PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Anton Kuivanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Zerra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kuivanen comes to the cage accompanied by Kanye West - POWER . Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kuivanen
vs
Zerra

176 cm
24
170 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

168 cm
23
170 lbs
8 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

BeastMode

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 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Anton Kuivanen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Matt Zerra!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Wagner Zegers and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zerra takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Kuivanen ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A right-left combo lands from Zerra.
Zerra misses with a right hand
and Kuivanen counters with a straight right hand.
Zerra throws a hook to the side of Kuivanen's head but Kuivanen sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Kuivanen throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Zerra tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Kuivanen is in Zerra's guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Kuivanen postures up.

Zerra is working an open guard so Kuivanen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zerra connects with a right hand. Kuivanen shakes it off.
Zerra tries to clinch but Kuivanen moves out of range.
Nice sprawl there from Zerra as Kuivanen shoots in.
Zerra lands with a hook. Kuivanen tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Kuivanen tries to clinch but Zerra moves out of range.
Zerra keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Zerra throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Kuivanen on the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuivanen tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Zerra defends well and Kuivanen ends up having to push Zerra into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Anton Kuivanen. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Kuivanen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A slow jab from Zerra misses its intended target.
Matt Zerra seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice defenses there by Kuivanen.

Zerra tries to keep at a distance but Kuivanen has taken the fight into the clinch.
Zerra prevents Kuivanen from breaking the clinch.

Kuivanen successfully pulls guard.
Kuivanen wants to stand up but Zerra is controlling him.
Zerra postures up in Kuivanen's guard and throws a big left but Kuivanen blocks it.
Zerra throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Zerra postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zerra trying to control but Kuivanen is working from the bottom.
Kuivanen controls Zerra momentarily but Zerra frees himself.
Kuivanen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Zerra postures up in Kuivanen's guard and throws a big left but Kuivanen blocks it.
Zerra throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kuivanen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Zerra is looking to stand up but Kuivanen won't let him.
Kuivanen has his hands on Zerra's head, controlling the position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Kuivanen wants to stand up but Zerra is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuivanen controls Zerra momentarily but Zerra frees himself.

Anton Kuivanen has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
A slow jab from Zerra misses its intended target.
Kuivanen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Zerra swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Zerra misses with a lunging right hand
and Kuivanen counters with a leg kick.
Zerra has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Kuivanen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Zerra throws out the jab.
Kuivanen cracks Zerra with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Kuivanen uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Zerra has time to react.
Zerra connects with a body shot that sends Kuivanen's belly button to the back.
Zerra throws a jab when Kuivanen was well out of range.
Kuivanen shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Zerra as he avoids it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zerra darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Kuivanen blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zerra.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kuivanen is trying to maintain the position but Zerra is very close to passing his half guard.
Zerra working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Kuivanen's thigh. Kuivanen counters though and makes it back to full guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Zerra looking to sit in guard and control but Kuivanen gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kuivanen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Anton Kuivanen will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Zerra darts in trying to clinch
and Kuivanen counters with a straight right hand.
Zerra walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Kuivanen slips under a jab.
Zerra throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Kuivanen counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Zerra thinking.
Anton Kuivanen is winning the standup battle so far.
Zerra scores with a jab.
Zerra tries to close the distance and clinch but Kuivanen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Danga de danga de dang - Kuivanen scores with a four punch combination!
Zerra swings widly with a right hand
and Kuivanen counters with a left and a right that stings Zerra.
Zerra missing with a left hand there. Kuivanen was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Zerra fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Zerra defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Kuivanen.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zerra throws out a loose jab but Kuivanen uses good head movement to avoid it.
Zerra might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zerra takes a head kick and keeps coming.
A jab from Kuivanen finds it's way through Zerra's defenses.
Zerra misses with a low kick as Kuivanen jumps back.
Zerra tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Zerra throws a left and a right that both miss
and Kuivanen counters with a nice uppercut.
Zerra throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Kuivanen counters with a nice leg kick.
Zerra throws an overhand right that lands on Kuivanen's shoulder, as Kuivanen tries to avoid the shot.
A left lands for Kuivanen.
Kuivanen shoots in looking for a takedown. Zerra tries to sprawl out of it but Kuivanen keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Zerra manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Kuivanen scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Zerra is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zerra bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Kuivanen's head backwards.
Zerra is still on wobbly legs! Can Kuivanen finish him?
Zerra avoids the head kick by Kuivanen.
Zerra seems to have recovered his senses.
Zerra throws a shot from downtown. Kuivanen moves away and avoids it.
Sloppy strikes from Zerra. Those never looked like landing.
Zerra dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Zerra throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Kuivanen ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Kuivanen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Zerra trying to control from the bottom.
Zerra regains full guard. Nicely done.
Zerra tries to strike from the bottom.
Zerra thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Anton Kuivanen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuivanen chips away with some ground and pound.

Zerra looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Zerra has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Kuivanen can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Kuivanen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Zerra avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Kuivanen trying to control but Zerra is working from the bottom.
Kuivanen is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Zerra is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Kuivanen avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kuivanen avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Zerra is breathing heavily.
Zerra keeping moving, preventing Kuivanen from controlling successfully.

Kuivanen gets to his feet - Zerra follows without any prompting.

Kuivanen drives through with a takedown into guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Zerra is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Kuivanen decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Zerra, up you get!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kuivanen misses with a wild combination.
Zerra tries to clinch but Kuivanen is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Anton Kuivanen dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

A head kick from Kuivanen lands but Zerra takes it in his stride.
A head kick from Kuivanen lands but Zerra takes it in his stride.
Zerra stuffs the takedown attempt from Kuivanen. Kuivanen gets slowly back to his feet.
Some wild striking there from Kuivanen.
Zerra jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Horrible takedown by Kuivanen or perhaps it was just good defense by Zerra which made him look bad.
Kuivanen is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Zerra misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kuivanen.

Zerra pushes Kuivanen up against the cage in a clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Zerra.
Zerra fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuivanen lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

Kuivanen breaks the clinch.
Kuivanen uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Zerra.
Zerra throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Kuivanen takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Kuivanen lands with a right hand.
Kuivanen avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Zerra just misses with a punch to the body.
Zerra throws a lazy head kick
and Kuivanen counters with a head kick that wobbles Zerra - left then right he sways and one more bomb from Kuivanen sends him down. This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:43 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Anton Kuivanen!
In his post fight interview, Anton Kuivanen started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.