PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Irmeli Kosonen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Morino (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kosonen's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Kolovrat - Blood of Patriots. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Kosonen
vs
Morino

175 cm
19
175 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

179 cm
20
168 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Irmeli Kosonen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ben Morino!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Sergei Dronov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kosonen shoots in for a double leg but Morino sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Morino stuffs the takedown attempt from Kosonen. Kosonen gets slowly back to his feet.
Morino lands a with a good body shot.
Kosonen is breathing heavily.
Nice body punch from Morino.
Kosonen shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Morino as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Irmeli Kosonen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kosonen needs to keep his hands up - Morino had a free shot at his head there.
Kosonen is looking to clinch but Morino is avoiding it.
Morino throws a right and a left that Kosonen avoids nicely.
Morino misses with a jab, cross combination.
Morino misses with a two punch combination.
Morino stuns Kosonen with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Morino with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Kosonen misses with a double jab
and Kosonen takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Kosonen fails with an attempt to clinch.

Kosonen moves into the clinch.
Morino wants to break free but Kosonen has control.
Morino is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Morino lands a body shot.
Kosonen is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Kosonen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kosonen doesn't manage to clinch there - Morino circles away.
Morino throws a combination. Kosonen tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Morino works over Kosonen's head and body with a nice combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kosonen shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Morino as he avoids it easily.
Kosonen throws a solid leg kick but Morino takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Kosonen.
Morino lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Morino throws a combination. Kosonen tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Irmeli Kosonen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morino digs a good hook to Kosonen's body.
No joy there for Morino, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Kosonen clinches up against the cage.

Kosonen breaks from the clinch.
Morino circles away from the clinch attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Kosonen.
Kosonen tries to clinch up but Morino circles away and keeps his distance.
Kosonen throws a combination that misses
and Morino counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Kosonen throws a left and a right that both miss
and Morino counters with a straight right hand.
Kosonen misses with a low kick.
Morino uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Kosonen.
Left hook, right uppercut from Morino.
Kosonen tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Kosonen swinging wilding here.
Morino ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Kosonen fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Left hook, right uppercut from Morino.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morino lands a jab-cross combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kosonen throws an overhand right that lands on Morino's shoulder, as Morino tries to avoid the shot.
Ben Morino is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Morino looks to score with a jab to the body but Kosonen is just out of range.
No joy there for Kosonen, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Morino throws a lazy right hand but Kosonen sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Kosonen throws a left and a right that both miss
and Morino counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

Kosonen shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Morino wants to get back to full guard.
Nice strikes from Kosonen there.
Kosonen working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Morino slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Morino utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morino looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kosonen with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kosonen advances to half guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Morino blocking the ground and pound attempt from Kosonen.
Morino misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Kosonen stops Morino from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morino trying to control from the bottom.
Morino is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Kosonen's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Kosonen's back!
Morino gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Morino cracks Kosonen with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Kosonen from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
Kosonen grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Kosonen tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kosonen is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Morino with a couple of short strikes.
Kosonen is trying desperately to improve position.
Kosonen on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Kosonen tries to get out of the position.
Morino scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Morino can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Kosonen is looking to escape.
Morino is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Kosonen can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Kosonen is in all sorts of trouble here.
Morino has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Kosonen taking shots to the head.
Kosonen is working to get back to half guard.
Kosonen is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morino cracks Kosonen with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Morino dominating with strikes here.
Morino landing shots from mount.
Morino is landing with some decent strikes but Kosonen is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Kosonen is trying desperately to improve position.
Kosonen is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Kosonen throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Kosonen tries to reverse the position but Morino maintains control.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Morino landing strikes, looking to finish!
Morino landing strikes from the mount and Kosonen is in trouble!
Morino raining down shots from the mount!
Kosonen gets back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Morino throws a right and a left that Kosonen avoids nicely.
Morino slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Morino lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Kosonen shoots and misses
and Morino counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Kosonen slips a jab and a cross from Morino.
Morino works Kosonen's body with a nice hook.
Kosonen takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Kosonen misses with a combination
and Morino counters with a three punch combo that has Kosonen backing up. Kosonen nods at Morino to acknowledge the strikes.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Kosonen misses with a jab, cross combination.
Morino throws a right hand that Kosonen ducks under and follows up with a left that Kosonen also avoids with ease.

