PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Bojan Jelusic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antti Hammer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hammer has chosen Bolt Thrower - IV Crusade as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Jelusic
vs
Hammer

172 cm
27
145 lbs
14 - 7 - 0

155 cm
26
134 lbs
11 - 7 - 0

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bojan Jelusic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Antti Hammer!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Ben Zyskovitsi and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hammer circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hammer keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hammer is looking to land body kicks.
Hammer lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Hammer delivers a nice body kick.
Hammer pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A head kick misses from Hammer.
Hammer is looking to score with low kicks.

Hammer gets the takedown into side control.
Hammer wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jelusic keeps working.
Jelusic prevents Hammer from moving into mount.
Hammer works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Jelusic is trying to improve his position.
Jelusic on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An elbow from Hammer crashes against the mat.
Hammer controls the position.
Hammer with the ground and pound but Jelusic regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Jelusic tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Hammer manages to move to mount!
Hammer in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Jelusic takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hammer dominating with strikes here.
Hammer controlling from mount.
Hammer with shots to the head and body - Jelusic looks very uncomfortable down there.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hammer working the ground and pound effectively.
Hammer lands a heavy elbow.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Hammer cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Hammer content just to control the position here.
Jelusic is squirming around, avoiding Hammer's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammer looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Hammer connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Poor strikes thrown by Hammer there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Hammer lands a heavy elbow.
Hammer can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Jelusic is looking to escape.
Hammer tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hammer working Jelusic over with strikes here.
Hammer pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Jelusic is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hammer controlling from the full mount.
Oh Jelusic is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Jelusic on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Jelusic tries to get out of the position.
Hammer wants to control the pace but Jelusic is squirming around nicely.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hammer is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Jelusic can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Hammer controlling from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antti Hammer dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Hammer lands a nice leg kick that just misses Jelusic's sensitive parts.
Jelusic seems to have got his legs back now.
Antti Hammer seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hammer bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hammer has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Jelusic avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Jelusic throws a chopping leg kick but Hammer manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

Hammer shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Hammer missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Hammer trying to control from half guard but Jelusic is working away.
Hammer content to control rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammer seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Jelusic does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Antti Hammer was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Jelusic takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Hammer closes the distance and pushes Jelusic back into the cage.
A short uppercut from Hammer.
Jelusic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Jelusic avoids the elbow strike from Hammer, against the cage.
Hammer lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Hammer has Jelusic pressed against the cage.
Hammer misses with a knee strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jelusic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hammer looking to slow down the pace here.
Hammer blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Jelusic lands a nice uppercut.
Hammer misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Jelusic.
Jelusic works on Hammer's body with a couple of short punches.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Jelusic scores with a nice hook to the head.
Hammer with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hammer tries to land knees in the clinch but Jelusic avoids the damage to the body.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Jelusic just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hammer's brow.
A head punch on the inside from Jelusic fails to land.
Hammer gets through Jelusic's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A short uppercut from Jelusic.
Hammer pushes off an throws an elbow but Jelusic leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Hammer misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Jelusic.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jelusic swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hammer struggles to land a body shot inside as Jelusic controls his hands.
Hammer gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Hammer unloads a knee to the mid-section. Jelusic lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Jelusic tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hammer's elbow.
Jelusic avoiding damage as Hammer throws knees to the body.
Come on Hammer - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Jelusic is leaning against Hammer and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Hammer lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Hammer lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Jelusic fails to land.
Hammer misses with a short punch on the inside.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Hammer crunches a lovely knee into Jelusic's ribcage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hammer putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Jelusic in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Jelusic takes a knee right on the jaw!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hammer is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Hammer tries to land a knee to the head but Jelusic blocks with his arms.
Knees to the body from Hammer.
Hammer lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Hammer lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Hammer tries to land a knee to the head but Jelusic blocks with his arms.
Jelusic tries to throw a body punch but Hammer avoids it by throwing Jelusic back against the cage.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hammer content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Hammer lands a good knee to the midsection. Jelusic won't want to take too many of those.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Hammer blocks a body shot from Jelusic.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antti Hammer showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A chopping leg kick lands by Hammer.
Hammer connects with a high kick.
Hammer swings away with a leg kick that misses.

Hammer gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Hammer scores a nice knee to the body.
Jelusic blocks the elbow strike.
Hammer struggles to land a body shot inside as Jelusic controls his hands.
Hammer misses with a knee to the head.
Hammer connects with a knee to the head.
Hammer using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Jelusic has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Antti Hammer seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Hammer blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Hammer taking a breather.
Jelusic tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hammer throws an elbow but it misses.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The referee calls for Hammer to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammer scores with a knee to the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hammer.
Jelusic misses with a hook to the ribs.
Hammer lands a knee to the head.
Hammer is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Jelusic is defending well for now.
Jelusic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hammer missing with knees to the body.
Jelusic takes a knee to the side of the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Hammer takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Hammer blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Hammer scores with a nice hook to the head.
Hammer manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Jelusic on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jelusic lands a right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Come on Hammer - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Nice elbow from Hammer.
Hammer leaning his opponent against the cage.
Hammer with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hammer connects with a nasty looking knee right to Jelusic's face.
Jelusic misses with a body punch.
Jelusic tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Hammer is stalling here.
Hammer misses with a knee strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammer misses with a knee to the head.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Hammer.
Jelusic tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hammer blocking some punches.
Hammer blocks a body shot from Jelusic.
Jelusic blocks an elbow strike.
Jelusic scores with a hook to the body.
Jelusic misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Hammer leaning his opponent against the cage.
Hammer looking to throw knees to the head but Jelusic is blocking nicely.
Hammer prevents a body shot from Jelusic.
Hammer leaning his opponent against the cage.
Hammer continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hammer connects with a knee to the head.
Hammer lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Hammer using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Jelusic has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Antti Hammer is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Hammer unloads a knee to the mid-section. Jelusic lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Jelusic managing to block the knees to the body from Hammer.
Bojan Jelusic has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jelusic misses with the head strike.
Hammer unloads a knee to the mid-section. Jelusic lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Jelusic lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hammer backwards.
Jelusic misses with some punches.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hammer tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Jelusic misses with a punch on the inside.
Hammer throws a knee to the head but misses.
Hammer blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

And that's the end of the fight!
Antti Hammer comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Hammer has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 26:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 26:30
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Antti Hammer!
In his post fight interview, Antti Hammer started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.