PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Crane Adams (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jari Lehtonen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jari Lehtonen has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Adams
vs
Lehtonen

180 cm
19
190 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

190 cm
19
187 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Crane Adams!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jari Lehtonen!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Edson Gomes and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Adams thows a body shot but no joy.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Lehtonen misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Adams.
Adams connects with a nasty looking knee right to Lehtonen's face.

Lehtonen is rocked!

It looks like Jari Lehtonen has been cut.
Adams throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lehtonen blocks it with crossed arms.
Lehtonen is still on wobbly legs! Can Adams finish him?
Lehtonen is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Adams pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Lehtonen seems to have recovered his senses.
Adams misses with a knee to the head.
Adams misses with an elbow over the top.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Lehtonen tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Adams counters with an outside leg kick.
Lehtonen throws a sloppy head kick and Adams moves out of range easily.
Lehtonen tries to clinch

and Adams counters with a head kick that drops Lehtonen - he's looking to finish, following his stunned foe to the ground!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lehtonen wants to improve his position but Adams is controlling well.
Adams stops Lehtonen from getting back to his feet.

Lehtonen pushes Adams off and gets back to his feet.
Lehtonen tries to clinch up.
Lehtonen avoids the body shot from Adams.
Adams misses with a wild body shot.
Adams misses with a two punch combination.
A nice leg kick lands there from Adams.
Adams swats away the attempt to clinch by Lehtonen.
Adams fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Adams clinches up against the cage.
Adams tries a knee to the head but Lehtonen blocks it.
Lehtonen is looking to break free of the clinch but Adams has double underhooks.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.
Lehtonen looks for a takedown but Adams sprawls well.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Lehtonen closes the distance and clinches up with Adams, looking for a takedown. Lehtonen pushes Adams against the cage but Adams circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Crane Adams has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jari Lehtonen.
Lehtonen looks gassed!

Adams takes the fight into the clinch.
Adams on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Lehtonen wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Lehtonen breaks from the clinch.
Horrible takedown by Lehtonen or perhaps it was just good defense by Adams which made him look bad.

Adams darts in and clinches Lehtonen up against the cage.
Adams comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Adams misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Lehtonen.
Adams tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Adams using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lehtonen has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
With the fighters up against the cage, Adams throws an elbow but misses.
Adams unloads a knee to the mid-section. Lehtonen lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Adams using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lehtonen has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Lehtonen is looking to break free of the clinch but Adams has double underhooks.

Lehtonen breaks from the clinch.
Lehtonen shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Adams but Adams pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Adams tries to close the distance and clinch but Lehtonen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Adams rushes Lehtonen and presses him up against the cage.
Adams scores a nice knee to the body.
Adams lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Adams scores with a knee to the head.
Adams misses with a knee to the head.
Adams tries to land knees in the clinch but Lehtonen avoids the damage to the body.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.
Adams fails in his attempt to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Lehtonen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Lehtonen swinging wilding here.
Lehtonen throws a sloppy head kick and Adams moves out of range easily.
Adams misses with a two punch combination.

Adams has taken the fight to the clinch.
Adams trying to land knees to the body.
Adams takes an elbow to the forehead.

Lehtonen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Adams scoring well with a low kick there.
Adams scores with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lehtonen darts in and clinches Adams up against the cage.
Lehtonen wants a takedown.

Lehtonen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Adams dodges the punch combination from Lehtonen.
Adams chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Adams pushes Lehtonen up against the cage in a clinch.
Adams using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lehtonen has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Adams tries a knee to the head but Lehtonen blocks it.
Adams takes an elbow to the temple.
Lehtonen has Adams pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Adams manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Lehtonen misses with an elbow strike.
Lehtonen dodges an elbow strike from Adams.
Adams throws a knee to the head but misses.
Adams gets underhooks to prevent Lehtonen's takedown attempt.
Lehtonen on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.
Lehtonen moves in looking to clinch but Adams pushes him off.
Jari Lehtonen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A head kick misses from Lehtonen.
Crane Adams is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Lehtonen throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Adams pushes Lehtonen away with a front kick.
Lehtonen wants to clinch

and Adams moves into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Adams misses with a knee strike.
Lehtonen lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Adams landing knees to the body.
Lehtonen goes for a takedown in the clinch but Adams prevents it.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Lehtonen clinches but Adams breaks the clinch

and Adams holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Adams keeps control of Lehtonen as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Lehtonen using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Adams has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Lehtonen is working for takedown but Adams is calmly controlling the position for now.
Adams connects with a nasty looking knee right to Lehtonen's face.
Lehtonen landing knees to the body.
Lehtonen wants to break the clinch but can't.
Adams with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Lehtonen manages to break the clinch.

Lehtonen gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Lehtonen.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Adams prevents Lehtonen from breaking the clinch.
Lehtonen misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Adams.
Adams misses with a knee strike.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Lehtonen stalling in the clinch but Adams improves position.
Adams throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lehtonen blocks it with crossed arms.
Lehtonen is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Crane Adams dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jari Lehtonen's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Adams gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Adams tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Lehtonen wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Adams has him pressed against the cage.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Lehtonen scores a takedown into full mount!
Adams is working to get back to half guard.
Adams is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Adams wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Lehtonen.
Lehtonen thowing shots but they're missing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lehtonen throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Adams because Lehtonen loaded up on that one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lehtonen looking to ground and pound but Adams is blocking nicely.
Adams wants to control but Lehtonen is having none of it.

