PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tobias Larsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aleksi Vihtala (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Larsson
vs
Vihtala

195 cm
30
280 lbs
15 - 3 - 0

188 cm
23
218 lbs
16 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

Vandal Fight Boutique & Laundry

Perkele!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tobias Larsson!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aleksi Vihtala!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Anni Minnemäki and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Larsson bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Vihtala's head.
Larsson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Vihtala clinches up with Larsson and pushes him back against the cage.
Vihtala misses with a short punch on the inside.
A nice left hand lands by Vihtala.

It looks like Tobias Larsson has been cut.
Vihtala tries to work over Larsson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Vihtala escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Vihtala throws a right and a left that Larsson avoids nicely.
Vihtala wants to slow Larsson down by chopping away at his legs.
Larsson tries to clinch but Vihtala moves out of range.
Vihtala lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vihtala throws a hook but Larsson blocks it.

Vihtala closes the distance and pushes Larsson back into the cage.
Vihtala is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Larsson holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Larsson scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Larsson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Larsson looking to slow down the pace here.
Larsson gets through Vihtala's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Vihtala doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Larsson misses with the head strike.
Vihtala will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Larsson up against the cage.
Larsson swings wildly with an uppercut but Vihtala uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch on the inside from Larsson fails to land.
Vihtala lands with a short punch from the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Vihtala blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Vihtala goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vihtala gets underhooks to prevent Larsson's takedown attempt.
Vihtala blocking some punches.
Vihtala lands a right hand.
Larsson can't find room to land a body shot as Vihtala controls the action.
A short left from Larsson.
Larsson is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Vihtala is keeping busy.
Larsson throws a punch but it's blocked by Vihtala.
Vihtala doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Larsson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nice body punch from Vihtala - that landed with a thud.
Vihtala working aggressively here.
Larsson is trying to stall.
A short right from Larsson.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Larsson misses with a hook from the clinch.

Larsson jumps guard.
Vihtala slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Larsson is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Vihtala trying to control the position from guard on top but Larsson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Vihtala pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Larsson is keeping the position for now.

Larsson has his foot on Vihtala's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Vihtala works his way back into a safe position though.
Vihtala tries to free his leg and advance position but Larsson is retaining full guard.
Vihtala advances position into side control!
Larsson manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Larsson looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Vihtala with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Larsson slips a nice elbow through Vihtala's hands, connecting with Vihtala's forehead.

Vihtala looking for submissions off his back.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Vihtala is refusing to be controlled, as Larsson sits in half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vihtala regains full guard. Nicely done.
Larsson scoring with punches to the head and body.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Larsson trying to control the position from guard on top but Vihtala is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Larsson makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Vihtala trying to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tobias Larsson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Tobias Larsson's cut.
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.

Vihtala thows a body kick. Larsson tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Vihtala fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Larsson manages to avoid it.
Vihtala looks for the body kick but Larsson saw that one coming.
Vihtala throws a combination. Larsson tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Larsson throws a jab but it's blocked by Vihtala.
Larsson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Vihtala throws a push kick but Larsson slaps the foot to one side.
Vihtala connects with a solid leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vihtala with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Larsson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Vihtala looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Vihtala wants to stand up but Larsson is controlling him.
Vihtala is trying to keep Larsson in close.
Larsson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Vihtala looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Vihtala is trying to control the position but Larsson postures up.

Vihtala looking for a guillotine here but Larsson defends easily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Larsson's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vihtala keeping moving, preventing Larsson from controlling successfully.
Vihtala is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Vihtala might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Larsson haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Larsson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Vihtala trying to keep a closed guard but Larsson is proving a slippery customer.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Aleksi Vihtala hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Vihtala throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vihtala lands with an overhand left.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Vihtala.
Vihtala takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Aleksi Vihtala is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Vihtala fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Larsson checks it well.
Vihtala is looking to land body kicks.
Larsson takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Vihtala takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Larsson throws a hook but Vihtala avoids it easily.
Larsson throws the left hand but Vihtala avoids the punch easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vihtala throws a looping overhand right but Larsson ducks down to avoid it.
Vihtala keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A big left from Vihtala misses.
Vihtala bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Larsson's head.

Tobias Larsson's cut is getting worse.
Vihtala throws a low kick but Larsson moves out of range easily.
Vihtala goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
That kick from Vihtala tenderised Larsson's leg. Larsson is trying to keep his angry face on.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Vihtala dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Larsson tries to close the distance and clinch but Vihtala swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aleksi Vihtala showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Tobias Larsson's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Vihtala swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Vihtala misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Larsson.

Larsson shoots in and gets a takedown into Vihtala's guard.
Larsson throwing strikes but missing.

Vihtala looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Larsson landing some decent shots from guard.
Larsson is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Vihtala is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Larsson distracts Vihtala with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Larsson trying to control the position from guard on top but Vihtala is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Larsson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Larsson works over Vihtala with some ground and pound from guard.
Vihtala keeping moving, preventing Larsson from controlling successfully.
Larsson stands and throws Vihtala's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Larsson misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Larsson controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Larsson working away.
Larsson trying to control the action but Vihtala is working from the bottom.
Vihtala is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Vihtala is not content to let Larsson control the position.

Larsson is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Vihtala knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Larsson works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vihtala tries to bench press Larsson off him but Larsson keeps the position.
Larsson wants to control but Vihtala is keeping him busy.
The ground and pound from Larsson seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Vihtala parries the strikes from Larsson easily there. Larsson is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Vihtala to escape.
Tobias Larsson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Larsson misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Vihtala is looking for a sweep.
Larsson lands a decent elbow from side control.
Vihtala tries to bench press Larsson off him but Larsson keeps the position.
Vihtala can't do much from the bottom here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Larsson working the head with strikes.
Vihtala takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The referee asks Larsson politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Larsson prefers to stall for the moment though.
Larsson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Larsson lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Larsson working the ground and pound.

Vihtala is rocked!
Larsson controlling the position.
Vihtala is still in real trouble! Can Larsson finish him?
Larsson scores with a big shot from side control... and another... and another! Oh Vihtala is done here - save him referee! More strikes land and eventually the ref does step in and Larsson can finally stop beating on his defenseless opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tobias Larsson!
Tobias Larsson retains his heavyweight title!
Tobias Larsson gave a mention to BioPharm Nutrition in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).