PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tor Aaroey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joaquim Williams (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.

Aaroey
vs
Williams

205 cm
19
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
18
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

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, Tor Aaroey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Joaquim Williams!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Matti Vanhoillinen and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Aaroey shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Aaroey was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Aaroey lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Williams is working to get back to half guard.
Aaroey takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Aaroey looking to ground and pound but Williams is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aaroey lands a nice shot to the head.
Aaroey controlling the pace for now.
Poor strikes thrown by Aaroey there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Williams tries to lock up and control but Aaroey gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Aaroey lands a big elbow.
Aaroey controlling from mount.
Aaroey has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Williams's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aaroey lands a nice shot to the head.
Williams avoids a series of strikes thrown by Aaroey.
Aaroey controlling the position easily from mount.
Aaroey is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aaroey thowing shots but they're missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Aaroey thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Williams is looking to get to half guard.
Aaroey 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.
Aaroey misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Aaroey content just to control the position here.

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.
Aaroey raining down shots from the mount!
Aaroey looking to control but Williams is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Williams is desperately trying to improve his position but Aaroey has a good base and remains in mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tor Aaroey dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Williams throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Aaroey is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Williams's half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Williams manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Williams working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Aaroey.
Aaroey trying to move into half guard but instead Williams has managed to sweep!
Aaroey is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Aaroey content to control rather than advance.
Aaroey really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aaroey not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Williams is refusing to be controlled, as Aaroey sits in half guard.
Williams is looking to control Aaroey's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Williams avoid being mounted?

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.
Aaroey slows the pace down in half guard.
Aaroey lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Williams is trying to control but can't.
Williams is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aaroey takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Williams has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Aaroey is working away from the top position though.
Williams is refusing to be controlled, as Aaroey sits in half guard.
Williams is looking for a sweep. Aaroey is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Aaroey with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Aaroey's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Williams is on the bottom, trying to hold on to half guard. He's throwing a few small shots here, to keep his opponent honest.
Aaroey missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Williams tries to roll over but Aaroey keeps him under control.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Good work by Aaroey as he checks the leg kick.
Williams tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Aaroey swivels and escapes.
Williams throws a leg kick but Aaroey moved away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tor Aaroey dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Aaroey tries to close the distance and clinch but Williams swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Aaroey is looking to clinch but Williams is avoiding it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Aaroey looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Aaroey moves into the clinch.
Aaroey taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Williams tries to break the clinch but Aaroey is controlling the position.
Aaroey lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Williams is trying to break the clinch but Aaroey has him pressed against the cage.

Aaroey escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Aaroey takes a head kick and keeps coming.

It looks like Tor Aaroey has been cut.
Williams pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Williams tries to clinch but Aaroey moves out of range.
Aaroey keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Williams, right into the meat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A solid leg kick lands there for Williams.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nice takedown defense from Aaroey. No joy for Williams on that attempt.
Aaroey scores with a head kick.

Aaroey has Williams up against the cage in a clinch.

Aaroey pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A leg kick checked by Aaroey.
Aaroey throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
No luck for Aaroey with that takedown attempt.
Aaroey shoots for a takedown but Williams saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Aaroey avoids the head kick by Williams.
No joy there for Williams, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Williams lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
A head kick misses from Williams.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Williams misses with a few strikes there.
Joaquim Williams seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Aaroey sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Aaroey throws a combination that misses
and Williams counters with a good low kick that Aaroey was not able to check.
Williams throws a head kick that Aaroey semi-blocks.
Williams closes the distance looking to clinch

and Aaroey counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Aaroey jumps guard but Williams stands there with Aaroey around his waist. Aaroey gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tor Aaroey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Aaroey keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Williams's efforts to push away.

Williams breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Williams shoots in for a double leg but Aaroey sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Aaroey rushes Williams and presses him up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aaroey throws a knee to the head but misses.
Aaroey prevents Williams from breaking the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Aaroey fails to land.
Williams tries to break the clinch but Aaroey is controlling the position.
Aaroey gets through Williams's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Aaroey has Williams pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Williams manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Williams landing knees to the head.

Aaroey pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Williams cracks the inside of Aaroey's front leg.
Williams looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Aaroey avoids the head kick by Williams.
Williams lands a nice looking kick to the body. Aaroey takes a step back to recover.
Williams scores with a nice body kick.
Joaquim Williams has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Williams shoots in and drives through. Aaroey sprawls well.
Williams avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Williams dives in and grabs Aaroey's left leg, looking for a takedown. Aaroey pushes down on Williams's head and hops out.
Aaroey takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Aaroey forces Williams back against the cage and clinches.
Aaroey is pushing Williams up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Williams pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Aaroey fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Williams avoids it really well and circles away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Left hook, right uppercut from Williams.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joaquim Williams comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Aaroey 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tor Aaroey!