PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Vesa Sykk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kalju Harju (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sykk's entrance music is Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name . A fine choice. Harju has chosen Hardwell - Spaceman as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Kalju Harju is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Sykk
vs
Harju

172 cm
21
155 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

178 cm
22
159 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Good low kicks
Granite chin

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Vesa Sykk!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kalju Harju!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Chris Edwards and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sykk throws a body punch but Harju moves out of range.

Harju dives in and scores a takedown into Sykk's guard.

Sykk looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Sykk keeping moving, preventing Harju from controlling successfully.

Sykk throws his legs up looking for a submission but Harju uses it to pass to side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harju creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Harju really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sykk. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sykk struggling a bit here.
Harju connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Sykk some visible discomfort.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sykk taking a bit of punishment here - Harju scoring with strikes.
Sykk tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Harju in side control, throwing shots but Sykk defends.
Sykk dodges the ground and pound from Harju.
The strikes coming from Harju are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Harju cracks Sykk with a big right hand but Sykk just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Harju cracks Sykk with a big elbow.
Harju landing strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harju tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sykk is trying to improve his position.
Sykk regains half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Harju not doing much here.
Harju stalling away here and it's allowed Sykk to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sykk had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Harju defends it easily.

Harju avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Sykk is looking for a triangle but Harju pushes his legs off easily.
Sykk can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Harju controls the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harju trying to control but Sykk is working from the bottom.
Harju postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harju wants to pass the guard but Sykk is keeping the position.

Sykk looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sykk preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kalju Harju dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

The fighters circling - Sykk throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Sykk lands a jab to Harju's midsection.
Harju takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Sykk forces Harju back against the cage and clinches.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Sykk misses with a knee to the head.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Sykk lands a right hand that snaps the head of Harju backwards.
Harju lands a body punch in the clinch.
Sykk misses with a punch to the body.

Harju gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Sykk regains guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Harju content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Harju trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Sykk working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Harju.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sykk working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Harju has passed into half guard!
Harju is looking to take a break and control but Sykk is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sykk wants to control but Harju passes into side.
Harju wants to control but Sykk is keeping him busy.
Harju looking to control but instead Sykk has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sykk has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Harju is working away from the top position though.
Sykk regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Harju.
Sykk is trying to control the position but Harju postures up.
Harju throwing strikes from guard but Sykk blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sykk not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Harju trying to control the position from guard on top but Sykk is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sykk is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Harju loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Harju slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Sykk avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kalju Harju has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sykk is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Harju looking to pass the guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Vesa Sykk just wasn't active enough.
Sykk tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Harju is able to avoid easily.
Harju moves away from the strike by Sykk.
Sykk missing with a left hand there. Harju was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A looping hook to the body misses from Harju. Sykk does a little dance to reset his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Harju.
Sykk closes the distance but Harju moves to the side
and Harju counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kalju Harju showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Sykk fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Harju.
Harju goes for a double leg but Sykk avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Sykk continues to drive forward.
Sykk lands a left hand.
Sykk blocking some punches.
Sykk doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Sykk swings wildly with an uppercut but Harju uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sykk works on Harju's body with a couple of short punches.
Harju goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Sykk misses with a hook from the clinch.
Sykk blocks an uppercut.

Harju lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Harju seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Sykk does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Sykk looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Harju working his ground and pound in the gym.
Harju wants to pass to mount but Sykk is defending the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sykk manages to get to full guard.
Sykk keeping moving, preventing Harju from controlling successfully.
Harju is stalling in the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sykk keeping moving, preventing Harju from controlling successfully.
Harju keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Sykk's head.
Harju throwing strikes but missing.
Harju sitting in guard here, content to control.
Harju must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Harju trying to control the position from guard on top but Sykk is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Kalju Harju hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Harju on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Sykk does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Harju throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
A good leg kick by Sykk.
Sykk moves in looking to clinch but Harju pushes him off.
Sykk is looking to land body kicks.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Harju crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Sykk - the referee stops the clock and Harju gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Sykk. Harju manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Sykk throws a quick inside leg kick.
Harju loads up on a big right hand but Sykk slips the punch.
Sykk tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sykk rushes Harju and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Sykk misses with a hook to the ribs.
Sykk lands with a short shot to the head.
Sykk throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Kalju Harju is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Harju misses with the head strike.
Harju throws a head punch that misses.
Sykk lands on the inside with an uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Harju is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Sykk pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Harju blocking some punches.
Sykk is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Harju is defending well for now.
Sykk slowing the pace effectively.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Harju misses with a punch on the inside.
Harju goes for a takedown in the clinch but Sykk prevents it.
Vesa Sykk has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Vesa Sykk has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kalju Harju.
Sykk has Harju pushed against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vesa Sykk showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Harju has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge William Gold scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kalju Harju!
Kalju Harju decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.