PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mikael Ace (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aki Aromaa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Mikael Ace has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Ace
vs
Aromaa

186 cm
20
210 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

187 cm
21
214 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mikael Ace!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aki Aromaa!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Johanna Lukiainen and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ace throws a head kick but Aromaa moves out of range.
Aromaa lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Ace backs up against the cage.

It looks like Mikael Ace has been cut.
Aromaa misses with a looping right.
Aromaa will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Ace feints and as Aromaa raises his hands in defense, Ace changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ace tries to stand but Aromaa is controlling from the bottom.
Aromaa wants to sweep here but Ace controlling him for the moment.
Ace would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Aromaa working a defensive guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ace stopping the sweep attempt from Aromaa.
Aromaa really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ace. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Ace trying to stand up but can't free himself from Aromaa's guard.
Aromaa is pulling down on Ace's head. It's preventing any offense from Ace, at least for the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Nice jab there from Ace.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ace looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Aromaa is fending him off so far but Ace persists. Nope, Aromaa circles away and we're back to standing.
Aromaa keeps the fight on the outside.
Aromaa scores with a leg kick.
Aromaa misses with the combination.
Ace shoots in for a takedown but Aromaa shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Aki Aromaa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Aromaa shoots and misses

and Ace counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Aromaa manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Aromaa can do anything to dispel that myth.
Aromaa looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Ace tries to stand but Aromaa is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aromaa lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Ace!
Aromaa tries to control but Ace wriggling away.
You get the feeling that Ace really doesn't like being in this position too much.

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.
Aromaa content just to control the position here.
Ace is squirming around, avoiding Aromaa's attempts to control the action.
Aromaa controlling the pace for now.
Aromaa can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Ace is looking to escape.
Aromaa looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Aki Aromaa will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Mikael Ace's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Ace moves in looking to clinch but Aromaa pushes him off.
Aromaa is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ace.
Ace fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Ace doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Aromaa counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Ace tries for a takedown but Aromaa circles away easily
and Aromaa counters with a right hand to the body.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mikael Ace. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Aromaa throws a right and a left that Ace avoids nicely.
Ace connects with a good right hand that stumbles Aromaa. Aromaa circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Mikael Ace is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Aromaa keeps the fight on the outside.
Aromaa misses with a hook.
Aromaa connects with a good right hand that stumbles Ace. Ace circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Ace gets in close and instigates a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aromaa tries to circle away but Ace has him pinned against the cage.

Ace breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A telegraphed right hand from Aromaa misses the target.
Aromaa misses with a body kick.
Ace misses with a head kick.

Ace closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Aromaa to the mat! Aromaa manages to get full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ace wants to stand but Aromaa is controlling his posture from full guard.
Aromaa wants to improve his position but instead Ace has moved into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ace seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Aromaa trying to control here.
Aromaa tries to get to full guard but Ace has control of the leg.
Aromaa is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Aromaa keeping control of the position.

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.
Ace scoring well with a low kick there.
Aromaa cracks the inside of Ace's front leg.
Ace uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Aromaa.
Ace ducks under a wild hook from Aromaa.
Aromaa throws a sloppy head kick

and Ace counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Ace won't allow Aromaa to sweep him here.

Ace gets to his feet. Aromaa looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Aromaa swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aromaa misses with a wild body shot.
Aromaa swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Ace counters with a head kick.
Ace pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Aromaa throws and low kick but Ace moves out of range easily.
Aromaa tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ace was well out of range. Poor timing from Aromaa.
Ace connects with a jab.
Aromaa ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ace moves away.
Ace lands a head kick!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ace with a lazy takedown attempt
and Aromaa counters with a straight right hand.
Ace slaps away a takedown attempt from Aromaa, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Ace gets in close and instigates a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mikael Ace dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Mikael Ace's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Ace misses with a takedown
and Aromaa counters with a stiff right hand.
Aromaa fails with a takedown attempt.
Ace closes the distance looking to clinch

so Aromaa counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Ace keeping moving, preventing Aromaa from controlling successfully.
Aromaa trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ace is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Aromaa is controlling him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aromaa controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Aromaa in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ace is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Ace manages to escape and get back to his feet.

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.
Aromaa throws a predictable looking body shot

so Ace counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Aromaa bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Ace's guard.
Aromaa must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Ace keeping moving, preventing Aromaa from controlling successfully.
Aromaa is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

Ace has his feet on Aromaa's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Aromaa misses with an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aromaa misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ace misses with a takedown
and Aromaa counters with a stiff right hand.
Aromaa throws a left and a right that both miss
and Ace counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Aromaa is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Ace, right into the meat.
Ace throws a nice outside leg kick.
Ace misses with a takedown
and Aromaa counters with a stiff right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mikael Ace. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ace fails with an attempt to clinch.
Aromaa stuffs the takedown attempt from Ace. Ace gets slowly back to his feet.
Aromaa swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Ace counters with a head kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aromaa scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Ace checks a leg kick.
Aromaa fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Ace manages to avoid it.
Ace lands with a slapping head kick.
Ace moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Aromaa!
Aromaa throws a right and a left that Ace avoids nicely.
Ace misses with a takedown attempt
and Aromaa counters with a nice uppercut.
Aromaa shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Ace counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Mikael Ace.
I think Ace 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:29
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!