PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Andre Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Emir Hajimurad (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Almeida
vs
Hajimurad

176 cm
19
158 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

175 cm
18
145 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

[CBK] LEGAL HIGHS « SFL ↑ 5x160Q

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Andre Almeida!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Emir Hajimurad!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Johanna Lukiainen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Almeida connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
A telegraphed right hand from Almeida misses the target.
Almeida wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Almeida misses with a takedown attempt
and Hajimurad counters with a one-two to the body.
Almeida scores with a crisp jab that stopped Hajimurad in his tracks.
Hajimurad connects with the punch.
Hajimurad gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Almeida.
Hajimurad misses with a wild body shot.
Hajimurad swings for the body but Almeida moves out of range.
Hajimurad throws a hook but Almeida avoids it easily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hajimurad keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Almeida rushes Hajimurad and presses him up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Hajimurad fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Almeida has Hajimurad pushed against the cage.
Almeida tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hajimurad's elbow.
Hajimurad working hard to break the clinch.
Almeida lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Almeida lands a shoulder strike.
Almeida is pushing Hajimurad up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Almeida has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Hajimurad is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Andre Almeida. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Almeida lands a right hand that snaps the head of Hajimurad backwards.
A left hand lands to the body for Almeida.
Almeida lands with a short shot to the head.

Almeida has Hajimurad pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Almeida pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Hajimurad tumbling to the mat - Almeida dives into Hajimurad's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Almeida trying to control but Hajimurad is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Almeida trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Almeida slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Hajimurad can do anything to dispel that myth.
Hajimurad is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Almeida controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hajimurad takes one on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida scores with a jab. Hajimurad acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Almeida clinches.
Almeida pushes Hajimurad back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hajimurad wants to break the clinch but can't.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Almeida scores with a hook to the body.
Almeida lands a shoulder strike.
Almeida is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Hajimurad pulls him back up using the underhooks.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Almeida works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Almeida stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Almeida stalls.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andre Almeida dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Hajimurad tries to clinch but Almeida is having none of it.

Almeida takes the fight into the clinch.
Hajimurad can't break the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
A short left from Almeida.
Almeida lands with a short punch from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida lands a hook that snaps the head of Hajimurad backwards.
Almeida lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Almeida takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Hajimurad prevents a body shot from Almeida.
Almeida scores with a hook to the body.
Almeida lands a body shot.
A short right from Almeida.
Almeida is leaning against Hajimurad and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Almeida lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hajimurad backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Almeida pushes Hajimurad back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Almeida prevents Hajimurad from breaking the clinch.
Almeida taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Almeida has Hajimurad pressed against the cage, preventing Hajimurad from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Andre Almeida has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Almeida lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Hajimurad or not.
Almeida is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Almeida will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Hajimurad up against the cage.
Almeida seems to have come into the fight with the intention of avoiding any damage in the clinch, rather than actually showing any aggression.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hajimurad has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A nice right hand lands inside from Almeida.
Almeida working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Almeida is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Hajimurad gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Almeida is trying to trip Hajimurad. He has hold of a leg but Hajimurad is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Almeida persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Almeida loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Hajimurad working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Almeida.
Almeida throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hajimurad works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Almeida tries to free his leg and advance position but Hajimurad is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Almeida landing with the ground and pound.
Almeida throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Almeida works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Almeida is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Almeida throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andre Almeida dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Hajimurad has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Almeida finds it's way round the side to connect with Hajimurad's head.
Hajimurad thuds a left hand into Almeida's body.

Almeida instigates a clinch.
Almeida lands with a right to the head.
Hajimurad letting Almeida take a breather here.
Hajimurad tries to break the clinch but Almeida is controlling the position.

Hajimurad breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Almeida throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Hajimurad stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Hajimurad wants to clinch up but Almeida keeps it at a distance.
Andre Almeida seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida with a jab.
Hajimurad keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A jab lands there for Almeida.
Nice uppercut lands for Almeida. That snapped Hajimurad's head back.

Hajimurad is rocked!
Andre Almeida is winning the standup battle so far.
Hajimurad takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Hajimurad is still on wobbly legs! Can Almeida finish him?

Almeida has Hajimurad up against the cage in a clinch.
Hajimurad seems to have recovered his senses.
Almeida scores with a nice hook to the head.
Almeida lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hajimurad backwards.
Almeida slows down the pace here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice right hand lands inside from Almeida.
Almeida has Hajimurad pressed against the cage, preventing Hajimurad from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A hook to the body from Almeida.
Hajimurad takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Almeida lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Almeida displaying some good clinch control by pressing Hajimurad up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hajimurad's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Almeida doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Hajimurad connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Almeida closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Almeida seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Hajimurad really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Almeida. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Almeida looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Almeida has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Almeida throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida is looking to advance position but Hajimurad won't allow it.
Almeida not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Well, if Almeida is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Hajimurad on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Emir Hajimurad has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Almeida looks to land a strike but Hajimurad avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Andre Almeida is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Almeida controlling from the top position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andre Almeida showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Almeida has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 30:27
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andre Almeida!
Andre Almeida decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.