PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Simon Rhea (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nalle Karhunen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Rhea
vs
Karhunen

190 cm
22
184 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

175 cm
19
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Simon Rhea!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Nalle Karhunen!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Tarja Halkonen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Karhunen moves into range and clinches up with Rhea.
Rhea looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Karhunen breaks from the clinch.
Karhunen lands the left hand.
Karhunen is looking to clinch but Rhea is avoiding it.
Rhea connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Karhunen is looking to clinch.
Karhunen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rhea swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Rhea tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Rhea will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Karhunen is looking to clinch but Rhea is avoiding it.
Karhunen throws a head kick but Rhea moves out of range.
Karhunen is looking to clinch but Rhea is avoiding it.

Karhunen moves into the clinch.

Karhunen has hold of one of Rhea's legs. Rhea is fighting the takedown attempt but Karhunen gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rhea can't keep his opponent in guard - Karhunen advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Karhunen frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Rhea knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Karhunen on the ground.
Rhea taking shots to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Karhunen stands up from mount. Strange move.
Karhunen swings and misses with a hook to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Karhunen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rhea tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Rhea closes the distance and clinches.

Karhunen manages to break the clinch.
Karhunen wants to clinch up but Rhea keeps it at a distance.
Rhea is looking to clinch.

Karhunen has closed the distance and engaged Rhea in a clinch.
Karhunen lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Rhea backwards.

Rhea breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Karhunen stalks Rhea and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Rhea's face. Rhea staggers backwards, shaken.
Karhunen fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
The fight stays on the outside here - Karhunen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Karhunen closes the distance looking to clinch

and Rhea counters with a shoot takedown. Karhunen fights it but they end up in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karhunen with a couple of shots from the bottom there - nothing Rhea can't handle though.

Karhunen has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rhea off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Karhunen drives through and clinches with Rhea against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rhea prevents a takedown attempt there.

Rhea breaks from the clinch.
Rhea scores with a jab to the body.

Karhunen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Rhea lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Karhunen tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Rhea just stands there and leans against the cage.

Karhunen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Karhunen shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Rhea is in all sorts of trouble here.
Karhunen lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Karhunen gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!

Karhunen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Karhunen decides to stand up, so the ref orders Rhea to his feet.
Karhunen rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rhea moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Karhunen falls off balance throwing a combination

and Rhea counters with a shoot takedown. Karhunen fights it but they end up in guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Karhunen holds on and takes a little breather.

Karhunen manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Karhunen throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Karhunen is looking to clinch but Rhea is avoiding it.
Rhea pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Karhunen closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Karhunen gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Nalle Karhunen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karhunen throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Karhunen misses with a head kick.
Karhunen showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Rhea.
No luck for Karhunen with that takedown attempt.
Simon Rhea has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nalle Karhunen.
A head kick misses from Karhunen.
Karhunen wants to clinch.
Rhea is looking to clinch but Karhunen is avoiding it.

Rhea moves into the clinch.
Karhunen trying to stall but Rhea improves his position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Rhea is trying to trip Karhunen. He has hold of a leg but Karhunen is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Rhea persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Rhea wants to get up but he can't break Karhunen's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Rhea slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Rhea throws a strike aimed at the side of Karhunen's head but Karhunen avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nalle Karhunen dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Karhunen fails to land the takedown.
Karhunen throws a lazy head kick

and Rhea counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Karhunen's guard now.
Karhunen looking to hit a scissor sweep but Rhea is one step ahead there.
Karhunen manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Rhea in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

Karhunen gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Karhunen shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rhea as he jumps to the side.
Karhunen has his takedown stuffed

and Rhea moves into the clinch.
Simon Rhea has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nalle Karhunen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Karhunen.
Karhunen wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Rhea has him pressed against the cage.
Karhunen throws an elbow but it misses.

Karhunen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Rhea has closed the distance and engaged Karhunen in a clinch.
Rhea wants to break the clinch but can't.

Karhunen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rhea will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Karhunen gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Karhunen is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Rhea can't fight it off and eventually Karhunen manages to take the fight to the floor. Rhea looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Karhunen stands up from Rhea's guard - Karhunen perhaps looking for a knockout.
Karhunen closes the distance looking to clinch
and Rhea counters with a nice body kick.

Rhea shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karhunen is staying active underneath Rhea, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Karhunen makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Karhunen is looking to land body kicks.
Karhunen lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Karhunen tries to clinch up.
Karhunen shoots and misses
and Rhea counters with a leg kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Karhunen forces Rhea back against the cage and clinches.
Karhunen stalling in the clinch but Rhea improves position.

Karhunen breaks the clinch.

Karhunen shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Rhea's guard.
Rhea looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Rhea trying to keep a closed guard but Karhunen is proving a slippery customer.
Rhea will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Karhunen throwing strikes from guard but Rhea blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rhea is working an open guard so Karhunen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

Rhea gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Karhunen trying to control but Rhea is working from the bottom.

Karhunen drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Karhunen seems to have locked his on tight now - Rhea screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Karhunen, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Nalle Karhunen!