PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Yunus Abshir (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Samu Sand (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Abshir's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, On Fire. Yunus Abshir has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Abshir
vs
Sand

186 cm
20
199 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

180 cm
26
185 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Knockout power

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Yunus Abshir!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Samu Sand!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Roosa Järviläinen and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Abshir lands an overhand right.
Abshir circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sand closes the distance looking to clinch
and Abshir counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Abshir keeps the fight on the outside.

Abshir closes the distance and pushes Sand back into the cage.
Sand tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Abshir avoids it.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Abshir stalling against the cage.
Abshir makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Abshir lands with a left to the head.
Abshir lands with a short shot to the head.
Sand throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Abshir blocks it with crossed arms.
The referee is keeping an eye on Sand - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Abshir has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Sand is trying to keep an underhook but Abshir manages to get the takedown into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Well, if Abshir 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abshir has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Abshir moves nicely into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Abshir throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Abshir 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.
Abshir has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Sand!
Abshir takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abshir in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Abshir controlling from mount.
Sand really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Abshir. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sand's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Abshir scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Abshir tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Abshir lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abshir lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Abshir raining down shots from the mount!
Abshir dominating with strikes here.

Sand is rocked!
Abshir looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Sand is still in real trouble! Can Abshir finish him?
Abshir looking to control and managing it successfully.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sand seems to have recovered his senses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sand is looking to improve his position but Abshir isn't that keen on the idea.
Abshir dominating with strikes here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Abshir tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yunus Abshir dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Sand tries to keep at a distance but Abshir has taken the fight into the clinch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Sand misses with a short punch on the inside.
Sand misses with a punch to the body.
Sand misses with a knee strike.
Abshir lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Sand unloads a knee to the mid-section. Abshir lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Abshir manages to break the clinch.
Abshir tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Sand was well out of range. Poor timing from Abshir.
Abshir works the jab nicely.
Abshir shoots in looking for a takedown. Sand tries to sprawl out of it but Abshir keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Sand manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Sand darts in trying to clinch
enabling Abshir to counter with a crisp jab.
A combination from Sand does no damage.

Abshir looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Sand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abshir taking a breather here.
Abshir working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Sand is trying to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Abshir controlling from side mount.
Sand is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abshir looks up at the clock and then as Sand takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Abshir smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
The referee asks Abshir politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Abshir prefers to stall for the moment though.
Sand taking punishment in the form of punches.
Sand being controlled for a moment.
An elbow from Abshir crashes against the mat.
Abshir is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Abshir is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sand can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abshir cracks Sand with a big elbow.
Abshir controls the position.
Abshir's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Abshir lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Sand stops Abshir from passing to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abshir landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Abshir is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Abshir tries to move into full mount but can't pass Sand's legs.
Abshir connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Sand some visible discomfort.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Abshir controls the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Abshir misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Abshir controlling the position from side mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yunus Abshir dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Abshir circles away from the clinch attempt.
Abshir works the jab nicely.
Sand takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Abshir takes a swing at Sand's ribcage but misses.
Sand pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Abshir lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Sand tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Abshir lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Sand avoids the body shot from Abshir.
Sand scores with a spinning back kick!
Sand is looking to clinch but Abshir is avoiding it.
Sand keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Abshir keeps the fight on the outside.
Sand closes the distance looking to clinch
and Abshir counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sand tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Abshir connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Abshir misses with a straight left.
Abshir changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Sand tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Abshir manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Abshir throws a right hand that Sand ducks under and follows up with a left that Sand also avoids with ease.
Samu Sand is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sand throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Jab, jab by Abshir - just one landing.
Abshir circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sand tries to close the distance and clinch but Abshir swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Abshir closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Sand breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Abshir takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Abshir lands an overhand right.
Samu Sand seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice takedown defense from Sand. No joy for Abshir on that attempt.
Yunus Abshir is winning the standup battle so far.
Abshir circles away from the clinch attempt
and Abshir counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sand ducks under a wild hook from Abshir.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sand on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Abshir lands a nice shot to the body.
Sand takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Abshir throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sand sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sand gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
A slow jab from Sand misses its intended target.
Abshir fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Sand on the wrong end of a nice jab.
A head kick misses from Sand.
Sand takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Abshir cracks Sand with a hook to the temple - Sand is on wobbly legs here! Abshir swarms him with hook after hook, landing with each one! Sand falls to the canvas face first and the referee dives in to stop the fight! Abshir wins by TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:53 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Yunus Abshir!
A relieved looking Yunus Abshir thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.