PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mike Barnes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matti Nykanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barnes's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Barnes
vs
Nykanen

178 cm
29
158 lbs
20 - 14 - 2

165 cm
30
133 lbs
16 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Brute

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 14 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Mike Barnes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Matti Nykanen!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nykanen swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Barnes counters with a leg kick.
Barnes with a poor takedown
and Nykanen counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The fighters circling - Nykanen throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Barnes will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Barnes shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nykanen as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Barnes. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Nykanen scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Nykanen is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Nykanen thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Nykanen wants to free his trapped foot but Barnes is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Nykanen has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Nykanen is trying to control the action in half guard but Barnes is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Nykanen thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Nykanen keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Nykanen tries to pass the half guard into mount. Barnes knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nykanen thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Nykanen lands a nice short elbow.
Barnes is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Barnes wants to improve his position but Nykanen is controlling well.
Barnes keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Barnes works his way to full guard. Good work.
Nykanen trying to control but Barnes is working from the bottom.
Barnes is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Nykanen controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen postures up.
Nykanen looking to sit in guard and control but Barnes gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Barnes trying to control but Nykanen is working from the bottom.
Barnes is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Nykanen is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Nykanen stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Nykanen wants it to stay on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes misses the shot to the body.
Nykanen misses with a body shot.
Nykanen scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Barnes doesn't seem bothered though.
Barnes checks the leg kick nicely there.
Nykanen throws a hook but Barnes blocks it.
Barnes tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Nykanen was well out of range. Poor timing from Barnes.
Nykanen will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nykanen lands with a good body shot.
Nykanen scores with a nice right hand.
Horrible takedown by Nykanen or perhaps it was just good defense by Barnes which made him look bad.
Barnes takes a swing at Nykanen's ribcage but misses.
Barnes lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Nice sprawl there from Nykanen as Barnes shoots in.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen walks into a left hand.
Nykanen will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Barnes closes the distance looking to clinch
and Nykanen counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Nykanen lunges at Barnes with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Barnes's hand.
Barnes ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Nykanen moves away.

Nykanen feints and as Barnes raises his hands in defense, Nykanen changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nykanen looking to pass the guard.
Nykanen scoring with punches to the head and body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nykanen content to stall in guard here.
Nykanen pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Barnes is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matti Nykanen dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Barnes throws a head kick but Nykanen moves out of range.
A combination from Barnes does no damage.
Nykanen scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Barnes throws a shot to the body.
Nykanen misses with a body shot.
Nykanen scores with a jab to the body.
Barnes shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nykanen as he jumps to the side.
Barnes throws a hook to the side of Nykanen's head but Nykanen sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Nykanen misses with a jab, cross combination.
Barnes takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Nykanen throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Nykanen uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Barnes.
Matti Nykanen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Barnes ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nykanen swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nykanen throws a lazy right hand but Barnes sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Nykanen wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Barnes thows a left - swing and a miss!
Barnes staying out of range there.

Barnes has closed the distance and engaged Nykanen in a clinch.
Nykanen looking to stall.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Nykanen.
A short body shot lands from Barnes as the two fighters clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Nykanen fails to land.

Barnes pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Nykanen shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Barnes is trying to defend but Nykanen finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Barnes is trying to stand back up but Nykanen is controlling him

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen is looking to take a break and control but Barnes is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Barnes makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Barnes.
Nykanen tries to free his leg and advance position but Barnes is retaining full guard.
Nykanen trying to control but Barnes is working from the bottom.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nykanen is pushing down on Barnes's leg trying to pass to half guard. Barnes is fighting to maintain full guard but Nykanen has managed to sneak the leg through.
Nykanen is nestled in close to Barnes, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Barnes regains full guard. Nicely done.
Barnes has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Nykanen has passed into side control.
Nykanen lands some shots froms side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen trying to control the action but Barnes is working from the bottom.
Barnes is trying to improve his position.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Nykanen. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Barnes defending against the ground and pound.
Barnes tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Barnes can't do much from the bottom here.
Nykanen cracks Barnes with a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is looking to reverse the position.
Matti Nykanen has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nykanen is chipping away with strikes.
Nykanen creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Barnes is being controlled here.
Barnes wants to get back to his feet but Nykanen drags him back down.
Barnes taking a bit of punishment here - Nykanen scoring with strikes.
Nykanen lands some shots froms side control.
Nykanen is looking to take a break and control but Barnes is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The ground and pound from Nykanen seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Barnes takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Barnes tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matti Nykanen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nice cross by Barnes.
Nykanen looks for a takedown but Barnes sprawls well.
Nykanen throws a shot to the body.
Nykanen looks for a takedown but Barnes sprawls well.
Barnes looks to land a left hand but Nykanen moved out of range nicely.

Nykanen gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Nykanen keeping full guard, as Barnes tries to pass.
Nykanen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes throwing strikes from guard but Nykanen blocks nicely.
Barnes trying to control the position from guard on top but Nykanen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nykanen is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Barnes throws an elbow that misses. Nykanen uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Barnes's guard. Nice move by Nykanen!

Barnes manages to escape and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Barnes.
Nykanen fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Barnes looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Nykanen misses with a hook
and Barnes cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Barnes throws a shot from downtown. Nykanen moves away and avoids it.

Nykanen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Barnes is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Barnes tries to get to full guard but Nykanen has control of the leg.
Nykanen not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nykanen throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Nykanen is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes wants to get back to his feet.
Nykanen controlling the action here.
Barnes wants to get back to full guard.
Barnes taking some punishment here, with Nykanen in his half guard.
Nykanen wants to lay and pray for a moment but Barnes keeps working.
Nykanen is thwarting Barnes's attempts to control the position.
Mike Barnes has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Barnes wants to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nykanen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Nykanen controlling the action here.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Barnes looks for a takedown but Nykanen sprawls well.
Barnes misses with a body punch

so Nykanen counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Nykanen from controlling successfully.
Barnes will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Nykanen scoring with punches to the head and body.
Matti Nykanen is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Nykanen from controlling successfully.
Barnes is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Nykanen is controlling him.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Matti Nykanen.
I've got Nykanen 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matti Nykanen!