PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Baako The African (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pentti Hirvonen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

The African
vs
Hirvonen

160 cm
26
199 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

185 cm
22
196 lbs
10 - 5 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Very quick

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
Powerful

:: Happy Pills :: - New 159 Recovery!
:: Happy Pills :: - New 159 Recovery!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Baako The African!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Pentti Hirvonen!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Dmitry Maklakov and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The African throws a body punch but Hirvonen moves out of range.
Hirvonen throws a hook to the side of The African's head but The African sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
An inside leg kick from Hirvonen misses.
Hirvonen shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts The African as he jumps to the side.
Hirvonen throws a hook but The African blocks it.
Hirvonen swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hirvonen shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Hirvonen thows a left - swing and a miss!
A combination from Hirvonen does no damage.
Hirvonen misses with an uppercut. The African saw that one coming.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The African moves out of range as Hirvonen strikes.

Hirvonen closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The African tries to roll over but Hirvonen keeps him under control.
The African is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hirvonen wants to work for an arm triangle but The African is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
The African trying to hold on to Hirvonen's head to control him but Hirvonen postures up.
Hirvonen trying to mount his opponent but The African defends it.
Hirvonen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The African wants to improve his position but Hirvonen is controlling well.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Hirvonen shoots in but The African avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Hirvonen darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hirvonen is looking to take a break and control but The African is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Hirvonen is looking to pass The African's guard but actually The African recovers to full guard.
Hirvonen postures up in The African's guard and throws a big left but The African blocks it.
Hirvonen trying to move into half guard but instead The African has managed to sweep!
The African postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Hirvonen working for a triangle but The African defends it easily.
The African has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
The African working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Hirvonen keeping moving, preventing The African from controlling successfully.
Hirvonen is trying to keep The African in close.
The African trying to control but Hirvonen is working from the bottom.

Hirvonen is looking for a triangle but The African pushes his legs off easily.
Hirvonen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The African might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The African postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The African slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Hirvonen is looking to reverse the position.
Hirvonen on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
The African scoring with punches from side control.
The African lands a few punches from side control.
Hirvonen is looking for a sweep.
The African trying to control the position but Hirvonen is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The African in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Hirvonen taking punishment in the form of punches.
Hirvonen sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

The African is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Hirvonen doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time The African.
Hirvonen is trying to get back to full guard.
The African not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The African looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Hirvonen with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The African prevents Hirvonen from improving his position.
The African looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
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 Baako The African will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Hirvonen throws a hook but The African blocks it.
The African bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
The African displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Hirvonen.
Hirvonen swings away with a body shot that misses

and The African counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by The African.
Hirvonen tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Hirvonen looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Hirvonen lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for The African!
Hirvonen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The African is desperately trying to improve his position but Hirvonen has a good base and remains in mount.
Hirvonen landing punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The African taking shots to the head.
Hirvonen landing punches.
The African is squirming around, avoiding Hirvonen's attempts to control the action.
The African slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Hirvonen wants to advance to full mount but The African doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
The African is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Hirvonen wants to control from the top but The African keeps moving.
Hirvonen passes into half guard.
The African tries to get to full guard but Hirvonen has control of the leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hirvonen thows a huge punch but The African dodges it nicely.
Hirvonen has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Hirvonen is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and The African defends it well.
Hirvonen is trying to control the action in half guard but The African is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Hirvonen is breathing heavily.
The African is looking to improve his position.
The African won't allow Hirvonen to pass to mount.
Hirvonen thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing The African to regain full guard.
The African avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Hirvonen connects with a body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hirvonen shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and The African counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by The African.
The African stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hirvonen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The African is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
The African trying to control but Hirvonen is working from the bottom.

Hirvonen throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Hirvonen is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and The African defends well.
Hirvonen is trying to keep The African in close.
The African is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hirvonen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Hirvonen throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Hirvonen throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
The African trying to control but Hirvonen is working from the bottom.
The African won't allow Hirvonen to sweep him here.
The African trying to control but Hirvonen is working from the bottom.
The African trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
The African moves forwards but Hirvonen connects with a nice, crisp jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Baako The African dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

The African throws a body punch but Hirvonen moves out of range.
Hirvonen misses with a body shot.
Hirvonen throws a leg kick

and The African counters with a single leg into guard. Hirvonen didn't expect that.
Hirvonen keeping moving, preventing The African from controlling successfully.
Hirvonen tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hirvonen manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. The African manages to get himself to full guard.
The African keeping moving, preventing Hirvonen from controlling successfully.
Hirvonen looking to sit in guard and control but The African gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Hirvonen has his foot on The African's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. The African works his way back into a safe position though.
Hirvonen looking for a sweep. Not yet Hirvonen, not yet.
Hirvonen takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The African content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The African distracts Hirvonen with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
The African slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Hirvonen tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The African not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The African won't allow Hirvonen to sweep him here.
Hirvonen is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The African trying to control here.
Hirvonen prevents The African from improving his position.
The African avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Hirvonen.
Baako The African is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The African wants to control but Hirvonen is keeping busy and won't allow it.
The African is looking to improve his position.
Hirvonen trying to control from The African's half guard. The African has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
The African keeping moving, preventing Hirvonen from controlling successfully.
Hirvonen passes into half guard.
Hirvonen throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Hirvonen lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hirvonen trying to control from half guard but The African is working away.

Hirvonen 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.
The African is controlling Hirvonen's position as best he can from this difficult position.
The African wants to get back to full guard.

That's four 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.
The African wants to control but Hirvonen is keeping busy.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hirvonen fails with the takedown

and The African counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Hirvonen wants to control but The African is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Hirvonen is looking to improve his position.
The African not doing much here.
Hirvonen is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Pentti Hirvonen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Hirvonen actively working from the bottom here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Baako The African showed his dominance in that final round.
Well The African 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Baako The African!