PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Piru Paholainen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antti Karhu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Paholainen might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Warrior. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Paholainen
vs
Karhu

198 cm
25
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
218 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Piru Paholainen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Antti Karhu!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Matti Vanhoillinen and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Paholainen is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Karhu's half guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Karhu wants to control but Paholainen is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Paholainen is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Paholainen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Paholainen trying to control the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Piru Paholainen.

Paholainen darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Paholainen looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paholainen sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Paholainen seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Karhu for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Piru Paholainen.
Karhu connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Paholainen's hands.
Karhu dips to his left and cracks Paholainen with an uppercut!

Paholainen shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Paholainen was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Paholainen stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Karhu misses with a hook. Paholainen ducked under it nicely.
Karhu throws a looping overhand right but Paholainen ducks down to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paholainen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Karhu throws out the jab.
Karhu swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Paholainen moves out of range as Karhu strikes.
Karhu misses with a body shot.
Karhu misses with a wild body shot.
Karhu throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

Paholainen shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Paholainen is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Paholainen works his foot free and advances to mount.
Paholainen controlling his opponent.
Paholainen will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Paholainen looking to secure an arm triangle but Karhu defends it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Piru Paholainen dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Karhu throws an off balance right hand

and Paholainen counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Paholainen looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Paholainen wants to stand but Karhu is controlling his posture from full guard.
Karhu preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Piru Paholainen wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Karhu connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Paholainen's hands.
A jab from Karhu misses.
Karhu loads up on a big right hand but Paholainen slips the punch.
Nice straight punches there by Karhu. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Karhu.
Karhu misses with an uppercut.
Karhu misses with a few strikes there.
Paholainen shoots for a double leg takedown but Karhu sprawls well. He's pushed Paholainen's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Paholainen gets a takedown into half guard.
Paholainen prevents Karhu from improving his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karhu is looking to get back to full guard here but Paholainen has managed to pass to side control instead.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Paholainen landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paholainen controlling the position.
Karhu really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Paholainen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Paholainen passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Karhu!
Paholainen content just to control the position here.
Paholainen fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Paholainen content just to control the position here.
BOOM! Paholainen connects with a massive shot to the dome!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Piru Paholainen dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Paholainen dives in and grabs Karhu's left leg, looking for a takedown. Karhu pushes down on Paholainen's head and hops out.

It looks like Antti Karhu has been cut.
Karhu misses with a hook. Paholainen ducked under it nicely.
Nice sprawl there from Karhu as Paholainen shoots in.
Karhu throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Paholainen sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Paholainen takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Karhu looks to land a left hand but Paholainen moved out of range nicely.
Paholainen gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Karhu.
Nice jab there from Karhu.

Paholainen gets the takedown into side control.
Paholainen has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Karhu!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Karhu is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paholainen cracks Karhu with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

Karhu is rocked!
Paholainen with the ground and pound from mount.
Karhu is still in real trouble! Can Paholainen finish him?
Paholainen postures up and throws a massive shot that knocks Karhu out cold! Two more strikes to his unconscious opponent for good luck and this one is all over! Paholainen goes absolutely crazy with his corner! Wow, you can see how much that win means to him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:30 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Piru Paholainen!
Piru Paholainen 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.