PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kari Taalasmaa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sean Chen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sean Chen will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Taalasmaa
vs
Chen

155 cm
27
190 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

180 cm
28
185 lbs
9 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kari Taalasmaa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Sean Chen!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Marco Blurström and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Taalasmaa keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Chen.
Taalasmaa ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Chen moves away.
Taalasmaa throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Chen on the side of the head.
Chen is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

It looks like Kari Taalasmaa has been cut.
Taalasmaa avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Chen slips under a jab.
Nice shot lands for Taalasmaa.
Taalasmaa misses with a looping left.
A jab from Chen does it's job there.
Chen keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Taalasmaa throws an off balance right hand

and Chen counters with a crisp right hand that drops Taalasmaa! Chen lets Taalasmaa back up to his feet, looking for a finish!

Taalasmaa is rocked!
Taalasmaa connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Chen's hands.
Oh Taalasmaa is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Chen pushes Taalasmaa up against the ropes in a clinch.
Chen swings wildly with an uppercut but Taalasmaa uses good head movement to avoid it.
Chen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Chen misses with a short punch on the inside.
Chen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taalasmaa blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Chen misses with a punch on the inside.
Taalasmaa blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Chen tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Taalasmaa blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Taalasmaa tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Chen's elbow.
Chen swings wildly with an uppercut but Taalasmaa uses good head movement to avoid it.
Chen swings wildly with an uppercut but Taalasmaa uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch on the inside from Chen fails to land.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Chen.
Taalasmaa misses with some punches.
Chen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Taalasmaa blocking some punches.
Chen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Taalasmaa seems to have got his legs back now.
Taalasmaa blocks an uppercut.

Taalasmaa turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Taalasmaa working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Chen is being controlled here.
Taalasmaa tries to score with some ground and pound. Chen controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
An elbow from Taalasmaa crashes against the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Taalasmaa wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chen keeps working.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taalasmaa works to advance to full mount. Chen defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Taalasmaa tries to control but Chen wriggling away.
Chen holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Taalasmaa tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Taalasmaa thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Taalasmaa misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chen is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Taalasmaa looking to finish with strikes here!
Chen really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Chen is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Taalasmaa throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Taalasmaa misses with a head shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taalasmaa tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Taalasmaa thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Taalasmaa is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Chen can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Taalasmaa trying to control but Chen is having none of it.
BOOM! Taalasmaa connects with a massive shot to the dome!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Kari Taalasmaa will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Kari Taalasmaa's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Chen fails with an attempt to clinch.

It looks like Sean Chen has been cut.
Taalasmaa throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Chen is looking to clinch but Taalasmaa is avoiding it.
Chen moves out of range of the strikes.
Taalasmaa throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Taalasmaa fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Chen to the ground. Taalasmaa is now in Chen's guard.
Taalasmaa working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Chen looking to control.
Kari Taalasmaa overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Taalasmaa trying to control but Chen is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chen keeping full guard, as Taalasmaa tries to pass.
Chen keeping moving, preventing Taalasmaa from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Kari Taalasmaa.
Taalasmaa misses with a body shot.
Taalasmaa loads up on a big right hand but Chen slips the punch.
Kari Taalasmaa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Taalasmaa shoots in looking for a takedown. Chen tries to sprawl out of it but Taalasmaa keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Chen manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
A head kick misses from Taalasmaa.
Sean Chen seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taalasmaa is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Chen.
Taalasmaa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Chen.
Chen is looking to clinch.

Chen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Chen swings wildly with an uppercut but Taalasmaa uses good head movement to avoid it.
Chen misses with a punch on the inside.
Taalasmaa blocking some punches.
Chen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Chen scores with a nice hook to the head.
A nice left hand lands by Chen.
Chen lands a hook to the side of the head.
Chen softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Chen is defending well against a takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Chen lands a nice shot to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Chen has Taalasmaa pushed against the ropes.

Taalasmaa lands a takedown into guard.
Taalasmaa trying to control but Chen is working from the bottom.
Chen wants to get back to his feet but Taalasmaa is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Taalasmaa trying to control the position from guard on top but Chen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Taalasmaa is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Kari Taalasmaa has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Nice cross by Chen.
Chen thuds his right hand into Taalasmaa's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Sean Chen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Taalasmaa throws a hook but Chen blocks it.
Taalasmaa misses with a hook. Chen ducked under it nicely.
Chen slips a jab from Taalasmaa.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Taalasmaa lands a jab to the nose.
Chen drops Taalasmaa with a straight left! Oh this is bad for Taalasmaa! Chen dives in and starts dropping bombs - the referee has no choice but to step in and save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Sean Chen!
Sean Chen seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.