PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between William Porthaven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yrjo Pieru (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the fighters buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Porthaven
vs
Pieru

180 cm
24
178 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

180 cm
25
182 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good knees
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, William Porthaven!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yrjo Pieru!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pieru shoots in for a double leg but Porthaven sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Porthaven has managed to clinch.
Porthaven prevents a takedown attempt there.
Porthaven unloads a knee to the mid-section. Pieru lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Pieru drops down looking for an ankle pick but Porthaven pulls his leg out and moves away.
William Porthaven has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yrjo Pieru.
Pieru circles away from the clinch attempt.
Porthaven fails with an attempt to clinch.
Pieru moves forwards but Porthaven connects with a nice, crisp jab.
A left and a right from Pieru both land. Nice combination.
Porthaven tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Porthaven tries to close the distance and clinch but Pieru swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Porthaven ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
An inside leg kick from Pieru misses.
Porthaven slaps away a takedown attempt from Pieru, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Pieru misses with a hook.
Porthaven tries to clinch up.
Pieru tries to score a power double leg takedown but Porthaven sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Pieru somewhat.

Pieru shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Porthaven preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pieru is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Pieru throws a big right hand that misses.
Pieru wants to pass the guard but Porthaven is keeping the position.
Porthaven wants to stand up but Pieru is controlling him.
Pieru throwing strikes from guard but Porthaven blocks nicely.
Pieru has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Pieru throws a big right hand that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pieru accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Pieru.
Porthaven doesn't manage to clinch there - Pieru circles away.
Porthaven fails in his attempt to clinch.
Pieru throws a sloppy head kick and Porthaven moves out of range easily.
Porthaven tries to clinch there but Pieru circles away.
Pieru tries to clinch
and Porthaven connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Pieru closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pieru throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Porthaven trying to control here.
Pieru tries to pass the half guard into mount. Porthaven knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Porthaven blocking the ground and pound attempt from Pieru.
Pieru missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Porthaven is staying active underneath Pieru, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Porthaven knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Pieru on the ground.
Pieru thows a huge punch but Porthaven dodges it nicely.
Pieru throws a strike but Porthaven avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that William Porthaven will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Porthaven looks to clinch

and Pieru decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Porthaven's guard.
Pieru seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Porthaven utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Pieru throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Pieru trying to control the position from guard on top but Porthaven is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Porthaven has momentary wrist control but Pieru slips an elbow through the middle.
Porthaven on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Porthaven tries to get out of the position.
Pieru in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Porthaven preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pieru throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Porthaven works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Porthaven is looking to stand up but Pieru isn't so interested in that idea.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Pieru scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Porthaven is looking for a sweep.
Pieru with the ground and pound but Porthaven regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Pieru throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Porthaven wants to control but Pieru is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pieru not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Porthaven works his way to full guard. Good work.
Pieru working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Pieru with a flurry of punches that miss.
Porthaven wants to improve his position but instead Pieru has moved into half guard.
Pieru working Porthaven over with strikes.
Pieru has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Porthaven holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Pieru tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pieru connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Porthaven blocking the ground and pound.
Pieru lands a heavy elbow.
Pieru landing strikes from the mount and Porthaven is in trouble!
Pieru thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Pieru throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Porthaven because Pieru loaded up on that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pieru putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Porthaven takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Pieru cracks Porthaven with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Pieru cracks Porthaven with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Pieru cracks Porthaven with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Pieru looking to ground and pound but Porthaven is blocking nicely.
Pieru lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Pieru looking to finish with strikes here!
Porthaven tries to hold on but Pieru postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yrjo Pieru showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Porthaven tries to close the distance and clinch but Pieru swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Porthaven throws out a loose jab but Pieru uses good head movement to avoid it.
Porthaven fails with an attempt to clinch.
Pieru has a takedown stuffed.
Porthaven fails in his attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pieru is trying hard to land a takedown here. Porthaven sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Porthaven tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Pieru was well out of range. Poor timing from Porthaven.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pieru fails with a takedown attempt.
William Porthaven has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yrjo Pieru.
Pieru shoots in looking for a takedown. Porthaven tries to sprawl out of it but Pieru keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Porthaven manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
No joy there for Pieru, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Pieru circles away from the clinch attempt

and Pieru counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Porthaven has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Pieru is working away from the top position though.
Porthaven on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Porthaven controlling the position for now.
Pieru is looking to take a break and control but Porthaven is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Porthaven works his way to full guard. Good work.
Pieru is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pieru works over Porthaven with some ground and pound from guard.
Pieru postures up in Porthaven's guard and throws a big left but Porthaven blocks it.
Pieru postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Pieru postures up in Porthaven's guard and throws a big left but Porthaven blocks it.

Pieru stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Pieru shoots in but Porthaven avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Yrjo Pieru seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Pieru takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Porthaven gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Porthaven stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Porthaven wants it to stay on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pieru avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Porthaven misses with a jab, cross combination.
Porthaven darts in trying to clinch
and Pieru counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Porthaven darts in trying to clinch

and Pieru counters with a takedown into side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yrjo Pieru comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Pieru has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yrjo Pieru!