PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between dimmu borgir (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sebastian Saari (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). dimmu borgir could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Sebastian Saari's chin.

borgir
vs
Saari

170 cm
22
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

167 cm
18
147 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, dimmu borgir!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Sebastian Saari!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
borgir shoots in for a takedown but Saari shows good takedown defense.
borgir closes this distance looking for a takedown but Saari circles away.

borgir gets in close and instigates a clinch.
borgir is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for dimmu borgir. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Saari doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

borgir manages to break the clinch.
Saari looks to clinch

and borgir counters with a nice double leg into side control. Saari won't be happy with that.
Saari is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but borgir has just dragged him back down to the mat.

borgir decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Saari swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Saari fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Saari throws a series of punches but borgir moves out of range.
borgir shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
borgir slips a jab and a cross from Saari.
Saari rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but borgir moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saari throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Saari tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but borgir paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Saari looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Sebastian Saari seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Saari tries to clinch but borgir is having none of it.
borgir has a takedown stuffed.
Saari connects with a nice looking jab.
borgir avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

Excellent takedown into side control there by borgir.
borgir wants to lay and pray for a moment but Saari keeps working.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Saari pushes borgir away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, borgir gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

borgir tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Saari is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, borgir asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Saari really doesn't want to stay on the ground with borgir. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Saari stops borgir from passing to mount.
Saari is pushing borgir's head away, looking to escape. borgir manages to hold on to the position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
borgir misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
borgir tries to score with some ground and pound. Saari controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
borgir working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Saari is looking to work his way out of this bad position but borgir is controlling him well.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Saari lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but borgir circles away quickly and effectively.

borgir shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
borgir is breathing heavily.

borgir 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.
Saari looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
borgir wants to pass to mount but Saari is defending the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

dimmu borgir dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Saari misses with a jab, cross combination.

borgir closes the distance and pushes Saari back into the cage.

borgir pulls guard successfully.
borgir managing to control the position.
Saari wanted to stand there but borgir had control of the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Saari is fighting to break borgir's control of his arms but borgir is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
borgir will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
borgir throwing short punches from the bottom.

borgir looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
borgir is trying to keep Saari in close.
Saari trying to stand up but can't free himself from borgir's guard.
Saari postures up.
borgir wants to sweep but no luck.
Saari wants to stand but borgir has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

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.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Saari lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but borgir circles away quickly and effectively.
borgir shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Saari as he avoids it easily.
Saari throws a combination but it was largely blocked by borgir.
borgir fails to land the takedown.
Saari tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Saari tries to clinch but borgir is having none of it.
borgir shoots in for a takedown but Saari shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for dimmu borgir. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
borgir shoots in but Saari avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Saari tries to clinch but borgir is having none of it.
Some wild striking there from Saari.
borgir defending well as Saari loads up on a big left hand.
Saari throws a series of punches but borgir avoids them all with ease.
Saari throws an uppercut from half a mile away. borgir sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sebastian Saari is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Saari throws a nice looking combination but borgir bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Saari fails with an attempt to clinch.
dimmu borgir is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A telegraphed right hand from Saari misses the target.
borgir dodges the punch combination from Saari.

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.
Saari swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
A jab lands there for Saari.
Saari misses with the combination.
Saari misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Saari wants to clinch.
Saari is looking to clinch but borgir is avoiding it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Saari lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but borgir circles away quickly and effectively.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

dimmu borgir dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Saari slips a jab and a cross from borgir.
borgir fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Saari throws a right hand that borgir ducks under and follows up with a left that borgir also avoids with ease.
Nice sprawl there from Saari as borgir shoots in.
Saari throws a combination that misses
and borgir makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Saari throws a combination but it was largely blocked by borgir.
Saari misses with a hook.
borgir keeps the fight on the outside.
borgir shoots in for a takedown but Saari shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for dimmu borgir. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
borgir is looking to clinch but Saari is avoiding it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Saari thows a body shot but no joy.
borgir slips a jab and a cross from Saari.
Saari misses with a two punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saari tries to clinch but borgir moves away

and borgir decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Saari's guard.
borgir trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
borgir postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Saari keeping moving, preventing borgir from controlling successfully.
borgir prevents Saari from getting back to his feet.

borgir drops back looking for a leg! Saari is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Saari manages to kick borgir off! borgir jumps back into Saari's guard.
borgir is standing up over Saari. Saari looks to escape but borgir dives into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
borgir prevents Saari from escaping the position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
borgir is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Saari.
Saari tries to clinch up but borgir circles away and keeps his distance.
Saari tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but borgir paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Saari will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Saari tries to bum rush borgir with a series of wild strikes but borgir uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

borgir gets a takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
borgir throwing shots but Saari is blocking nicely.
borgir trying to control from half guard but Saari is working away.
borgir missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
borgir prevents Saari from standing back up.
Saari is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

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.
borgir seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

borgir is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Saari sees it coming and defends easily.
Saari tries to kick borgir off but borgir keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

borgir is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Saari is looking to escape.

And that's the end of the fight!
dimmu borgir showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for borgir, 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... dimmu borgir!