PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ishe Sithole (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ismo Laitela (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sithole's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Method Man & Redman - How Bout Dat. Ishe Sithole had a look across the ring there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Sithole
vs
Laitela

187 cm
19
159 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

180 cm
23
147 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Very confident

187-Drugstore

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ishe Sithole!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ismo Laitela!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Anni Minnemäki and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sithole misses with a head kick.
Laitela shoots for a takedown but Sithole saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Sithole misses with a body kick.

Laitela shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Sithole's guard.
Laitela prevents Sithole from getting back to his feet.
Sithole tries to strike from the bottom.
Sithole really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Sithole keeping full guard, as Laitela tries to pass.
Laitela forces his way into half guard.
Laitela has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Sithole is desperately trying to improve his position but Laitela has a good base and remains in mount.
Sithole swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
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.
Sithole tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Laitela throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sithole wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Laitela.
Laitela thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Sithole is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Sithole holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Laitela tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Sithole keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

Laitela is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Sithole can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Laitela wants to control the pace but Sithole is squirming around nicely.

Laitela is going olschool here, as he tries to force Sithole to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Sithole shrugs it off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sithole trying desperately to get to his feet.

Laitela working for a guillotine from mount but Sithole is in no mood to give up.
Sithole flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.

Laitela with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Laitela looks gassed!

Laitela working for a guillotine from mount but Sithole is in no mood to give up.
Laitela wants to take Sithole's back here but Sithole is holding on to an arm, himself looking to escape.
Laitela has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sithole sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Sithole trying to control from the bottom.
Laitela missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Sithole is trying to get back to full guard.
Laitela wants to take a breather but Sithole is having none of it.
Sithole punching from the bottom.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Sithole is trying to stand up here but Laitela is controlling him well.
Sithole won't allow Laitela to pass to mount.
Laitela is trying to control. Sithole wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Sithole throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Laitela.
Sithole scores with a shot to the body.
Laitela keeps the fight on the outside.

That's four 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.
Sithole will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Sithole misses with a low kick.
Laitela fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sithole throws a nice looking combination but Laitela bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Laitela shoots in looking for a takedown. Sithole tries to sprawl out of it but Laitela keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Sithole manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Ishe Sithole has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ismo Laitela.

Laitela gets a takedown into half guard.
Sithole flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.

Laitela looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ismo Laitela dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Laitela blocks a head kick by Sithole.
Both fighters circling a little - Sithole finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Laitela on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Sithole looks for the body kick but Laitela saw that one coming.
Sithole throws a combination. Laitela tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Ishe Sithole is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Laitela tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Sithole swivels and escapes.
Laitela looks for a takedown but Sithole sprawls well.
Laitela is breathing heavily.
Sithole lands a jab-cross combination.

Laitela is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sithole moves into range and clinches up with Laitela.
Sithole pressing his opponent against the ropes.

Sithole pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sithole throws a head kick that misses.
Sithole lands a high kick to the side of Laitela's head that stuns him and send him tumbling down to the canvas! Sithole dives into guard, looking to finish.
Laitela is still in real trouble! Can Sithole finish him?
Sithole wants to pass the guard but Laitela is keeping the position.
Sithole working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Laitela's head.

Laitela has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sithole can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Laitela working for submissions but it's allowed Sithole to get to half guard.
Sithole knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Laitela on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sithole slips a nice elbow through Laitela's hands, connecting with Laitela's forehead.
Laitela trying to control but Sithole postures up.
Laitela seems to have recovered his senses.
Sithole thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Sithole prevents Laitela from improving his position.
Laitela is refusing to be controlled, as Sithole sits in half guard.

Laitela looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Laitela is looking for a sweep. Sithole is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Laitela avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sithole.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Laitela showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Sithole.
Sithole dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Laitela. That did some damage!
Sithole is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Laitela tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Sithole swivels and escapes.
Ishe Sithole has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ismo Laitela.
Sithole misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Laitela.
Laitela fails with a takedown attempt.
Sithole feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Laitela's calf.
Sithole ducks down and throws a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Both fighters circling a little - Sithole finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Ishe Sithole is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sithole misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sithole lands a slapping body shot.
Sithole lands a head kick. Laitela smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
A punch combination from Sithole misses.
Sithole waving his hands out infront of him, looking to distract Laitela.
Sithole misses with a two punch combination.
Sithole goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Laitela shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Laitela was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Laitela throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Sithole throwing hammer fists to the chest of Laitela. What's that going to do exactly?
Sithole squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ishe Sithole dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Laitela scores a takedown into full mount!
Laitela trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Laitela has hold of Sithole's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Sithole manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Laitela throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Sithole flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Sithole has given up his back. Will we see Laitela going for some submissions?
Ismo Laitela has got the better of the ground game so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sithole controlling the position well but he knows he's in a bad position.
Sithole tries to break free.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Will Laitela go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Sithole just trying to survive but Laitela is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Sithole wants to get back to his feet.

Laitela is working for the choke. I would put my money on him to finish from this position. He's rolled onto his back and has dragged Sithole with him. Sithole is trying to defend but Laitela has an arm under the chin now! Sithole grimaces and is forced to tap out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Ismo Laitela!