PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bertram Howell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thorin Ragnarsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thorin Ragnarsson has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Howell
vs
Ragnarsson

175 cm
18
177 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

172 cm
23
162 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Can Moonwalk

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 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bertram Howell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Thorin Ragnarsson!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ragnarsson scores with a kick to the body.
Howell closes the distance and clinches up with Ragnarsson, looking for a takedown. Howell pushes Ragnarsson against the cage but Ragnarsson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Ragnarsson tries to keep at a distance but Howell has taken the fight into the clinch.

Howell gets control of Ragnarsson's arms and successfully pulls guard. Howell will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Howell looking for a sweep. Not yet Howell, not yet.
Ragnarsson tries to free his leg and advance position but Howell is retaining full guard.
Howell tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ragnarsson controls from within his opponent's guard.
Howell wants to sweep here but Ragnarsson controlling him for the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ragnarsson wants to control from the top but Howell keeps moving.
Howell bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Ragnarsson's guard.

Howell preventing the sweep.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Howell stands up from Ragnarsson's guard - Howell perhaps looking for a knockout.
Ragnarsson throws a right hand that Howell ducks under and follows up with a left that Howell also avoids with ease.
Howell wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Ragnarsson throws a series of punches but Howell moves out of range.

Ragnarsson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Howell!
Ragnarsson looks winded!
Ragnarsson wants to lay and pray for a moment but Howell keeps working.
Howell wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Howell tries to improve position but can't.
Howell is working hard here to advance position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howell is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Ragnarsson off and has taken his back!
Howell has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Ragnarsson's body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ragnarsson trying to control but not successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ragnarsson is trying to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Howell is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ragnarsson wants to escape the position.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Howell controlling the positon.
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 Bertram Howell will probably get the nod.
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.

Ragnarsson misses the shot to the body.
Ragnarsson swinging wildly here.
Howell takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Howell moves out of range of the leg kick from Ragnarsson.
Howell is looking for a counter combo.
Ragnarsson works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.

Howell throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Ragnarsson was covering up waiting for the punch and Howell finishes the takedown easily into guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Howell pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Ragnarsson is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Howell gets to his feet. Ragnarsson looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Ragnarsson lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Ragnarsson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Howell.

Howell has managed to clinch.
We've been informed that Ragnarsson has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Howell wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Ragnarsson blocks a body shot from Howell.
Ragnarsson tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Howell's elbow.

Howell pulls guard.
Ragnarsson wants to control from the top but Howell keeps moving.
Ragnarsson might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Howell haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Ragnarsson is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howell is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Ragnarsson stops Howell from standing up.

Howell is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Ragnarsson defends well.
Ragnarsson prevents Howell from getting back to his feet.
Howell manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Ragnarsson manages to get himself to full guard.

Howell not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Ragnarsson looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howell stands up and waves to Ragnarsson to follow him.
Ragnarsson gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Howell connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Ragnarsson misses with the combination.
Howell half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Ragnarsson bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Howell tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Ragnarsson defends well and Howell ends up having to push Ragnarsson into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Ragnarsson scores with a one two! Howell had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howell slips a jab and a cross from Ragnarsson.
Bertram Howell is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Howell ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Howell half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Howell throws a hook to the side of Ragnarsson's head but Ragnarsson sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Sloppy strikes from Howell. Those never looked like landing.
Ragnarsson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ragnarsson throws a series of punches but Howell moves out of range.
Thorin Ragnarsson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Howell shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Ragnarsson defends it nicely.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ragnarsson misses with a combination

and Howell counters by clinching up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Thorin Ragnarsson will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Howell tries to keep at a distance but Ragnarsson has taken the fight into the clinch.

Howell has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Ragnarsson uses from the top position.

Howell is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Ragnarsson preventing the sweep.
Ragnarsson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Howell is keeping the position for now.
Ragnarsson stopping the sweep attempt from Howell.
Howell is looking to stand up but Ragnarsson isn't so interested in that idea.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ragnarsson postures up and lands a big shot to Howell's brow.
Howell looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ragnarsson is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ragnarsson trying to control but Howell is working from the bottom.
Ragnarsson won't allow Howell to sweep him here.
Ragnarsson trying to control but Howell is working from the bottom.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Ragnarsson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ragnarsson misses with a two punch combination.
Howell tries to counter by clinching up but Ragnarsson breaks away and moves out of range.
Ragnarsson jabs Howell to the body, keeping him at a distance.

Ragnarsson gets the takedown into side control.
Ragnarsson avoids the strikes from the bottom by Howell.
Howell is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ragnarsson tries to move to mount but Howell blocks the move with his legs.
Howell sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Ragnarsson stalling.
Bertram Howell overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Howell gets full guard.
Howell lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Howell stands and steps away. Ragnarsson gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Ragnarsson gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Howell sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ragnarsson is looking to stand back up but Howell counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Ragnarsson.
Still in half guard, Howell seems content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Howell on the wrong end of a nice hook.

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 Bertram Howell.
I think Howell has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a draw!