakazaki cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakazaki punishing his opponent with strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sakazaki putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sakazaki with the ground and pound from mount.
Sakazaki dominating with strikes here.
Siren is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Sakazaki scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Siren?
Sakazaki working Siren over with strikes here.
Siren takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Sakazaki landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siren is in a horrible position here. Sakazaki smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sakazaki scoring with strikes but Siren is staying in there.
Sakazaki with a couple of short strikes.
Sakazaki lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sakazaki lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Siren taking shots to the head.
Siren is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Sakazaki connects with a massive shot to the dome!
BOOM! Sakazaki connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Siren is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Sakazaki lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sakazaki landing strikes from the mount and Siren is in trouble!
You get the feeling that Siren really doesn't like being in this position too much.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takuma Sakazaki dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Takuma Sakazaki's cut.
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.

Sakazaki moves in looking to clinch but Siren pushes him off.
Siren misses with the combination.
Siren tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Sakazaki swivels and escapes.
Siren misses with the combination.
Sakazaki blocks a head kick by Siren.
Sakazaki tries to close the distance and clinch up but Siren swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Antero Siren seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Sakazaki shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Sakazaki with good strikes from the mount here!
Sakazaki with good strikes from the mount here!
Sakazaki unloading with bombs!
Sakazaki lands a nice shot to the head.
Sakazaki landing shots from mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Siren is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Sakazaki looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Siren in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Takuma Sakazaki overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Siren is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Sakazaki punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakazaki lands a big elbow.
Siren is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Siren is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Sakazaki putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Siren taking shots to the head.
Sakazaki raining down shots from the mount!
Sakazaki postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Siren looks a forlorn figure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Siren is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Sakazaki postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Siren looks a forlorn figure.
Siren takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Siren tries to buck Sakazaki off but he can't manage it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Sakazaki punishing his opponent with strikes.
Siren's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
BOOM! Sakazaki connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Siren is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Sakazaki lands a big shot there that rocks Siren but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sakazaki with good strikes from the mount here!
Sakazaki punishing his opponent with strikes.

Siren bucks Sakazaki off and manages to get back to his feet!
Siren tries to clinch up

and Sakazaki counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takuma Sakazaki dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Takuma Sakazaki's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Sakazaki wants to clinch.
Sakazaki looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

Sakazaki shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Sakazaki showed some decent athleticism there.

Siren manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Siren fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Sakazaki has taken the fight to the clinch.

Sakazaki breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Sakazaki fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Siren sprawls well initially but Sakazaki persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Sakazaki tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Siren.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sakazaki throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakazaki prevents Siren from standing back up.
Sakazaki lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
It looks like Sakazaki is going to stand back up.
Siren looks like he's trying to stand up.
Sakazaki tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Nice body kick there by Sakazaki.
Siren closes the distance and clinches up with Sakazaki, looking for a takedown. Siren pushes Sakazaki against the cage but Sakazaki circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Sakazaki stuffs the takedown attempt from Siren. Siren gets slowly back to his feet.
Takuma Sakazaki has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Antero Siren.
Siren shoots and misses

and Sakazaki counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

Siren has one foot on Sakazaki's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Sakazaki tries to close the distance and clinch but Siren swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sakazaki fails in his attempt to clinch.
Siren looks to clinch

and Sakazaki decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Siren's guard.

Siren pushes Sakazaki off and gets back to his feet.
A head kick from Siren lands but Sakazaki takes it in his stride.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sakazaki looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Siren!
Sakazaki looking to finish Siren with some ground and pound. This is bad for Siren!
Sakazaki misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Siren is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Siren holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Sakazaki tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Sakazaki lands a heavy elbow.
Siren squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Sakazaki lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakazaki dominating with strikes here.
Sakazaki working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Sakazaki throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Siren because Sakazaki loaded up on that one.
Sakazaki landing punches.

Siren bucks up and throws Sakazaki to the side - he's got back to his feet. Great escape!
Siren throws a head kick but Sakazaki moves out of range.
Sakazaki looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.

Sakazaki clinches.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Siren makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Antero Siren has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Sakazaki.

Sakazaki gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Siren regains guard.
Takuma Sakazaki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sakazaki has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Sakazaki is looking to stand up but Siren won't let him.

And that's the end of the fight!
Takuma Sakazaki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sakazaki, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Takuma Sakazaki!