PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Bruno Kovatch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Henry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Kovatch
vs
Henry

195 cm
23
195 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

190 cm
22
192 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bruno Kovatch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, John Henry!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Marco Blurström and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Henry ducks under a wild hook from Kovatch.
Kovatch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Henry tries to clinch but Kovatch is having none of it.
Kovatch will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Kovatch shoots in and drives through. Henry sprawls well.
Kovatch misses with a straight right.
Henry moves in looking to clinch but Kovatch pushes him off.
Left hook, right uppercut from Kovatch.
Henry tries to clinch up.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Kovatch!
Kovatch circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kovatch shoots for a takedown but Henry saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bruno Kovatch. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Henry moves out of range of the strikes.

Henry clinches.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Henry.
Kovatch jumps guard but Henry stands there with Kovatch around his waist. Kovatch gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by John Henry.
Henry tries to clinch there but Kovatch circles away.
Henry tries to clinch but Kovatch moves out of range.
Henry has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

Henry takes the fight into the clinch.
Kovatch jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Henry walks away with a smile on his face. Kovatch gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Henry tries to clinch there but Kovatch circles away.
Henry tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kovatch swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Henry tries to clinch there but Kovatch circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kovatch swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Henry tries to close the distance and clinch but Kovatch swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Henry tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
John Henry is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Henry wants to clinch.
Kovatch connects with a jab.
Kovatch circles away from the clinch attempt.

Henry closes the distance and pushes Kovatch back into the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Henry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by John Henry.
Henry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruno Kovatch dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Good exchange - Kovatch coming out on top.

Kovatch darts in and clinches Henry up against the cage.
Henry is pushing Kovatch up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by John Henry.
Kovatch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Henry tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kovatch paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Henry tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Kovatch counters with a series of strikes. Henry will be more careful next time no doubt.
Henry tries to clinch but Kovatch is having none of it.
Henry tries to clinch but Kovatch moves away
and Kovatch counters with a stiff right hand.
Henry swats away the attempt to clinch by Kovatch.
A big left from Kovatch misses.
Kovatch throws a left that rocks Henry and follows with a right that sends him tumbling to the canvas! Kovatch dives into side control, looking to finish! Can Henry regain composure!

Henry is rocked!

Kovatch is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Henry is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Henry is still in real trouble! Can Kovatch finish him?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Henry is trying to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kovatch is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Henry is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Henry seems to have recovered his senses.

Kovatch tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Kovatch has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Henry is trying to get back to his feet.

Henry bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Henry tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry closes the distance but Kovatch moves to the side
and Kovatch counters with a two punch combo.
Henry tries to clinch but Kovatch is having none of it.
Henry wants to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Henry looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The fight stays on the outside here - Henry looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Henry has Kovatch up against the cage in a clinch.
Henry stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Henry receives a warning from the referee for stalling.

That's four 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.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruno Kovatch dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Henry avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kovatch keeps the fight on the outside.
Henry wants to clinch.
Kovatch tries for a takedown but Henry sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Henry fails in his attempt to clinch.
Henry tries to clinch there but Kovatch circles away.
Bruno Kovatch is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The crowd are getting on Henry's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by John Henry.

Henry closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
The is referee keeping an eye on Henry - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kovatch tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

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.
Kovatch fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bruno Kovatch. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Kovatch tries for a takedown but Henry manages to get underhooks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kovatch tries for a takedown. No joy.
Henry pressing his opponent against the cage.
Kovatch tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Henry just stands there and leans against the cage.
Kovatch tries for a takedown. No joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Henry takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by John Henry.
Kovatch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Kovatch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kovatch avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kovatch keeps the fight on the outside.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The fight stays on the outside here - Henry looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Henry fails in his attempt to clinch.
Kovatch circles away from the clinch attempt.
Henry tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Henry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Henry comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Kovatch 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight for Bruno Kovatch!
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight for Bruno Kovatch!
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight for Bruno Kovatch!

Bruno Kovatch wins by unanimous decision!