PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ville rantanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Grim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

rantanen
vs
Grim

194 cm
22
190 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

190 cm
22
185 lbs
3 - 8 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

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 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ville rantanen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Steve Grim!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Arvi Lind and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick misses from Grim.
Grim looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Grim fails in his attempt to clinch.

rantanen scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
rantanen stalling.
Grim is in trouble now - rantanen has advanced to mount!
rantanen forces the positional change into back control.
rantanen is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Grim. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
rantanen connects with a big shot to the side of Grim's head.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's one minute gone in the round.

rantanen working for the choke.
rantanen is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
rantanen lands strikes to the head.
rantanen scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Grim is looking for a way out.
rantanen has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
rantanen scores with punches and elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
rantanen scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
rantanen lands a punch that was close to the back of the head but the ref thinks it's OK.
rantanen biding his time, looking for the opening.
rantanen has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

rantanen has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Grim has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!
This has been an exciting period of action!
rantanen lands strikes to the head.
rantanen is riding his opponent, not letting Grim buck him off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Ville rantanen just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
rantanen lands with a cross.

rantanen clinches up with Grim and pushes him back against the ropes.
rantanen digs a right hand into Grim's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Grim's gas tank.
rantanen drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

rantanen gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
rantanen looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
rantanen's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
rantanen is working Grim over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Grim is working an open guard so rantanen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

rantanen shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Grim's guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
rantanen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ville rantanen dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

rantanen throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Grim's waist but Grim gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing rantanen off to one side.
Grim on the wrong end of a nice hook.
A combination from Grim does no damage.
rantanen fails to land the takedown.

Grim gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Grim is trying to keep rantanen in close.
Grim has momentary wrist control but rantanen slips an elbow through the middle.
Grim is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
rantanen is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

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

rantanen gets a clinch.
rantanen tries to score a body lock takedown but Grim shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ville rantanen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
rantanen lands a nice uppercut.

rantanen has Grim pressed up against the ropes. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. rantanen pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Grim tumbling to the mat - rantanen dives into Grim's guard.
rantanen content to stall in guard here.
rantanen sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Grim's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
rantanen with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
rantanen is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Grim is trying to maintain the position but rantanen is very close to passing his half guard.
rantanen lands strikes from half guard.
rantanen looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

rantanen is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, Grim has managed to free his arm - good work.
Grim is staying active underneath rantanen, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
rantanen passes to full mount!
Grim is squirming around, avoiding rantanen's attempts to control the action.
rantanen controlling the pace for now.

rantanen is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Grim can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
rantanen working away from the top, dropping strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Grim swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
rantanen controlling from mount.
rantanen scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Grim?
rantanen sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Grim tries to hold on but rantanen postures up.
rantanen takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ville rantanen 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

rantanen shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Grim as he avoids it easily.

rantanen shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than rantanen was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Grim is flailing around, obviously not happy about being mounted. rantanen locks hold of one of his arms and spins for an armbar. He's got it! Grim is forced to tap!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:33 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Ville rantanen!