PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kareefa Zhenny (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Haastu Turak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Haastu Turak will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Zhenny
vs
Turak

208 cm
18
209 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

187 cm
19
205 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Enjoys gardening

Hell's Balls Recovery (160)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kareefa Zhenny!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Haastu Turak!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Anni Minnemäki and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zhenny shoots and misses

and Turak counters with a single leg into guard. Zhenny didn't expect that.
Zhenny is trying to keep Turak in close.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Turak controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Turak trying to control the position from guard on top but Zhenny is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Haastu Turak.
Turak shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Zhenny defends it nicely.
Turak closes the distance and clinches up with Zhenny, looking for a takedown. Turak pushes Zhenny against the ropes but Zhenny circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Zhenny really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Turak shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Zhenny sprawls well. Zhenny wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Turak gets slowly back to his feet.
Kareefa Zhenny has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Haastu Turak.

Zhenny feints and as Turak raises his hands in defense, Zhenny changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Zhenny lands a couple of digs.
Zhenny with a flurry of punches that miss.
Zhenny loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Zhenny wants to stand and escape but instead Turak has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Turak trying to control the position from guard on top but Zhenny is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Turak engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Zhenny is looking for a triangle but Turak pushes his legs off easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Turak avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Turak trying to control the position from guard on top but Zhenny is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zhenny is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Turak passes Zhenny's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zhenny is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zhenny is not content to let Turak control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zhenny is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Turak pulls his head out easily.
Turak trying to control from half guard but Zhenny is working away.
Zhenny has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Turak is working away from the top position though.
Turak seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Turak wants to take a breather but Zhenny is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Turak passes to full mount!
Turak trying to control but Zhenny is having none of it.
Zhenny tries to reverse the position but Turak maintains control.
Zhenny takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Turak throws some wild stikes that Zhenny manages to avoid easily.
Turak misses with a head shot.
Turak looking to control but Zhenny is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Turak connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Turak wants to control the pace but Zhenny is squirming around nicely.
Turak looking to finish with strikes here!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Zhenny shoots in for a double leg but Turak sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Kareefa Zhenny seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zhenny closes the distance and clinches up with Turak, looking for a takedown. Zhenny pushes Turak against the ropes but Turak circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Zhenny tries to clinch there but Turak circles away.
Zhenny shoots in for a takedown but Turak shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kareefa Zhenny. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Turak shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Zhenny is trying to defend but Turak finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Zhenny is staying active underneath Turak, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Zhenny moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Turak in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Turak has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Turak advances to half guard.
Zhenny wants to get back to his feet.
Turak is looking to take a break and control but Zhenny is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Haastu Turak has got the better of the ground game so far.
Zhenny is trying to get back to full guard.
Turak wants to control but Zhenny is keeping him busy.
Turak prevents Zhenny from standing back up.
Turak wants to take a breather but Zhenny is having none of it.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Haastu Turak hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Zhenny shoots in but Turak avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Turak shoots in for a takedown but Zhenny shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Zhenny feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Zhenny trying to control the position from guard on top but Turak is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Turak manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
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!
Zhenny wants to control but Turak is having none of it.
Turak trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Turak controlling the pace for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee warns Zhenny that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Turak wants to control the pace but Zhenny is squirming around nicely.
Turak in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Zhenny is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Turak landing strikes from the mount and Zhenny is in trouble!
Turak wants to control the pace but Zhenny is squirming around nicely.
Turak landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Turak looking to control and managing it successfully.
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!
The referee warns Zhenny that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Turak controlling from mount.
Turak looking to control but Zhenny is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Zhenny wants to control but Turak is having none of it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Turak can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Zhenny is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Haastu Turak showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Zhenny's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Zhenny waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Turak.
Turak fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Zhenny fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zhenny looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zhenny misses with a few strikes there.
Zhenny tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Turak paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Zhenny fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Turak to the ground. Zhenny is now in Turak's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Turak trying to control the position.
Zhenny loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Zhenny drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Turak manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Zhenny has Turak in his guard.
Turak advances position into side control!
Zhenny tries to buck Turak off but Turak is having none of it.
Turak wants to lay and pray for a moment but Zhenny keeps working.
Zhenny is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Turak trying to control the action but Zhenny is working from the bottom.
Turak might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Zhenny kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Turak tries to move to mount but Zhenny blocks the move with his legs.
Turak is looking to take a break and control but Zhenny is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Zhenny struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhenny is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Turak is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Turak shoots in but Zhenny avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Zhenny shoots in for a takedown but Turak shows good takedown defense.
Turak dodges the punch combination from Zhenny.
Zhenny misses with a takedown attempt

and Turak counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Turak.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kareefa Zhenny. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Turak controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Zhenny on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Zhenny tries to get out of the position.
Zhenny working a defensive guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zhenny wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Zhenny wants to stand but Turak is controlling the position.

Zhenny working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Turak doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Turak manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Turak stopping the sweep attempt from Zhenny.
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!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Turak's corner is telling him to maintain position.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Haastu Turak.
I've got Turak 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 27:30
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Haastu Turak!