PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Topi Takala (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Phelan Kell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Takala comes to the cage accompanied by Volga. Topi Takala has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Takala
vs
Kell

198 cm
21
194 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

205 cm
21
190 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Kobra Clothing Inc.

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 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Topi Takala!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Phelan Kell!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Roosa Järviläinen and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kell connects with a nice looking jab.
Kell displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Kell lands with a shot to the body.
Takala fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Kell is out of range.
Takala is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Kell.
Takala misses with a hook
and Kell counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Kell throws a good cross that connects.
Kell ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Takala moves away.
Takala throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Takala keeps the fight on the outside.
Takala misses with an uppercut. Kell saw that one coming.
Kell is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Takala.
Takala throws a jab but it's blocked by Kell.
Kell moves into range and connects with a jab.
Kell blocks a jab.
A swing and a miss from Takala.
Topi Takala seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takala misses with a wild body shot.
Kell on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
A head kick misses from Takala.
Kell lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Takala at a distance.
Takala bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A jab from Kell misses.
Kell tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Takala manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Takala avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kell fails in his attempt to clinch.
Takala throws a hook but Kell avoids it easily.
Takala swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Kell scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
A telegraphed right hand from Kell misses the target.
Takala just misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kell connects with a body shot.
Kell thows a body shot but no joy.
Kell throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Kell moves out of range as Takala throws a body kick.
Kell throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Kell uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Takala.
Takala misses with a head kick.
Kell throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kell cracks Takala with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Kell listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Takala with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Kell scores with a jab to the body.
Takala misses with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kell takes a swing at Takala's ribcage but misses.
Takala misses with a hook
and Kell counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Kell lands with a nice combination. Takala backs away looking to recover.
Takala uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Kell.
Kell is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Takala rather than just go for the knockout.
Kell is looking to clinch but Takala is avoiding it.
Kell fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Takala on the side of the head.
Kell blocks a jab.
Kell tries to clinch up
and Takala cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Kell rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Takala moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Takala moves forwards but Kell connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Kell moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jab from Kell.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Takala uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Kell.
Kell fails in his attempt to clinch.
Takala circles away from the clinch attempt
enabling Takala to counter with a crisp jab.
Takala throws a low kick but Kell moves out of range easily.
Takala on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Kell misses with a looping right.
Takala misses with a straight left.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Takala defending well as Kell loads up on a big left hand.
Kell has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Kell throws a hook but Takala avoids it easily.
Kell moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Nice uppercut there from Takala.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Phelan Kell dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Takala throws a right hand that misses
and Kell counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Kell throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Takala really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Takala fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Kell has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Kell moves away from the strike by Takala.
Kell defending well as Takala loads up on a big left hand.
Kell throws a hook but Takala avoids it easily.
Kell scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Kell connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Takala's hands.
Kell thows a body shot but no joy.
Takala lands with an uppercut that bounces Kell off the cage and back into range.
Takala swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Kell takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
A big left from Takala misses.
Takala misses with a hook to the body
and Kell counters with a right hand to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takala throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Kell on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Takala tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kell was well out of range. Poor timing from Takala.
Takala has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Kell finds it's way round the side to connect with Takala's head.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kell looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Takala lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Takala keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Kell.
Kell throws a shot to the body.
Takala lands a nice looking body shot.
Kell has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

It looks like Phelan Kell has been cut.
Kell wants to clinch up but Takala keeps it at a distance.
A slow jab from Kell misses its intended target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kell tries to clinch but Takala is having none of it.
Takala just misses with a punch to the body.
Takala throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Takala keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kell throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Takala throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Kell closes the distance and pushes Takala back into the cage.
Takala digs a right hand underneath Kell's ribcage. Kell let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Kell tries to work over Takala's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Takala lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Kell backwards.
Takala wants a takedown but no success here.
Takala blocking some punches.
Takala pushes Kell back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Takala is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takala blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Takala is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Kell is defending well for now.
Takala stalling the fight.
Takala wants to take the fight to the mat but Kell manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Kell lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Kell working aggressively here.
Takala tries to throw a body punch but Kell avoids it by throwing Takala back against the cage.
Kell lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Takala.

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

Kell instigates a clinch.
Kell throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Kell lands a left hand.
Takala lands a hook that snaps the head of Kell backwards.
Kell misses with some punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kell throws a punch but it's blocked by Takala.
Kell trying to land knees to the body.
Takala throws a head punch that misses.
Kell misses with a short punch on the inside.
Kell swings away with an uppercut that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Takala working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Takala is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Kell misses with a hook to the ribs.
Kell on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Takala's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Takala pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Kell walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Kell will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Topi Takala will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Phelan Kell's cut.
That's time! Takala's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. 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.

Kell gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Kell's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!

Takala breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kell lands with a good body shot.
Kell moves in looking to clinch but Takala pushes him off.
Kell tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Takala paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Takala connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Takala looks to land a left hand but Kell moved out of range nicely.
Takala throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Kell pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Takala circles away from the clinch attempt.
Takala rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kell moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Kell walks into a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takala is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Kell.
Phelan Kell seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Kell throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Kell just misses with a punch to the body.
Kell lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Kell slips a jab from Takala.
Takala circles away from the clinch attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kell looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kell's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Takala connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Kell scrambles back to his feet.
Kell fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Takala manages to avoid it.
The crowd cheers as Kell lands an impressive looking overhand right. Takala doesn't seem phased though.
Kell lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Kell looks to land a left hand but Takala moved out of range nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takala connects with a nice looking jab.
Kell avoids the body shot from Takala.
Takala uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Kell.
Kell fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Takala manages to avoid it.
Nice uppercut there from Takala.
Takala looks to land a combination but Kell avoids it well.
A jab from Takala misses.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kell staying out of range there.
Takala will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kell slips under a jab from Takala.
Kell fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kell throws a big shot that misses.
Takala stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Takala lunges at Kell with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Kell's hand.
Takala thumps Kell with a low kick.
Takala clobbers Kell with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Kell lands with a good body shot.
Takala throws a series of strikes that have Kell backpedaling.
Kell tests Takala's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Takala takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Takala misses with a few strikes there.
Takala takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Takala throws the left hand but Kell avoids the punch easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kell swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Kell walks into a left hand.
Kell swings for the body but Takala moves out of range.
Kell moves out of range of the strikes.
Takala throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Kell.
Takala throws a hook but Kell blocks it.
Takala looks to land a left hand but Kell moved out of range nicely.
Kell misses the shot to the body.
Good shot there by Kell.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kell scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Takala doesn't seem bothered though.
Kell lands a slapping body shot.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kell bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Takala's head.
Kell takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Topi Takala.
I think Takala 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 28:30
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Phelan Kell!
Phelan Kell spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a big arrogant.