PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Will Sawyer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aapo Pitkanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Aapo Pitkanen enters the cage!

Sawyer
vs
Pitkanen

221 cm
19
140 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

185 cm
25
135 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Hates pizza

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Will Sawyer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Aapo Pitkanen!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Hirohito Nitta and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pitkanen defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Sawyer.
Sawyer really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Pitkanen drives through with a takedown into Sawyer's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Sawyer working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pitkanen.
Pitkanen controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Sawyer utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sawyer is trying to control the position but Pitkanen postures up.

Pitkanen gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Pitkanen goes for a double leg but Sawyer avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Sawyer continues to drive forward.

Pitkanen has picked Sawyer up - he's going for a ride! Pitkanen dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sawyer missing with punches from the bottom.

Pitkanen is working for a submission of some sort.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pitkanen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Pitkanen looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Sawyer with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Sawyer throws a sloppy strike from the bottom. He's now off balance and Pitkanen manages to pass to side control.

Pitkanen stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Pitkanen misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer leaves Pitkanen with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Pitkanen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Pitkanen perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Pitkanen stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Sawyer wants to clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sawyer avoids the head kick by Pitkanen.
Pitkanen looks winded!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer is trying hard to land a takedown here. Pitkanen sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Pitkanen moves into the clinch successfully.
Sawyer wants to take the fight to the mat but Pitkanen manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Sawyer. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Pitkanen ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Pitkanen no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Sawyer makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sawyer preventing the sweep.
Sawyer has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Pitkanen is proving hard to escape from.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sawyer accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sawyer 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.
Sawyer looking to sit in guard and control but Pitkanen gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Pitkanen tries to free his leg and advance position but Sawyer is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Pitkanen is controlling him.
Pitkanen stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Sawyer swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sawyer is trying to keep Pitkanen in close.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Pitkanen moves into range and clinches up with Sawyer.
Sawyer is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Pitkanen is defending well.
Sawyer has had enough of the clinch but Pitkanen keeps him there for the moment.

Pitkanen jumps guard and drags Sawyer to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Pitkanen managing to control the position.
Sawyer throws a big elbow that misses.
Sawyer throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Pitkanen holds on and takes a little breather.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Aapo Pitkanen hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Pitkanen gets a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pitkanen effectively controlling the action here.
Sawyer tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Pitkanen smiles and moves away.
Aapo Pitkanen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Pitkanen darts in and clinches Sawyer up against the cage.
Sawyer has Pitkanen pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Pitkanen manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Will Sawyer. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sawyer tries to pull guard but Pitkanen forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Pitkanen manages to break the clinch.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pitkanen moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Sawyer struggling a bit here.
Sawyer is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer is looking for a sweep.
Sawyer looking for a sweep but Pitkanen has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Pitkanen wants to control the pace but Sawyer is squirming around nicely.

Pitkanen looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Pitkanen fails to advance to Sawyer's back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sawyer is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Sawyer trying desperately to get to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sawyer can't escape the position.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Pitkanen cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Pitkanen get's back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Pitkanen.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Pitkanen working the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aapo Pitkanen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Pitkanen goes for a double leg but Sawyer avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Sawyer continues to drive forward.

Pitkanen ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Pitkanen no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Sawyer is sitting in close to Pitkanen's body. Pitkanen has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Sawyer is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Sawyer is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Pitkanen.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:31 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Aapo Pitkanen!