PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Paul Vidis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jason McDonald (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.

Vidis
vs
McDonald

150 cm
18
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
19
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Paul Vidis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jason McDonald!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Anni Minnemäki and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vidis misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
McDonald keeps the fight on the outside.
McDonald rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Vidis counters with a shoot takedown. McDonald fights it but they end up in guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Vidis working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Vidis is stalling in the full guard.
Vidis with a flurry of punches that miss.
McDonald is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Vidis preventing the sweep.
McDonald seems keen to control Vidis's posture.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McDonald tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Vidis is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Vidis keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from McDonald.
Vidis shoots in but McDonald avoids the takedown attempt easily.
McDonald cracks Vidis with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Vidis fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but McDonald avoids it really well and circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Vidis. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Vidis uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by McDonald.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McDonald keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Vidis dives in and grabs McDonald's left leg, looking for a takedown. McDonald pushes down on Vidis's head and hops out.

Vidis drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
McDonald looking for a sweep. Not yet McDonald, not yet.
McDonald pulls Vidis in to control the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vidis controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
McDonald is looking to stand up but Vidis isn't so interested in that idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Paul Vidis has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
McDonald throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Vidis on the side of the head.
Vidis walks into a jab.
McDonald keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Vidis is breathing heavily.
McDonald scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
McDonald waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Vidis.
Vidis moves in looking to clinch but McDonald pushes him off.
Vidis keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from McDonald.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vidis misses with a double jab
and McDonald makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Paul Vidis seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McDonald misses with a hook.
Vidis tries to clinch but McDonald is having none of it.
McDonald tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Vidis was well out of range. Poor timing from McDonald.
McDonald throws a hook but Vidis avoids it easily.
Vidis slips under a jab from McDonald.
Vidis could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
McDonald looks to throw the jab but Vidis is out of range.
Vidis walks into a jab.
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 Paul Vidis will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Vidis tries to clinch but McDonald moves out of range.
Vidis shoots in but no luck this time.
Vidis fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Vidis throws a low kick but McDonald moves out of range easily.
Vidis moves away from the strike by McDonald.
McDonald might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
McDonald cracks Vidis with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
McDonald misses with a series of wild punches.
McDonald connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Paul Vidis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vidis gets cracked with a nice right hand there by McDonald.
McDonald looks to score with a jab to the body but Vidis is just out of range.
McDonald takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
McDonald lands with a cross.
McDonald misses with a straight left.
Vidis with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling McDonald to score with a decent uppercut.
McDonald misses with an uppercut. Vidis saw that one coming.
Vidis takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Jason McDonald is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Vidis shoots for a takedown but McDonald saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Vidis. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McDonald misses with a looping right.
Vidis blocks a jab.
Vidis throws a head kick but McDonald moves out of range.
Nice sprawl there from McDonald as Vidis shoots in.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
McDonald connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Vidis momentarily.
Horrible takedown by Vidis or perhaps it was just good defense by McDonald which made him look bad.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
McDonald scores with a jab to the head.
Vidis takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Vidis.
Vidis shoots for a takedown but McDonald saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
McDonald lands a nice shot that snaps Vidis's head back.
McDonald blocks a head kick by Vidis.
Vidis on the wrong end of a nice jab.
McDonald is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
The fighters circle momentarily. McDonald darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
McDonald lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Nice cross by McDonald.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McDonald with a nice cross.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vidis ducks right into an uppercut from McDonald.
McDonald scores with a nice right hand.
McDonald misses with a looping left.

McDonald gets tackled into the cage by Vidis. Vidis maintains the clinch.
McDonald wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Vidis has him pressed against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on McDonald's face as he tries to break the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vidis tries to stall but McDonald uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jason McDonald showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

McDonald uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
McDonald is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.

McDonald tries to sprawl but Vidis drives through with a takedown into half guard.
McDonald trying to control here.
The fighters are battling for position here. McDonald manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Vidis stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. McDonald swivels though and keeps the full guard.
McDonald has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
McDonald wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vidis looking to pass the guard.
Vidis throws a big elbow that misses.
McDonald looking for a sweep. Not yet McDonald, not yet.
McDonald trying to control the position here.
Vidis preventing the sweep.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
McDonald catches Vidis with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Vidis shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
McDonald scores with the left hand. Vidis knows he should have avoided that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vidis misses with a wild combination.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
No luck for Vidis with that takedown attempt.
McDonald missing with a left hand there. Vidis was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
McDonald looks to land a left hand but Vidis moved out of range nicely.
Vidis looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
A swing and a miss from McDonald.
A shot to the body from Vidis misses
letting McDonald counter with a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McDonald lands a jab to the nose.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Vidis.
Vidis looks for a takedown but McDonald sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paul Vidis. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McDonald connects with a looping right hand.
McDonald connects with a body shot that sends Vidis's belly button to the back.
McDonald lunges at Vidis with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Vidis's hand.
McDonald's jab looks to have found its range, popping Vidis under the eye.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McDonald lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Vidis backs up against the cage.
McDonald throws a shot from downtown. Vidis moves away and avoids it.
McDonald lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Vidis shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The fighters circling - McDonald throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A jab from McDonald misses.
Jason McDonald is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Vidis drives through with a takedown into guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
McDonald is pulling down on Vidis's head. It's preventing any offense from Vidis, at least for the moment.
Paul Vidis has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
McDonald wants to sweep here but Vidis controlling him for the moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jason McDonald comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think McDonald 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight for Jason McDonald!
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight for Jason McDonald!
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight for Jason McDonald!

Jason McDonald wins by unanimous decision!