PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Johnny Monfriesz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Simo Paavolainen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Monfriesz
vs
Paavolainen

190 cm
21
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
19
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Hell's Kitchen Lab Corp

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Johnny Monfriesz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Simo Paavolainen!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Roosa Järviläinen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Monfriesz throws a nice inside leg kick.

Monfriesz closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Paavolainen is looking for a sweep.
Monfriesz is looking to take a break and control but Paavolainen is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sloppy strikes there by Monfriesz.
Monfriesz trying to control the position but Paavolainen is working away.
Monfriesz looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Paavolainen is avoiding damage well.
Monfriesz wants to control but Paavolainen is keeping him busy.
Monfriesz 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.

Monfriesz thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Monfriesz has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paavolainen is not content to let Monfriesz control the position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Monfriesz swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Paavolainen wants to clinch.
Paavolainen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Monfriesz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Paavolainen misses with a head kick.
Monfriesz throws a head kick but Paavolainen moves out of range.
Paavolainen is looking to clinch.

That's two 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.
Monfriesz scores with a nice body kick.
Paavolainen looks gassed!
Monfriesz throws a series of strikes that have Paavolainen backpedaling.

It looks like Simo Paavolainen has been cut.
Monfriesz dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Monfriesz looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Monfriesz is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Monfriesz is controlling the pace.

Monfriesz is looking for a kimura here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Monfriesz is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Paavolainen is just riding it out for now. Monfriesz eventually gives up the hold.
Paavolainen tries to roll over but Monfriesz keeps him under control.
Paavolainen is refusing to be controlled, as Monfriesz sits in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Monfriesz stops Paavolainen from getting back to his feet.

Monfriesz 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.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Paavolainen tries to clinch up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Paavolainen misses with a double jab.
Paavolainen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Monfriesz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johnny Monfriesz dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Simo Paavolainen's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

A nice leg kick lands there from Paavolainen.
Paavolainen is looking to clinch.
Monfriesz fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Paavolainen fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Monfriesz.
A shot to de liver by Paavolainen. Beautiful body shot.
Paavolainen should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Paavolainen misses with a hook to the body
and Monfriesz counters with a thumping low kick.
Paavolainen is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Monfriesz.
Monfriesz misses with a few strikes there.
Paavolainen darts in trying to clinch

and Monfriesz counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Monfriesz.

Monfriesz manages to break the clinch.
Paavolainen tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Monfriesz counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Paavolainen is defending against the submission attempts here by Monfriesz.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Monfriesz seems to be working for a kimura but Paavolainen defends the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Monfriesz is trying to control the action in half guard but Paavolainen is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Paavolainen wants to improve his position but Monfriesz is controlling well.
Monfriesz trying to control the action but Paavolainen is working from the bottom.
Paavolainen tries to kick Monfriesz off but Monfriesz keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Monfriesz is looking for a kimura but Paavolainen is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Monfriesz to get the leverage.
Paavolainen wants to improve his position but Monfriesz is controlling well.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Monfriesz throws a nice looking combination but Paavolainen bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Paavolainen tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Monfriesz counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Monfriesz.
Paavolainen keeping moving, preventing Monfriesz from controlling successfully.
Monfriesz showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Paavolainen trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Monfriesz looking to sit in guard and control but Paavolainen gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Paavolainen throws a strike but Monfriesz rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Monfriesz controls from within his opponent's guard.
Paavolainen doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

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.
Paavolainen wants to stand up but Monfriesz is controlling him.
Monfriesz is standing up over Paavolainen. Paavolainen looks to escape but Monfriesz dives into side control.
Paavolainen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Monfriesz. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Monfriesz landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Monfriesz tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Monfriesz trying to control the position but Paavolainen is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johnny Monfriesz dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Simo Paavolainen's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Paavolainen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Paavolainen tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A slow jab from Monfriesz misses its intended target.
Paavolainen darts in trying to clinch

and Monfriesz counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Monfriesz seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Paavolainen does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Paavolainen missing with punches from the bottom.
Monfriesz seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Monfriesz is working for a kimura but Paavolainen is defending it quite comfortably.
Monfriesz is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Paavolainen can do to turn this around?
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Monfriesz not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paavolainen tries to kick Monfriesz off but Monfriesz keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Monfriesz throwing shots but Paavolainen is blocking nicely.
Monfriesz uses his free foot to push down on Paavolainen's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Paavolainen.
Johnny Monfriesz overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Poor strikes thrown by Monfriesz there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Monfriesz looking to control but Paavolainen is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Monfriesz takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

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.
Monfriesz tries to control but Paavolainen wriggling away.
Monfriesz is really struggling to control Paavolainen but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Monfriesz is trying to take his opponent's back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paavolainen is squirming around, avoiding Monfriesz's attempts to control the action.
Paavolainen is trying to stand but he's not in a good position to be doing that! Monfriesz has taken his back!
Monfriesz punishes Paavolainen with strikes from the back mount.
Johnny Monfriesz is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
A lull in the action here.
Paavolainen trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Monfriesz will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
I would not like to be Paavolainen right now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Johnny Monfriesz just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Paavolainen has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Paavolainen there as he acknowledges the shot.
Johnny Monfriesz is winning the standup battle so far.
Paavolainen closes the distance but Monfriesz moves to the side
and Monfriesz counters with a stiff right hand.
Paavolainen wants to clinch
and Monfriesz counters with a two punch combo.
Simo Paavolainen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Paavolainen tries to clinch but Monfriesz moves away

and Monfriesz decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Paavolainen's guard.
Monfriesz looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

And that's the end of the fight!
Johnny Monfriesz showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Monfriesz has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:26
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 30:26
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Johnny Monfriesz!