Kosonen fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Morino, pushing him back against the cage.
Kosonen drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Morino gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Kosonen tries for a takedown but Morino manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Irmeli Kosonen. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Kosonen breaks the clinch.
Decent striking displayed by Kosonen there.
Morino misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Morino misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kosonen.
Kosonen tries to clinch up but Morino circles away and keeps his distance.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Kosonen tries to clinch up
and Morino counters with a series of strikes. Kosonen will be more careful next time no doubt.
Kosonen throws an off balance right hand
and Kosonen takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morino misses with a double jab.
Horrible takedown by Kosonen or perhaps it was just good defense by Morino which made him look bad.
Morino changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Morino swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Morino takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Kosonen misses the body punch
and Morino counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Morino takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Morino is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Kosonen rather than just go for the knockout.
Morino throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Good shot there by Morino.
Kosonen avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kosonen throws a combination that misses
and Morino counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Morino scores with a three punch combo!

Kosonen is rocked!

Kosonen scores with a takedown into Morino's guard.
Oh Kosonen is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Morino lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Kosonen!
Kosonen seems to have got his legs back now.
Kosonen is in all sorts of trouble here.
Ben Morino has got the better of the ground game so far.
Morino looking to control but Kosonen is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Morino is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Morino working Kosonen over with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morino blocks Kosonen's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Morino lands a heavy elbow.
Morino wants to control the pace but Kosonen is squirming around nicely.
Kosonen is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Morino is landing with some decent strikes but Kosonen is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Kosonen is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Kosonen is in all sorts of trouble here.
The referee warns Kosonen that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Morino looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Kosonen tries to reverse the position but Morino maintains control.
Morino in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Kosonen slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Kosonen tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Kosonen wants to get back to his feet.
Morino looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Kosonen connecting with a few gentle strikes.
Kosonen is refusing to be controlled, as Morino sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morino landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Kosonen is looking to improve his position.

Morino escapes and gets back to his feet.
Morino misses with a wild combination.
Morino misses with a series of wild punches.
Morino is working the combinations to good effect here.
Kosonen on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Irmeli Kosonen is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morino lands a nice hook to Kosonen's body. Kosonen takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Kosonen throws a combination that misses
and Morino connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Morino throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Kosonen.
Kosonen tries to clinch but Morino moves out of range.
Morino takes a swing at Kosonen's ribcage but misses.
Morino stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Kosonen looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Kosonen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morino.
A combination from Morino does no damage.
Morino works Kosonen's body with a nice hook.
Morino misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Danga de danga de dang - Kosonen scores with a four punch combination!
Kosonen misses with a body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kosonen throws a right hand that Morino ducks under and follows up with a left that Morino also avoids with ease.
Morino looks to land a combination but Kosonen avoids it well.
Morino moves away from the strike by Kosonen.
Kosonen lands with a hook. Morino tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Morino misses the shot to the body.
Left hook, right uppercut from Kosonen.
Morino throws a right and a left that Kosonen avoids nicely.
Nice sprawl there from Morino as Kosonen shoots in.
Morino lands a right hook to the body.
Morino connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Morino with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Kosonen fails with the takedown
and Morino makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Morino displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Kosonen avoids the body shot from Morino.
Morino scores with a three punch combo!
Kosonen tries to clinch but Morino is having none of it.
Kosonen swings widly with a right hand
and Morino makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Morino scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Kosonen has taken the fight to the clinch.
Kosonen has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Morino avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Morino has had enough of the clinch but Kosonen keeps him there for the moment.

Kosonen breaks from the clinch.
Kosonen swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Morino showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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.

