PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Marcelo Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lillen Eklund (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marcelo Garcia could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Lillen Eklund's chin.

Garcia
vs
Eklund

171 cm
23
169 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

180 cm
25
185 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Knockout power

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 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Marcelo Garcia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Lillen Eklund!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Johanna Lukiainen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia moves out of range of the body kick.
Eklund lands with a kick to the ribs.
Eklund takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Eklund misses with a jab to the body
and Garcia counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Eklund looks to land a right hand but Garcia moved out of range.
Eklund uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Eklund connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Garcia misses with a body shot.
Eklund throws a lazy right hand but Garcia sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Eklund keeps Garcia at a distance using the push kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Garcia takes a jab right on the kisser.
Eklund moves away from the strike by Garcia.
Eklund lands a lovely overhand right.
Garcia swings for the body but Eklund moves out of range.
Garcia avoids the head kick by Eklund.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Lillen Eklund is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Garcia throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Eklund feints and then cracks Garcia's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Garcia down.
Eklund scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Eklund throws a head kick that half lands.

It looks like Marcelo Garcia has been cut.

Oooooh!!! Eklund has knocked Garcia down with a huge combo! Eklund steps away and waves a wobbly Garcia back to his feet! This one might not go much longer!

Garcia is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Eklund moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Oh Garcia is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Garcia is breathing heavily.
Eklund connects with a solid leg kick.
Garcia seems to have got his legs back now.
Eklund misses with a hook.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Garcia crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Eklund - the referee stops the clock and Garcia gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Eklund. Garcia manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Eklund, as that shot connected.
Garcia with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Eklund to score with a decent uppercut.
Eklund plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eklund tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Eklund has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Eklund missing with a left hand there. Garcia was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Eklund moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Eklund goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Eklund.
Garcia on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Eklund tests Garcia's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Eklund moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Eklund connects with an inside leg kick.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Eklund!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Eklund connects with an inside leg kick.
Lillen Eklund seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Eklund misses with a wild combination.
Eklund lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Eklund comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Eklund fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Garcia misses with a two punch combination.
Eklund punishes Garcia's body with a nice straight punch.
Garcia has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Eklund finds it's way round the side to connect with Garcia's head.
Garcia on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Eklund lands with a kick to the ribs.
Garcia will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Eklund fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Garcia on the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice shot lands for Eklund.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Eklund keeps Garcia at a distance using the push kick.
Eklund pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Garcia back to the cage. Eklund follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Garcia misses with a body shot.
A cross from Eklund lands.
Eklund turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Nice cross by Eklund.
Garcia fails with an attempt to clinch.
Eklund scores with a crisp jab that stopped Garcia in his tracks.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Eklund.
Eklund scores with a jab to the jaw.
Garcia ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Eklund moves away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lillen Eklund dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Marcelo Garcia's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Eklund throws a combination that misses
enabling Garcia to counter with a crisp jab.
Marcelo Garcia is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Garcia blocks the body kick.

Garcia shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Eklund is trying to defend but Garcia finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Garcia wants to control but Eklund is keeping him busy.
Eklund tries to roll over but Garcia keeps him under control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Garcia is trying to control. Eklund wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Garcia wants to free his trapped foot but Eklund is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Eklund blocking the ground and pound attempt from Garcia.
Eklund is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Garcia is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Eklund defends it well.
Well, if Garcia is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

Garcia is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Garcia trying to control from half guard but Eklund is working away.
Eklund really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Garcia. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Garcia is working for a submission of some sort.
Garcia missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Eklund keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Garcia missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Garcia wants to work for an arm triangle but Eklund is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Eklund is looking to control Garcia's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Eklund avoid being mounted?

Garcia is working for a kimura but Eklund is defending it quite comfortably.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Garcia is looking for a kimura but Eklund is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Garcia to get the leverage.
Garcia is looking to advance position but Eklund won't allow it.
Garcia thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Eklund's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Eklund blocking the ground and pound attempt from Garcia.

Garcia is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Eklund defends it well.
Garcia prevents Eklund from improving his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Garcia sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Eklund defending well though.

Garcia is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Eklund is staying active underneath Garcia, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Eklund is defending against the submission attempts here by Garcia.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Garcia missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcelo Garcia dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Marcelo Garcia's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Eklund throws a shot from downtown. Garcia moves away and avoids it.
Eklund fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Garcia checks it well.
Garcia throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Eklund thows a body shot but no joy.
A thudding body kick lands there by Eklund!
Garcia takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Eklund has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Eklund throws a big shot that misses.
Eklund misses with an uppercut.
Eklund throws a poor cross that misses
and Eklund takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Garcia misses with a two punch combination.
Eklund misses with a straight left.
Nice uppercut lands for Eklund. That snapped Garcia's head back.
Garcia takes one to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eklund scores with a body shot.
Garcia throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Eklund counters with a nice low kick that buckles Garcia's knee momentarily.
Eklund clobbers Garcia with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Lillen Eklund seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Garcia misses with a double jab.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Garcia avoids the head kick by Eklund.
Eklund fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Garcia looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Garcia ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Garcia takes one on the button.
Eklund tries a head kick but it misses.
Eklund throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Garcia checks a low kick from Eklund.
Eklund misses with a low kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eklund throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Garcia looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Garcia's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Eklund connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Garcia scrambles back to his feet.
Nice uppercut there from Eklund.
Garcia closes the distance looking to clinch
and Eklund counters with a leg kick.
Garcia misses with a wild combination.
Some bone on bone action there as Garcia checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Eklund connects with a solid leg kick.
Garcia is looking to wear down Eklund with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Garcia ducks under a wild hook from Eklund.
A clash of legs there as Garcia blocks the low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia throws a predictable looking body shot
letting Eklund counter with a right hand.
Garcia throws a right hand that misses
and Eklund counters with a solid body kick.
Garcia takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Garcia takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Eklund throws a hook but Garcia avoids it easily.
Eklund misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Garcia misses with a double jab.
Garcia avoids a punch combination nicely.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Eklund, right into the meat.
Garcia ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eklund misses with a double jab.
Eklund showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Garcia.
Garcia looks to score with a jab to the body but Eklund is just out of range.
Garcia throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Garcia comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Eklund throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Garcia showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Eklund.
Nice takedown defense from Eklund. No joy for Garcia on that attempt.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A solid leg kick lands there for Eklund.
Eklund is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Garcia.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lillen Eklund comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Eklund has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:29
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lillen Eklund!