PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ishmael Egyptian (ranked 1525 p4p, 1529 weight class) and Dick Ekelund (ranked 136 p4p, 138 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Egyptian
vs
Ekelund

175 cm
26
143
7 - 5 - 1

178 cm
29
150
10 - 9 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

Fantasy Threads

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Ishmael Egyptian!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dick Ekelund!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Percy O'Donnell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Egyptian slips under a jab.
Egyptian drops down looking for a counter takedown but Ekelund sprawls and moves away.
Ekelund wants to clinch.
Ekelund fails with an attempt to clinch.
Egyptian lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Ekelund at a distance.
Ekelund dodges the punch combination from Egyptian.
Egyptian moves away from the strike by Ekelund.
Ekelund throws a poor cross that misses

and Egyptian counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Egyptian throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Egyptian is keen to just control but Ekelund is a slippery customer.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Egyptian is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Egyptian controlling the pace.
Egyptian looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Egyptian 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.
Egyptian controlling the action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Egyptian throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Egyptian tries to pass to full mount but Ekelund defends it.
Ekelund has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Egyptian seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Ekelund does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Egyptian wants to free his trapped foot but Ekelund is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Egyptian lands with a punch from half guard.
Egyptian sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Ekelund defending well though.
Ekelund won't allow Egyptian to pass to mount.

Egyptian is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Ekelund defends it well.

Egyptian seems to be working for a kimura but Ekelund defends the submission attempt.

Egyptian is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Ekelund is trying to control but Egyptian passes into side control!
Egyptian tries to move into full mount but can't pass Ekelund's legs.
Egyptian creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Ekelund sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Ekelund prevents Egyptian from moving into mount.

Egyptian looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Egyptian remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Egyptian lands a nice forearm strike.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ishmael Egyptian dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ekelund misses with a looping left.
Egyptian with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ekelund to score with a decent uppercut.
Ekelund throws an off balance right hand

and Egyptian counters with a nice double leg into side control. Ekelund won't be happy with that.
Ekelund is not content to let Egyptian control the position.

Egyptian is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Ekelund has escaped the position, nice work there.
Egyptian controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Egyptian tries to move into full mount but can't pass Ekelund's legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Egyptian is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Ekelund has escaped the position, nice work there.
Egyptian cracks Ekelund with a big right hand but Ekelund just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Ekelund prevents Egyptian from improving position.

Egyptian is trying to get an arm triangle but Ekelund is defending well.

Egyptian tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Egyptian has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
We've been hearing good reports from Egyptian's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Egyptian wants to control but Ekelund is keeping him busy.
Egyptian tries to advance to mount but can't.
Egyptian working the head and body with strikes.
Egyptian is looking to take a break and control but Ekelund is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Egyptian creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Ishmael Egyptian overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Egyptian is trying to get an arm triangle but Ekelund is defending well.
Egyptian working the ground and pound but Ekelund is defending the strikes.
Egyptian throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Egyptian tries to advance to mount but can't.
Egyptian is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Egyptian looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Egyptian wants to control but Ekelund is keeping him busy.
Egyptian is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Ekelund is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Egyptian tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Egyptian trying to control the action but Ekelund is working from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ishmael Egyptian dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Ekelund uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Egyptian.
Egyptian throws a body shot but no joy.
Egyptian is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ekelund can do to turn this around?
Egyptian looks to land a combination. Ekelund sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Ekelund tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Egyptian manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Egyptian feinted with a counter takedown.
Egyptian tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ekelund was well out of range. Poor timing from Egyptian.
Ekelund is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ekelund wants to clinch up but Egyptian keeps it at a distance.
Ekelund wants to clinch.
Egyptian changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ekelund wants to clinch up but Egyptian keeps it at a distance.
Ekelund is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Egyptian keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Ekelund.
Egyptian fails to land with a series of punches.
Ekelund tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Egyptian staying out of range there.
Ekelund loads up on a big right hand but Egyptian slips the punch.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Ekelund, as that shot connected.
Ekelund scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Ekelund is looking to clinch.
A shot to the liver by Egyptian. Beautiful body shot.
Egyptian lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Ekelund circles away quickly and effectively.
Ekelund misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Egyptian.
Egyptian half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Ekelund tries to clinch but Egyptian is having none of it.
Dick Ekelund has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ekelund might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ekelund waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Egyptian.
Ekelund lands with an overhand left.
Ekelund moves in looking to clinch but Egyptian pushes him off.
A jab from Egyptian misses.
Ekelund tries to clinch but Egyptian is having none of it.
Egyptian lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Ekelund at a distance.
Egyptian is looking to wear down Ekelund with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Egyptian circles away from the clinch attempt.

Ekelund moves into the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Egyptian takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Egyptian throws a knee to the head but misses.
Ekelund throws a head punch that misses.
Ekelund letting Egyptian take a breather here.
Good body shot from Egyptian.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Egyptian slows down the pace here.
Ekelund throws a punch but it's blocked by Egyptian.
A frustrated look appears on Ekelund's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Egyptian is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Ekelund is keeping busy.
Ishmael Egyptian is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ekelund fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ekelund lands a right hand that snaps the head of Egyptian backwards.
Egyptian controlling the action here for a moment.
Ekelund misses with the head strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ekelund.
Ekelund misses with the head strike.
Egyptian taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Ekelund swings wildly with an uppercut but Egyptian uses good head movement to avoid it.

Ekelund escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Ekelund clinches with his opponent.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ekelund fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ekelund throws a punch but it's blocked by Egyptian.
Ekelund missing with knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Dick Ekelund.
I think Egyptian 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ishmael Egyptian!
A victorious Ishmael Egyptian thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.