Morino throws a series of strikes that have Kosonen backpedaling.
Kosonen shoots for a takedown but Morino saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Kosonen takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Nice body punch from Morino.
Morino ducks under a wild hook from Kosonen.
Kosonen throws a right and a left that Morino avoids nicely.
Kosonen is looking to clinch but Morino is avoiding it.
Kosonen misses with a double jab
letting Morino counter with a right hand.
Kosonen throws a left and a right that both miss
and Morino connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Kosonen fails with a takedown attempt.
Morino bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Kosonen's head.
Morino lands with a hook. Kosonen tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Morino punishes Kosonen's body with a nice straight punch.
Morino swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Kosonen counters with a three punch combo that has Morino backing up. Morino nods at Kosonen to acknowledge the strikes.
Kosonen closes the distance looking to clinch
and Morino counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Kosonen closes the distance and clinches.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Kosonen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kosonen throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Morino.
Kosonen dodges the punch combination from Morino.
Kosonen misses with a shot to the body
and Morino counters with a left and a right that stings Kosonen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kosonen throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Kosonen tries to clinch but Morino is having none of it.
Kosonen misses with a head kick.
Morino lands a nice hook to Kosonen's body. Kosonen takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Kosonen has managed to clinch.

Kosonen breaks the clinch.
Morino connects with a crisp jab.
Morino wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Kosonen fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Irmeli Kosonen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kosonen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morino.
A jab lands there for Kosonen.
Kosonen fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Morino looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Kosonen with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Morino closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Kosonen fails to land the takedown.
Morino has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Kosonen slips a jab and a cross from Morino.
Morino lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Morino comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Kosonen shoots in and drives through. Morino sprawls well.
Morino uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Kosonen has time to react.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kosonen shoots in for a takedown but Morino shows good takedown defense.
Kosonen shoots in for a double leg but Morino sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Kosonen with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Morino to score with a decent uppercut.
Kosonen gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Kosonen shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Morino but Morino pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Kosonen throws a right hand that misses
and Morino counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Morino swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Kosonen moves into the clinch.

Kosonen breaks from the clinch.
A right-left combo lands from Morino.
Morino fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Kosonen fails with the takedown.
Kosonen drops his hands momentarily and Morino takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Kosonen shoots in but Morino avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Morino works over Kosonen's head and body with a nice combination.
Kosonen looks to land a combination. Morino sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Kosonen misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nice takedown defense from Morino. No joy for Kosonen on that attempt.
Morino scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Kosonen connects with a crisp jab.

Kosonen has taken the fight to the clinch.
Kosonen drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Morino gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morino can't break the clinch.

Kosonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kosonen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Morino paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kosonen closes this distance looking for a takedown but Morino circles away.
A punch combination from Morino misses.
Kosonen fails to land with a series of punches.

Kosonen shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Kosonen showed some decent athleticism there.
Morino is looking to improve his position.
Morino makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Morino.
Morino is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Morino has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Morino landing strikes from the mount and Kosonen is in trouble!
Morino lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morino is landing with some decent strikes but Kosonen is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Morino scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Morino scores with a couple of good head shots there.

Morino is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Kosonen has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Kosonen!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!

Kosonen stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Kosonen moves into the clinch.
Morino wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Kosonen wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Kosonen keeps control of Morino as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Morino is trying to break free.
Morino has had enough of the clinch but Kosonen keeps him there for the moment.
Morino tries to break the clinch but Kosonen is controlling the position.
Morino wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Kosonen breaks the clinch.
Kosonen fails with the takedown
and Morino counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Irmeli Kosonen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Danga de danga de dang - Morino scores with a four punch combination!
Kosonen throws a left and a right that both miss
and Morino counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Morino throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Kosonen fails to land with a series of punches.
Kosonen lands with a right hand.
Kosonen swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Morino counters with a lovely straight right hand!

And that's the end of the fight!
Ben Morino comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Morino winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ben Morino!