PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Soon Do (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stampe Eklund (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Eklund's choice of entrance music: Troll - Trollberg. Soon Do has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Do
vs
Eklund

175 cm
28
165 lbs
16 - 8 - 1

168 cm
24
167 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Great elbows
Good gas tank

Fury Nutrition Inc.
Milwaukee's Best 160

Milwaukee's Best 160

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 16 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Soon Do!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Stampe Eklund!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Illya Tyunina and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Eklund thows a leg kick but Do checks it
and Do counters with a stiff right hand.
Eklund attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.

Eklund has managed to clinch.

Do manages to break the clinch.
Do throws a nice looking combination but Eklund bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Eklund throws a low kick but Do avoids it.
Do thows a left - swing and a miss!
Eklund misses with a few strikes there.
Do throws a jab when Eklund was well out of range.
A head kick misses from Do.
Do looks for the body kick but Eklund saw that one coming.
Do tries to work over Eklund's front leg with a kick but Eklund checks it.
Do misses with a right hand
and Eklund counters with a nice leg kick.
Eklund takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Do throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Eklund lands a nice looking body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Do misses the shot to the body.
Eklund throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Eklund misses the jab.

Do gets the takedown into side control.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Do lands some shots froms side control.
Do sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Eklund is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Eklund is looking to reverse the position.
An elbow from Do crashes against the mat.
The ground and pound from Do seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Do looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Eklund is avoiding damage well.
Eklund tries to improve position but can't.
Eklund manages to work his way to half guard, despite Do's best efforts.
Do not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Eklund looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eklund is looking for a sweep. Do is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Do looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Eklund with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Do lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Do has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Do thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Eklund's head.
Do has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Eklund sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Do lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Do throwing shots but Eklund is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Do working Eklund over with strikes.
Do takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Do throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Do missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Do lands with a punch from half guard.
Eklund is looking to improve his position.
Do sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Eklund defending well though.
Eklund is pressing down on Do's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Do preventing the sweep.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Do accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Do postures up in Eklund's guard and throws a big left but Eklund blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eklund looking to hit a scissor sweep but Do is one step ahead there.
Do throws a big elbow that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Do throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Do cracks Eklund with a solid left hand.
Do trying to control the position from guard on top but Eklund is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Do loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Eklund utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Do is working Eklund over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
We've been hearing good reports from Do's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Eklund has his hands on Do's head, controlling the position.
Do in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Soon Do dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Eklund closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Do throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Do takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Eklund connects with a crisp jab.
Eklund waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Do.
Eklund tries to clinch up but Do circles away and keeps his distance.
Do staying out of range there.
Do ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Eklund misses with a leg kick.
Eklund misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Do.
Eklund pivots, looking for a leg kick but Do is out of range and Eklund settles back down.
Do misses with a low kick.
Eklund is looking to score with low kicks.
Do throws a hook but Eklund blocks it.
Do throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eklund looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Eklund throws a shot from downtown. Do moves away and avoids it.
Some wild striking there from Do.
Eklund throws a quick inside leg kick.
Eklund slips a straight right by Do.
Eklund misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Do.
Do avoids a punch combination nicely.
A good leg kick by Eklund.
Eklund displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Do throws out the jab.
Jab, jab by Do - just one landing.
Eklund misses with a low kick.
Eklund throws a body punch but Do moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Do throws a jab when Eklund was well out of range.
Do looks to land a left hand but Eklund moved out of range nicely.
Do throws out a loose jab but Eklund uses good head movement to avoid it.
Eklund displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Do.
Do throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Eklund closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Do misses with a body punch.
Do drops down looking for an ankle pick but Eklund pulls his leg out and moves away.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Do works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Do looks to land a right hand but Eklund moved out of range.

Do shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Do was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Do creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Eklund sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Do working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Do in side control, throwing shots but Eklund defends.
Eklund is trying to improve his position.
Do scores with punches from side control.
Eklund gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Eklund is refusing to be controlled, as Do sits in half guard.
Do working the head and body with strikes.
Eklund wants to improve his position but Do is controlling well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eklund is still trying to improve position.
Do missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Do throws a strike but Eklund avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Soon Do overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Do throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Eklund works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Do trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Eklund throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Eklund wants to hit a switch here but Do passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Eklund there!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Soon Do will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Do waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Eklund.
Eklund fails in his attempt to clinch.
Eklund throws a low kick, looking for Do's leg but Do calmly moves out of range.
Do keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Do throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Eklund moves out of range of the strikes.
Do drops his hands momentarily and Eklund takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Do misses with a hook. Eklund ducked under it nicely.
Do moves away from the strike by Eklund.
Eklund displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Do throws out the jab.
Do throws a lazy uppercut
and Eklund counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Do thinking.
A slow jab from Do misses its intended target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eklund displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Do throws out the jab.
Do throws a leg kick that is checked
and Eklund counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Do steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Eklund. That one must have hurt.
Eklund moves away from the strike by Do.
Eklund ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Do moves away.
A good leg kick by Eklund.
Eklund slips under a jab.
Eklund lands with a right hand.
Stampe Eklund is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Eklund throws a low kick but Do avoids it.
A punch combination from Do misses.
A big right from Do misses.
Stampe Eklund seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Do misses with an uppercut. Eklund saw that one coming.
Eklund jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Eklund feints a jab promting Do to slip. Eklund then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Do slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Stampe Eklund has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eklund tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A big right from Eklund misses.
Eklund checks a leg kick.
Eklund misses with a straight left.
Do swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Eklund throws an overhand right that lands on Do's shoulder, as Do tries to avoid the shot.
Eklund moves out of range of the leg kick from Do.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Do swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
letting Eklund counter with a right hand.
Do throws a chopping leg kick but Eklund manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
A head kick misses from Eklund.
A punch combination from Eklund misses.
Eklund misses with a straight right.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Eklund loads up on a big right hand but Do slips the punch.
Eklund looks to score with a jab to the body but Do is just out of range.
Eklund misses with a low kick.
Do lands with an uppercut that bounces Eklund off the cage and back into range.
Eklund moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
A telegraphed right hand from Eklund misses the target.
Do looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Eklund throws a leg kick but Do checks it.
Do misses with a low kick.
A looping hook to the body misses from Do. Eklund does a little dance to reset his feet.
Eklund tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Eklund feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Dos jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Do throws a leg kick but Eklund moved away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eklund scores with a jab to the head.
Eklund ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Do moves away.
Eklund throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Do.
Eklund misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Eklund throws an off balance right hand
and Do counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Do scores with a jab. Eklund acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Eklund tries a head kick but it misses.
Jab, jab by Eklund - just one landing.
Eklund throws a hook but Do avoids it easily.
Eklund fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Do on the side of the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Eklund on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Soon Do is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Jab by Do.
Do walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Do throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stampe Eklund comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Do has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 29:29
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Soon Do!
Soon Do was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.
Stampe Eklund was interviewed post fight and said 'Read my lips: I will return stronger and better!'.