PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ari Katajamaki (ranked 5842 p4p, 3387 weight class) and Aniruddha Anand (ranked 250 p4p, 175 weight class). Anand has chosen Swag Se Segat by Salman Khan & Katrina Kaif as his entrance music. Aniruddha Anand will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Katajamaki
vs
Anand

162 cm
23
135
5 - 8 - 1

160 cm
21
144
1 - 1 - 1

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Hoarse Pills
Bondi MMA ðŸï¸

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Ari Katajamaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Aniruddha Anand!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Anni Minnemäki and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Anand gets caught flat footed, as Katajamaki shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Anand is trying to control the position but Katajamaki postures up.
Katajamaki has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Katajamaki loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Katajamaki keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Anand's head.
Katajamaki is working Anand over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Katajamaki content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Anand escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Katajamaki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Anand controls Katajamaki momentarily but Katajamaki frees himself.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Katajamaki with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Katajamaki postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Katajamaki connects with a couple of short punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anand looking to hit a scissor sweep but Katajamaki is one step ahead there.
Anand is trying to keep Katajamaki in close.
Katajamaki working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Katajamaki landing some decent shots from guard.
Katajamaki connects with a couple of short punches.
Katajamaki content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Katajamaki throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Anand is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Anand is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Anand sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Katajamaki gets full guard.
Anand trying to control the position from guard on top but Katajamaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Anand tries to free his leg and advance position but Katajamaki is retaining full guard.
Katajamaki is adopting a defensive guard.
Anand looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Anand preventing the sweep.
Anand sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Anand pushing down on Katajamaki's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Katajamaki moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Anand trying to control the position from guard on top but Katajamaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Anand throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Katajamaki works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Anand looking to sit in guard and control but Katajamaki gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Anand had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Katajamaki defends it easily.
Katajamaki stopping the sweep attempt from Anand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Katajamaki postures up and lands a big shot to Anand's brow.
Katajamaki postures up and lands a big shot to Anand's brow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ari Katajamaki 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.

Anand throws a nice outside leg kick.

Katajamaki changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Anand looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Katajamaki scores with punches from side control.
Ari Katajamaki overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Anand is trying to get back to half guard.
Anand manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Anand moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Katajamaki lands a couple of digs.
Anand lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Anand trying to control the position from guard on top but Katajamaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Anand won't allow Katajamaki to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anand wants to control from the top but Katajamaki keeps moving.
Anand looking to sit in guard and control but Katajamaki gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Anand has his foot on Katajamaki's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Katajamaki works his way back into a safe position though.
Katajamaki is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Anand can do to turn this around?
Katajamaki with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Katajamaki chips away with some ground and pound.

Anand throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Katajamaki lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Katajamaki with a nice head shot there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katajamaki pushes down on Anand's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Katajamaki is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Anand is looking to improve his position.
Anand felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Katajamaki is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Aniruddha Anand has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Anand slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Anand manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Katajamaki manages to get himself to full guard.

Anand throwing strikes from guard but Katajamaki blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Anand looking to pass the guard.
Anand with a flurry of punches that miss.
Katajamaki working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Anand.
Anand wants to control from the top but Katajamaki keeps moving.
Katajamaki is adopting a defensive guard.
Anand is pushing down on Katajamaki's leg trying to pass to half guard. Katajamaki is fighting to maintain full guard but Anand has managed to sneak the leg through.

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.
Katajamaki has his hands clasped together around Anand's back. He's all about the action.
Anand trying to advance position but Katajamaki counters by regaining guard.
Katajamaki is pulling down on Anand's head. It's preventing any offense from Anand, at least for the moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Anand tries to free his leg and advance position but Katajamaki is retaining full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ari Katajamaki dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Anand gets caught napping as Katajamaki dives in and scores a takedown. Anand manages to retain guard.
Katajamaki throws a big right hand that misses.
Anand trying to control the position.

Anand is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Katajamaki scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Anand is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Katajamaki defends well.

Anand looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Anand is trying to keep Katajamaki in close.
Katajamaki keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Anand's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katajamaki lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Katajamaki scoring with some ground and pound.
Katajamaki wants to pass the guard but Anand is keeping the position.
Katajamaki trying to control the position from guard on top but Anand is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Katajamaki lands a couple of digs.
Anand looking to hit a scissor sweep but Katajamaki is one step ahead there.
Katajamaki throws an elbow that misses. Anand uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Katajamaki's guard. Nice move by Anand!

Anand controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Anand trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Anand trying to control but Katajamaki is working from the bottom.
Katajamaki knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Anand on the ground.
Anand postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Katajamaki is controlling Anand's posture.
Katajamaki keeping moving, preventing Anand from controlling successfully.
Anand tries to free his leg and advance position but Katajamaki is retaining full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Anand controlling from the top position.
Katajamaki working a defensive guard here.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Katajamaki drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Ari Katajamaki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Anand tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Anand seems a little lost for a moment, as Katajamaki dominates the positioning.
Anand is trying to get back to half guard.
Katajamaki controlling the position from side mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katajamaki is looking to take a break and control but Anand is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Anand regains half guard.
Anand wants to get back to full guard but Katajamaki has mounted him!
Katajamaki controlling his opponent.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Anand is looking to improve his position but Katajamaki isn't that keen on the idea.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ari Katajamaki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Katajamaki, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 30:27
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ari Katajamaki!
After winning the bout, Ari Katajamaki thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.