PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Zhaka Zulu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan Heydrikson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Zulu
vs
Heydrikson

181 cm
24
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
191 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Zhaka Zulu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Dan Heydrikson!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Heydrikson stuffs the takedown attempt from Zulu. Zulu gets slowly back to his feet.

Heydrikson darts in and clinches Zulu up against the cage.
Heydrikson just leaning against Zulu, taking a breather.
Heydrikson continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.
Heydrikson is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Zulu drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Heydrikson gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Heydrikson manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Heydrikson forces Zulu back against the cage and clinches.
Zulu goes for a takedown attempt but Heydrikson pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zhaka Zulu. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A nice combination there by Heydrikson.
Heydrikson scores with a punch to the head.
Dan Heydrikson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A low kick from Heydrikson is predictable there

and Zulu counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Heydrikson is looking to escape.
Zulu landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

It looks like Dan Heydrikson has been cut.
Ground and pound from Zulu.
Zulu looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Heydrikson keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Zulu working the head and body with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zulu not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Zulu is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Zulu throwing shots but Heydrikson is blocking nicely.
Zulu thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Heydrikson's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zulu not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Zulu not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Zulu thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Heydrikson's head.
Heydrikson wants to get back to his feet.
Zulu is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Zulu lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Heydrikson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Zulu.
Zulu scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Zulu lands strikes from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Zulu lands a nice short elbow.
Zulu winds up and cracks Heydrikson with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That has opened up Dan Heydrikson's cut even more.
Zulu thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Heydrikson's head.
Zulu is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Dan Heydrikson's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.
Heydrikson is trying to stand.
Heydrikson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zulu looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Heydrikson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Dan Heydrikson's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Zhaka Zulu!