PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Heikko Saarinen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Artison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Saarinen's entrance music is I Walk Alone. A fine choice. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Saarinen
vs
Artison

170 cm
33
154 lbs
25 - 8 - 1

165 cm
23
150 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Good low kicks
Good gas tank

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 25 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Heikko Saarinen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, James Artison!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, James Ackerman and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Artison connects with a body shot that sends Saarinen's belly button to the back.
Artison swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Artison swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Saarinen misses with a head kick.
A head kick misses from Saarinen.
Artison takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Saarinen lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Artison has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Artison and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Saarinen is looking to score with low kicks.
Saarinen wants to slow Artison down by chopping away at his legs.
Artison blocks the body kick.
Artison thows a left - swing and a miss!
Artison bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Saarinen's head backwards.
A jab from Artison finds it's way through Saarinen's defenses.
Artison shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Saarinen sprawls well. Saarinen wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Artison gets slowly back to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Saarinen throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Artison sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Saarinen ducks under a wild hook from Artison.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saarinen lands a nice looking body shot.
Heikko Saarinen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Artison chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Saarinen throws a body kick that misses.
Artison avoids a kick to the body.
Artison chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Saarinen can pounce on him.
Saarinen throws a head kick but Artison moves out of range.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Saarinen - that will leave a mark!
Saarinen jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Artison avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Saarinen looks to land a body kick but Artison moved away.
A big right from Saarinen misses.
Artison on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Nice defenses there by Saarinen.
A good leg kick by Saarinen.
Artison throws a leg kick that misses.
Saarinen misses with a body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saarinen takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Saarinen dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A slow jab from Artison misses its intended target.
Artison catches Saarinen with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Artison works the jab nicely.
Artison on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
A low kick from Saarinen misses
and Artison counters with a nice leg kick.
Artison scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Saarinen catches Artison with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Heikko Saarinen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Artison throws a head kick that misses.
Artison feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Saarinens jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Saarinen ducks under a wild hook from Artison.
Artison avoids the head kick by Saarinen.
Artison throws a jab when Saarinen was well out of range.
Artison misses with a hook.
Saarinen will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saarinen keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Saarinen throws out a leg kick but Artison moves out of range and Saarinen only half commits.
Saarinen walks into a jab.
Saarinen lands a jab.
Artison looks to land a right hand but Saarinen moved out of range.
A looping hook to the body misses from Saarinen. Artison does a little dance to reset his feet.
Good shot there by Saarinen.
Artison lands with a hook. Saarinen tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Saarinen misses with a low kick as Artison jumps back.
Saarinen doesn't manage to clinch there - Artison circles away.
A big right from Artison misses.

Artison manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Saarinen on his heels. He'll look to pass Saarinen's guard now, I'm sure.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Artison accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Artison accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Artison with a flurry of punches that miss.
Artison throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Saarinen wants to stand up but Artison is controlling him.
Artison throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Artison throwing strikes but missing.
Artison working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Artison accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Artison is looking to work some ground and pound but Saarinen has wrist control.
Artison with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Artison dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Artison gets the takedown into side control.
Artison working the head with strikes.
Artison misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Artison looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Saarinen is avoiding damage well.
Saarinen knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Artison on the ground.
Saarinen parries the strikes from Artison easily there. Artison is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Saarinen to escape.
Artison throws a strike aimed at the side of Saarinen's head but Saarinen avoids it well.
Artison tries to stand but Saarinen is controlling his head.
Artison tries to score with some ground and pound. Saarinen controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Artison throwing shots but missing, from side control.
The ground and pound from Artison seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Artison thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Saarinen tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Artison grinds an elbow into Saarinen's temple.
Artison with the ground and pound but Saarinen regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Nice strikes from Artison there.
Artison tries to pass the half guard into mount. Saarinen knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Artison throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Artison throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Artison trying to pass the guard but Saarinen defending well.
Artison throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Artison seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Saarinen keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Artison is working for a submission of some sort.

Artison is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Saarinen is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Artison is working for a kimura but Saarinen is defending it quite comfortably.
Artison throws a strike but Saarinen avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Artison trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Artison cracks Saarinen with a solid left hand.
Artison throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Saarinen wants to get back to his feet but Artison passes into half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Artison working over Saarinen with some ground and pound. Saarinen looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Artison missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Artison missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Artison has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Artison is keen to just control but Saarinen is a slippery customer.
Artison moves into full mount! Saarinen won't be happy about that!
Artison punishing his opponent with strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Artison loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have Saarinen scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Artison land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Artison stands and salutes the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). James Artison!