PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Sunderland (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sunderland is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Placebo - Running up that hill. 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.

Kalervo Kukkonen
vs
Sunderland

175 cm
22
191 lbs
9 - 2 - 1

186 cm
23
193 lbs
10 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Hardcore Nutrition
Perkele!

Fenrir Fightgear - Steel Penn
Steel Penn's Laundry 93%

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, James Sunderland!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Tarja Halkonen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sunderland throws a quick inside leg kick.
Sunderland throws a push kick but Kukkonen slaps the foot to one side.
Kukkonen works the jab nicely.
Sunderland on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

Kukkonen closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Kukkonen lands in his opponent's guard.
Kukkonen stopping the sweep attempt from Sunderland.
Sunderland preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kukkonen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Sunderland looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Sunderland working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kukkonen.
Kukkonen wants to control from the top but Sunderland keeps moving.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kukkonen is really struggling to control Sunderland but he's trying to hold on to the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kukkonen lands a couple of elbows.
Kukkonen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kukkonen is working Sunderland over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sunderland working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kukkonen.
Kukkonen cracks Sunderland with a solid left hand.
Sunderland is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Kukkonen in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Sunderland holds on and takes a little breather.
Kukkonen wants to pass the guard but Sunderland is keeping the position.
Sunderland looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Sunderland wants to get back to his feet but Kukkonen is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Sunderland.
Some bone on bone action there as Kukkonen checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Sunderland misses with a hook to the body
and Kukkonen cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sunderland fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Kukkonen goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Kukkonen misses with a hook to the body
and Sunderland counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Sunderland throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Kukkonen sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sunderland uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Kukkonen.
Kukkonen avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
James Sunderland seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Kukkonen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Sunderland tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Kukkonen throws a big elbow that misses.
Sunderland working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kukkonen.
Kukkonen wants to control from the top but Sunderland keeps moving.
Kukkonen throws a big elbow that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kukkonen pushes down on Sunderland's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Sunderland is staying active underneath Kukkonen, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Kukkonen thows a huge punch but Sunderland dodges it nicely.
Kukkonen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kukkonen scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Sunderland is refusing to be controlled, as Kukkonen sits in half guard.
Sunderland is trying to get back to full guard.
Kukkonen seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Sunderland does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kukkonen not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Sunderland pushes Kukkonen off looking to stand but Kukkonen dives back in and keeps control.
Sunderland tries to get to full guard but Kukkonen has control of the leg.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sunderland is looking to escape.

Sunderland kicks Kukkonen off and gets back to his feet.
Kukkonen takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

Kukkonen changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Sunderland looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Kukkonen working the body and head with strikes.

Kukkonen tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Kukkonen has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Kukkonen trying to control the action but Sunderland is working from the bottom.
Sunderland is trying to get back to his feet.
Kukkonen 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.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kukkonen working the ground and pound.
Kukkonen lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

An inside leg kick from Sunderland misses.
Sunderland throws a half hearted mid kick.
Sunderland misses with a wild body shot.
Kukkonen checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.

Kukkonen drives through with a takedown into Sunderland's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Sunderland seems keen to control Kukkonen's posture.
Sunderland tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Kukkonen trying to control but Sunderland is working from the bottom.
Kukkonen might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Kukkonen postures up in Sunderland's guard and throws a big left but Sunderland blocks it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kukkonen accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kukkonen trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sunderland is trying to keep Kukkonen in close.
Kukkonen controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by James Sunderland.
Sunderland takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Sunderland lands a leg kick that knocks Kukkonen off balance momentarily.
Sunderland throws the kick towards the body but Kukkonen avoids it.
Sunderland looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Sunderland walks into a stiff left hand from Kukkonen.
A bone on bone clash there as Kukkonen blocks the leg kick.

Kukkonen closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Sunderland quickly recovers to half guard.
Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kukkonen prevents Sunderland from standing back up.
Kukkonen seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Nice strikes from Kukkonen there.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kukkonen scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Kukkonen tries to pass the half guard into mount. Sunderland knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Kukkonen is trying to work for a kimura but Sunderland is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sunderland tries to roll over but Kukkonen keeps him under control.
Kukkonen thows a huge punch but Sunderland dodges it nicely.
Kukkonen lands strikes from half guard.
Kukkonen is thwarting Sunderland's attempts to control the position.
Kukkonen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kukkonen wants to free his trapped foot but Sunderland is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Kukkonen wants to take a breather but Sunderland is having none of it.
Sunderland has hold of Kukkonen's hands but Kukkonen slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Sunderland is pressing down on Kukkonen's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Sunderland trying to control the position here.
Kukkonen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sunderland looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Sunderland keeping moving, preventing Kukkonen from controlling successfully.
Sunderland working a defensive guard but Kukkonen manages to pass into side control anyway.

Kukkonen looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Sunderland parries the strikes from Kukkonen easily there. Kukkonen is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Sunderland to escape.
Sunderland sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Kukkonen lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Kukkonen uses his free foot to push down on Sunderland's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Sunderland.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sunderland is bucking up trying to escape but Kukkonen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Sunderland is bucking up trying to escape but Kukkonen cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kukkonen has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Sunderland's face.
Kukkonen scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Sunderland is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
A nice elbow there by Kukkonen.

Sunderland is rocked!
Kukkonen loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have Sunderland scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Kukkonen land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Kukkonen stands and salutes the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen!
Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen retains his middleweight title!
Rambo Kalervo Kukkonen decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.