PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Edmund Dantes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Randy West (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Randy West acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Dantes
vs
West

180 cm
26
165 lbs
13 - 6 - 0

180 cm
28
166 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Edmund Dantes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Randy West!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Anni Minnemäki and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
West misses the shot to the body.
West goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Dantes avoids the head kick by West.
West staying out of range there.
Randy West seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dantes stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
West misses with a hook
and Dantes counters with an outside leg kick.
We've been told by Dantes's head coaches at Dark Horse MMA Academy that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Dantes throws a leg kick but West sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Dantes stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
West buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Dantes lands a leg kick that knocks West off balance momentarily.
Dantes looks to throw the jab but West is out of range.
West throws a leg kick which misses Dantes's front leg but catches the back leg as Dantes tries to avoid it.
Dantes misses the shot to the body.
Dantes slips a straight right by West.
Dantes walks into a straight right hand from West.
Randy West is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Dantes checks a leg kick.
Dantes tried to score with a low kick but West checks it.

Dantes closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Dantes slows the pace down.
West is trying to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Dantes content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
West is trying to improve his position.
West is not content to let Dantes control the position.
An elbow from Dantes crashes against the mat.
Dantes controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
West is trying to improve his position.
West told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dantes wants to lay and pray for a moment but West keeps working.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Edmund Dantes wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Dantes uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by West.
West is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Dantes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dantes missing with a left hand there. West was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Dantes slips under a jab.
Dantes checks a low kick from West.
Dantes with a jab.
West throws a lazy body kick
and Dantes counters with a straight right hand.
Dantes misses the shot to the body.
West buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Dantes fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt West.
Dantes lands with a nice body punch.
Nice cross by Dantes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
West throws a sloppy head kick and Dantes moves out of range easily.
West bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Dantes's head backwards.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
West misses with a hook. Dantes ducked under it nicely.
Dantes stuns West with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Edmund Dantes dominated that round.
That's time! Dantes's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

West attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Dantes connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from West, right into the meat.
West throws a leg kick but Dantes checks it.
Dantes lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
A jab lands there for Dantes.
West avoids the body shot from Dantes.
Dantes takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Dantes throws a leg kick that is checked
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
and West counters with a nice leg kick.
Dantes throws a jab when West was well out of range.
West lands with a good body shot.
Dantes ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
West walks into a left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
West staying out of range there.
West misses with a hook to the body

and Dantes counters with a single leg into guard. West didn't expect that.
West wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Dantes preventing the sweep.
Dantes passes West's left leg - he's now in half guard.
West trying to control from the bottom.

Dantes is working for a kimura but West is defending it quite comfortably.
Dantes uses his free foot to push down on West's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for West.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dantes looking to control and managing it successfully.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
West is trying to stand.
Dantes can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as West is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dantes misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Dantes looking to control but West is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Dantes lands a heavy elbow.
West tries to hold on but Dantes pushes him away.
Dantes content just to control the position here.
West tries to hold on but Dantes pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dantes controlling from the full mount.
A nice elbow there by Dantes.
West is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
West is in all sorts of trouble here.
Dantes with good strikes from the mount here!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Edmund Dantes dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

West tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Dantes was well out of range. Poor timing from West.
West will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Dantes cracks West with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Edmund Dantes is winning the standup battle so far.
West avoids the head kick by Dantes.
Dantes connects with a good right hand that stumbles West. West circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
West connects with a body shot.
Dantes uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by West.
Dantes scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
West thows a left - swing and a miss!
West throws an overhand right that lands on Dantes's shoulder, as Dantes tries to avoid the shot.
The fighters circling - West throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
West throws a good cross that connects.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dantes connects with a looping right hand.
Dantes steps to the side to avoid the strikes from West.
Dantes motions for West to come forward. Dantes throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Dantes checks a leg kick.
Dantes throws a push kick but West slaps the foot to one side.
West with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Dantes swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Dantes has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from West finds it's way round the side to connect with Dantes's head.
Dantes throws a leg kick that misses.
West ducks right into an uppercut from Dantes.
Dantes smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Dantes throws an uppercut from half a mile away. West sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A good leg kick by West.
Randy West has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
West displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Dantes throws out the jab.
A bone on bone clash there as Dantes blocks the leg kick.
West bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
West throws an overhand right that lands on Dantes's shoulder, as Dantes tries to avoid the shot.
West uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Dantes.
West tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Dantes looks to score with a jab to the body but West is just out of range.
Dantes misses with an uppercut
and West counters with a nice uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
West lands a lovely overhand right.

West gets caught flat footed, as Dantes shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Dantes showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dantes stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. West swivels though and keeps the full guard.
West looking to control.
Edmund Dantes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
West misses with a hook.
West throws a big shot that misses.
Dantes avoids a kick to the body.
Dantes ducks under a wild hook from West.
Dantes lands with an overhand left.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
West lands a right hook to the body.
Dantes misses with a looping right.
Dantes throws a leg kick which misses West's front leg but catches the back leg as West tries to avoid it.
A nice inside leg kick there by West. That's going to slow Dantes down.
West checks a low kick from Dantes.
West misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
West takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Dantes keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
West throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Dantes is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
West misses with a low kick as Dantes jumps back.
Dantes bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
West pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Edmund Dantes.
Well Dantes has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Edmund Dantes!
An out of breath Edmund Dantes thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.