PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Phol Great (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jarkko Rauta (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.

Great
vs
Rauta

193 cm
18
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
22
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Inexperienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Phol Great!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jarkko Rauta!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Roosa Järviläinen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rauta moves out of range of the body kick.

Rauta drives through and clinches with Great against the cage.
Great tries a knee to the head but Rauta blocks it.
Rauta landing knees to the body.
Rauta avoiding damage.
Great tries to land a knee to the head but Rauta blocks with his arms.
Great is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Rauta is defending well for now.
Rauta avoiding damage as Great throws knees to the body.
A shot in the inside from Rauta.

It looks like Phol Great has been cut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rauta utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Great is breathing heavily.
Great with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rauta lands a left hand that snaps the head of Great backwards.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rauta.
Rauta working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rauta comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Rauta lands a knee to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rauta.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rauta utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Rauta landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rauta digs a right hand underneath Great's ribcage. Great let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Rauta crunches a lovely knee into Great's ribcage.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rauta utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
A right hook to the body lands for Rauta.
Rauta working Great over with knees to the body.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Rauta lands a body punch.
Rauta working Great over with knees to the body.
Rauta landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Rauta.
Rauta landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rauta is pushing Great up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Great using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rauta has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Great trying to land knees to the body.
Rauta lands a good knee to the midsection. Great won't want to take too many of those.
Rauta creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Great's defenses.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rauta effectively controlling the action here.
Great throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rauta blocks it with crossed arms.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rauta lands a knee to the body.
Rauta lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Rauta working Great over with knees to the body.
Rauta using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rauta lands a knee to the body.
A nice right hand lands inside from Rauta.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rauta obliges.
Rauta landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Rauta putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Great in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Rauta.
Great with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rauta avoiding damage.
Rauta receives a warning from the referee for stalling.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Rauta - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rauta obliges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rauta scores a nice knee to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rauta landing knees to the body.
Rauta lands an elbow that stopped Great in his tracks for a moment.
Great takes an elbow to the temple.
Rauta stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Rauta lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Great is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rauta obliges.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.
Rauta lands a good knee to the midsection. Great won't want to take too many of those.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Great takes an elbow to the temple.
Rauta lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Rauta is working Great over against the cage.
Rauta utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jarkko Rauta dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Phol Great's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Rauta fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Great has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Rauta bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Great's head backwards.
Rauta blocks the body kick.
Great throws a head kick but Rauta moves out of range.

Great tries to keep at a distance but Rauta has taken the fight into the clinch.
Rauta scores a nice knee to the body.
Rauta is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Great trying to control the position but instead, Rauta has worked for underhooks and has pushed Great into the cage.
Rauta effectively controlling the action here.
Rauta working Great over with knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A bit of stalling here from Rauta.
Great using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rauta has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rauta landing knees to the body.
Rauta lands an elbow inside that Great shrugs off.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Rauta crunches a lovely knee into Great's ribcage.
Rauta lands an elbow that stopped Great in his tracks for a moment.
Rauta comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Rauta lands a nice elbow.
Rauta displaying some good clinch control by pressing Great up against the cage.
A hook to the body from Rauta.
Rauta pushes Great back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Great tries to land a knee to the head but Rauta blocks with his arms.
Rauta is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rauta is struggling to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knees in the clinch landing for Rauta.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.

Phol Great's cut is getting worse.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Rauta lands a left hand that snaps the head of Great backwards.
Rauta lands an elbow just above Great 's eye.
Great misses with a knee to the head.
Great takes an elbow to the forehead.
Rauta lands a good knee to the midsection. Great won't want to take too many of those.
Nice elbow from Rauta.
Knees to the body from Rauta.
Nice elbow from Rauta.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rauta scores a nice knee to the body.
Nice elbow from Rauta.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.

Phol Great's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Great's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Rauta gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Rauta using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Rauta obliges.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.
Great trying to stall but Rauta improves his position.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Jarkko Rauta seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Rauta is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
A short body shot lands from Rauta as the two fighters clinch.
Rauta lands an elbow just above Great 's eye.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rauta is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rauta pushes Great back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Rauta putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Great in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.
Rauta lands a damaging elbow.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Rauta.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Great is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Rauta lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Knees to the body from Rauta.
Rauta lands an elbow just above Great 's eye.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Rauta lands with a left to the head.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Great tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Great tries to land a knee to the head but Rauta blocks with his arms.
Rauta comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Rauta crunches a lovely knee into Great's ribcage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jarkko Rauta showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Phol Great's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Rauta thuds a left hand into Great's body.
Rauta lets loose with a powerful body kick. Great will feel that in the morning.

Rauta clinches.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section. Great lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rauta manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Rauta gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Rauta unloads a knee to the mid-section. Great lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Rauta cracks Great with a nice body shot.
Nice elbow from Rauta.
A nice left hand lands by Rauta.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Rauta.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rauta lands an elbow just above Great 's eye.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rauta effectively controlling the action here.
Rauta landing knees to the body.
Great tries to land a knee to the head but Rauta blocks with his arms.
Rauta lands an elbow inside.

Jeez, Phol Great's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.
Rauta gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Rauta lands with a right to the head.
Great misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Rauta.
Rauta putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Great in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rauta lands an elbow inside that Great shrugs off.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
Great tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Great takes a knee to the side of the body.
A bit of stalling here from Rauta.
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!
Rauta landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Phol Great has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rauta lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Rauta gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Great tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Rauta.
Rauta putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Great in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Rauta lands an uppercut.
Rauta lands a shoulder strike.
Rauta lands a nice knee to the body.
Great throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rauta blocks it with crossed arms.
Rauta landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Rauta stalling.
Rauta lands a body shot in the clinch.
Rauta manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Rauta putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Great in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rauta lands an elbow inside that Great shrugs off.
Great with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Nice elbow from Rauta.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:26 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Jarkko Rauta!
During a confident post fight interview, Jarkko Rauta thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.