PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Aster Sand (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maniek Krol (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aster Sand has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sand
vs
Krol

167 cm
22
155 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

185 cm
25
150 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

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 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aster Sand!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Maniek Krol!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Johanna Lukiainen and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Krol is looking to clinch but Sand is avoiding it.

Krol closes the distance and pushes Sand back into the cage.
Krol with a knee to the head.
Krol working Sand over with knees to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Krol obliges.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Krol with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Krol lands a good knee to the midsection. Sand won't want to take too many of those.
Krol lands a knee to the body.
Krol is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Krol is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Krol landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Krol lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Krol unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Krol unloads a knee to the mid-section. Sand lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Krol is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Krol landing knees to the body.
Sand is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Krol lands a nice elbow.
Krol connects with a knee to the head.
Krol comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Krol connects with a knee to the head.
Krol lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Krol connects with a knee to the head.
Krol lands a nice knee to the body.
Sand takes an elbow to the temple.
Krol crunches a lovely knee into Sand's ribcage.
Krol lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Krol keeps control of Sand as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Krol lands a nice knee to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Krol is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Krol lands a knee to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sand wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Sand takes a knee to the side of the body.
Krol with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Krol landing knees to the head.
Krol throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Sand blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Krol tries to land knees in the clinch but Sand avoids the damage to the body.
Krol misses with a knee strike.
Krol tries to land knees in the clinch but Sand avoids the damage to the body.
Sand tries to break free but Krol pushes him back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sand tries to break the clinch but Krol is controlling the position.
Sand blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Krol tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sand avoids it.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Sand wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Krol missing with knees to the body.
Sand tries to break the clinch but Krol is controlling the position.
Sand on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Krol lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Krol keeps control of Sand as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Krol tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sand avoids it.
Krol pushes off an throws an elbow but Sand leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Krol pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sand working hard to break the clinch.
Krol misses with an elbow over the top.
Krol throws an elbow that misses.
Krol throws a knee to the head but misses.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Krol keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sand's efforts to push away.
Krol keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sand's efforts to push away.
Krol lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Sand misses with some punches.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Krol putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Sand in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Krol using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Krol tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sand throws a nice looking combination but Krol bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Sand gets tackled into the cage by Krol. Krol maintains the clinch.
Krol keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sand's efforts to push away.
Sand has had enough of the clinch but Krol keeps him there for the moment.
Krol unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Sand is trying to force a seperation but Krol has the dominant position.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Krol.
Krol landing knees to the body.
Sand managing to block the knees to the body from Krol.
Krol lands a nice knee to the body.
Sand takes an elbow to the temple.
Krol lands a good knee to the midsection. Sand won't want to take too many of those.
Krol tries a knee to the head but Sand blocks it.
Krol is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Krol is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Krol landing knees to the head.
Krol missing with knees to the body.
Krol throws a knee to the head but misses.
Krol lands a knee to the head.
Sand blocks an elbow strike from Krol.
Sand wants to get back to striking at distance but Krol won't allow it.
Krol scores with a knee to the head.
Sand misses with some punches.
Sand is trying to push Krol away but Krol has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Krol missing with knees to the body.
Krol tries to land a knee to the head but Sand blocks with his arms.
Sand wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Krol with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Krol has Sand pressed against the cage, preventing Sand from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol is controlling him.
Krol with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Sand is trying to break free.
Sand wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Krol looking to throw knees to the head but Sand is blocking nicely.
Krol tries to land a knee to the head but Sand blocks with his arms.
Sand has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Sand is trying to push Krol away but Krol has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Sand blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
A frustrated look appears on Sand's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Sand managing to block the knees to the body from Krol.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Krol prevents Sand from breaking the clinch.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
With the fighters up against the cage, Krol throws an elbow but misses.
Maniek Krol seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Sand wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Sand is trying to push Krol away but Krol has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Sand wants to break the clinch but can't.
A frustrated look appears on Sand's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Krol throws a knee to the head but misses.
Krol has Sand pressed against the cage, preventing Sand from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Krol has Sand pressed against the cage, preventing Sand from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Sand managing to block the knees to the body from Krol.
Sand dodges an elbow strike from Krol.
Sand wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Krol throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Sand blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Sand tries to break free but Krol pushes him back against the cage.
Sand wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Krol just misses with a elbow thrown towards Sand's brow.
Krol misses with a knee to the head.
Krol keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sand's efforts to push away.
Krol tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sand avoids it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sand is trying to push Krol away but Krol has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Sand tries to break free but Krol pushes him back against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Sand's face as he tries to break the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maniek Krol showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Krol slips a jab and a cross from Sand.
Sand circles away from the clinch attempt.

Krol rushes Sand and presses him up against the cage.
Krol gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Krol working Sand over with knees to the body.
Krol comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Krol using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Sand has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Krol unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Nice elbow from Krol.
Krol lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Knees in the clinch landing for Krol.
Krol looking to throw knees to the head but Sand is blocking nicely.
Krol takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Krol lands a nice elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Krol throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Krol comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Krol lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Sand is looking to break free of the clinch but Krol has double underhooks.
Sand wants to break free but Krol has control.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Krol keeps control of Sand as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Krol misses with a knee strike.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Sand wants to break the clinch but can't.
Krol prevents Sand from breaking the clinch.
Sand is trying to force a seperation but Krol has the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Krol tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sand avoids it.
Krol lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol is controlling him.
Sand managing to block the knees to the body from Krol.
Sand is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Krol lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Krol tries to land knees in the clinch but Sand avoids the damage to the body.
Krol trying to land knees to the body.
Sand managing to block the knees to the body from Krol.
Sand can't break the clinch.
Krol misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sand.
Sand tries to break free but Krol pushes him back against the cage.
Sand has had enough of the clinch but Krol keeps him there for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sand is trying to break free.
Sand is trying to break the clinch but Krol is controlling him.
Krol tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sand avoids it.
Krol pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Krol misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sand.
Sand avoids a wild elbow strike from Krol.
Krol tries a knee to the head but Sand blocks it.
Krol keeps control of Sand as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Krol tries to land knees in the clinch but Sand avoids the damage to the body.
Sand wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Sand can't break the clinch.
Krol missing with knees to the body.
Sand wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Krol has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sand is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Krol is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sand is defending well for now.
Krol throws an elbow that misses.
Sand wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Krol has him pressed against the cage.
Krol misses with a knee to the head.
Sand has had enough of the clinch but Krol keeps him there for the moment.
Sand is trying to break free.
Sand looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Sand has had enough of the clinch but Krol keeps him there for the moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sand on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Krol throws an elbow that misses.
Aster Sand has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Maniek Krol is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Sand wants to break the clinch but can't.

And that's the end of the fight!
Maniek Krol comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Krol 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Maniek Krol!
Maniek Krol seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.