PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Eino Nappi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paha Faarao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nappi's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, O Fortuna. Faarao comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Volbeat - The Human Instrument kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Nappi
vs
Faarao

161 cm
27
134 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

191 cm
19
145 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

FinnFighters Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Eino Nappi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Paha Faarao!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Marco Blurström and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Faarao misses with a body kick.
Nappi shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Faarao defends it nicely.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Faarao.
Nappi misses with a takedown attempt - Faarao sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Faarao looking to land some kicks to the body here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Faarao throws a half hearted mid kick.
Nappi fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Faarao.
Faarao pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Good leg kick by Nappi there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nappi looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Faarao is fending him off so far but Nappi persists. Nope, Faarao circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eino Nappi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nappi looks for a takedown but Faarao sprawls well.
Faarao throws a push kick but Nappi slaps the foot to one side.

Nappi scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Nappi is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Faarao has escaped the position, nice work there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Nappi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Nappi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Nappi working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
An elbow from Nappi crashes against the mat.
Faarao is trying to improve his position.
Nappi postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Faarao can't do much from the bottom here.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Faarao misses with an attempted mid kick.
Paha Faarao seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice sprawl there from Faarao as Nappi shoots in.
Nappi looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Faarao is fending him off so far but Nappi persists. Nope, Faarao circles away and we're back to standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice body kick there by Faarao.
Nappi closes the distance and clinches up with Faarao, looking for a takedown. Nappi pushes Faarao against the cage but Faarao circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Faarao looks for the body kick but Nappi saw that one coming.
Nappi looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Faarao.
Nappi is trying hard to land a takedown here. Faarao sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Faarao throws a half hearted mid kick.
Faarao throws a wild body kick that Nappi sees coming a mile off.
Nappi changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Faarao tries to avoid it but Nappi manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Faarao to the ground. Faarao escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

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.
Faarao leaves Nappi with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Faarao goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Nappi is defended easily by Faarao.
Nappi moves out of range of the body kick from Faarao.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nappi pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Faarao looking to land some kicks to the body here.
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 Eino Nappi will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Nappi moves out of range of the body kick.
Faarao throws the kick towards the body but Nappi avoids it.
Nappi moves out of range of the body kick from Faarao.
Nappi blocks the body kick.
Faarao goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Nappi shoots in looking for a takedown. Faarao tries to sprawl out of it but Nappi keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Faarao manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Nice sprawl there from Faarao as Nappi shoots in.
Faarao is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nappi moves out of range as Faarao throws a body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Faarao throws a body kick that misses.

Nappi closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Faarao did well to prevent Nappi getting side control.
Faarao on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Faarao tries to get to full guard but Nappi has control of the leg.
Nappi 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.
Faarao is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Faarao is looking to control Nappi's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Faarao avoid being mounted?
Nappi wants to pass the guard but Faarao is defending well.
Nappi not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Faarao actively working from the bottom here.
Nappi sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Faarao throws a body kick that misses.
Nappi moves out of range of the body kick from Faarao.
A slow jab from Nappi misses its intended target.
Nappi throws a front kick that sends Faarao stumbling back into the cage.
Nappi looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eino Nappi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nappi closes this distance looking for a takedown but Faarao circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Faarao looks to throw a body kick

and Nappi counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Faarao is staying active underneath Nappi, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Nappi is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Faarao has his hands clasped together around Nappi's back. He's all about the action.
Nappi is keen to just control but Faarao is a slippery customer.

Nappi is trying to work for a kimura but Faarao is defending well.
Nappi passes to side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Faarao is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Nappi looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Faarao is avoiding damage well.
Faarao tries to bench press Nappi off him but Nappi keeps the position.

Nappi working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Faarao regains half guard.
Faarao wants to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eino Nappi dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Faarao looks to land a body kick but Nappi moved away.
Nappi shoots in looking for a takedown. Faarao tries to sprawl out of it but Nappi keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Faarao manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Nappi.
Faarao throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Faarao pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Nappi avoids a kick to the body.
Nappi moves out of range of the body kick from Faarao.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Faarao throws the kick towards the body but Nappi avoids it.
Faarao throws a body kick the misses
and Nappi counters with a nice leg kick.

Nappi shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Faarao wants to control but Nappi is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Nappi works his way into full mount!
Nappi sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Nappi working Faarao over with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nappi looking to control but Faarao is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Nappi unloads with some shots from mount but Faarao bucks and avoids them well.
Faarao bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Faarao stays in close to Nappi's body and controls the position.
Nappi manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Nappi looking to ground and pound but Faarao is blocking nicely.
Nappi controlling the pace for now.

Nappi looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nappi is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Faarao can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Faarao holds of for dear life.
Faarao is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Nappi throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Faarao because Nappi loaded up on that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Nappi throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Nappi prevents Faarao from getting the reversal.
Nappi wants to control the pace but Faarao is squirming around nicely.
Poor strikes thrown by Nappi there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Eino Nappi is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nappi trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Faarao is in all sorts of trouble here.
Faarao is squirming around, avoiding Nappi's attempts to control the action.
Nappi pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Faarao tries to hold on but Nappi postures up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eino Nappi showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Nappi, 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eino Nappi!