Lehtonen looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Lehtonen throws some wild stikes that Adams manages to avoid easily.
Lehtonen throwing strikes here but Adams is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Lehtonen cracks Adams with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Lehtonen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Lehtonen dominating with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Lehtonen goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Adams is on top in guard.
Lehtonen thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Lehtonen looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Adams puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Adams blocks the strikes from Lehtonen.

Lehtonen has one foot on Adams's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Adams wants to clinch up but Lehtonen keeps it at a distance.
Lehtonen keeps the fight on the outside.
Adams is looking to clinch.

Adams has taken the fight to the clinch.
Lehtonen tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Adams just stands there and leans against the cage.
Knees in the clinch landing for Adams.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehtonen is looking to break free of the clinch but Adams has double underhooks.
Adams throws a knee to the head but misses.
Lehtonen scores a nice knee to the body.
Adams prevents Lehtonen from breaking the clinch.
Adams prevents Lehtonen from breaking the clinch.
Lehtonen is trying to break free.
Adams throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lehtonen blocks it with crossed arms.
Lehtonen lands an elbow that stopped Adams in his tracks for a moment.
Lehtonen is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Adams gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Lehtonen managing to block the knees to the body from Adams.

Lehtonen gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Lehtonen drops back, looking for a kneebar! Adams looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Adams looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Adams!
Lehtonen is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Adams has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Lehtonen manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Lehtonen is trying to stand back up but Adams is controlling him
Lehtonen throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Lehtonen makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Lehtonen closes the distance but Adams moves to the side

and Adams moves into the clinch.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Adams.
Adams lands an elbow inside that Lehtonen shrugs off.

Lehtonen breaks from the clinch.
Crane Adams is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Lehtonen shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Adams pinned against the cage. Adams gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Crane Adams has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jari Lehtonen.
Lehtonen tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Adams counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Adams uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Lehtonen.

Adams forces Lehtonen back against the cage and clinches.

Lehtonen breaks from the clinch.

Lehtonen forces Adams back against the cage and clinches.
Adams throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Lehtonen blocks it with crossed arms.
Adams with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Lehtonen swats away the attempt to clinch by Adams.
Adams swats away the attempt to clinch by Lehtonen.
Adams avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jari Lehtonen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Jari Lehtonen's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Adams tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lehtonen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Lehtonen tries to clinch up
and Adams counters with a nice low kick that buckles Lehtonen's knee momentarily.

Adams moves into the clinch successfully.
Adams misses with a knee strike.
Adams lands a nice knee to the body.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Adams tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lehtonen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Lehtonen tries a head kick but it misses.
Adams keeps the fight on the outside.
Lehtonen tries to bum rush Adams with a series of wild strikes but Adams uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Adams moves into the clinch successfully.
Lehtonen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Adams blocks it with crossed arms.
Adams looking to throw knees to the head but Lehtonen is blocking nicely.
Adams tries to land knees in the clinch but Lehtonen avoids the damage to the body.
Lehtonen tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Adams with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Lehtonen looking for a takedown.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Adams prevents Lehtonen from breaking the clinch.
Lehtonen is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Adams pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Adams lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Lehtonen using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Adams has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Adams looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lehtonen crunches a lovely knee into Adams's ribcage.
Adams with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.
Adams takes a swing at Lehtonen's ribcage but misses.
Lehtonen swats away the attempt to clinch by Adams.
Adams tries to clinch but Lehtonen moves out of range.

Lehtonen moves into the clinch.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Adams throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Adams thows a body kick. Lehtonen tries to catch it but that hurt him.
A head kick by Lehtonen misses
and Adams counters with a right hand to the body.
Lehtonen moves in looking to clinch but Adams pushes him off.
Lehtonen tries to clinch up

and Adams counters by moving into the clinch.
Lehtonen on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Lehtonen lands an elbow inside that Adams shrugs off.
Adams landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Lehtonen landing knees to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Adams throws an elbow but it misses.

Lehtonen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Lehtonen swats away the attempt to clinch by Adams.
Lehtonen closes the distance but Adams moves to the side

and Adams counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Adams.
Lehtonen is trying to break free.
Adams landing knees to the body.
Lehtonen wants to break the clinch but can't.
Lehtonen jumps guard but Adams stands there with Lehtonen around his waist. Lehtonen gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Crane Adams has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jari Lehtonen.
Adams misses with a knee strike.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch.

Lehtonen has closed the distance and engaged Adams in a clinch.
Lehtonen wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Adams using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lehtonen has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Lehtonen manages to break the clinch.
Lehtonen wants to clinch up but Adams keeps it at a distance.
Lehtonen wants to clinch up but Adams keeps it at a distance.
Lehtonen swats away the attempt to clinch by Adams.
Adams blocks a head kick by Lehtonen.
Lehtonen fails with an attempt to clinch.
Lehtonen throws a head kick but Adams moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehtonen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Adams swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Lehtonen fails with an attempt to clinch.
Lehtonen takes a head kick and keeps coming.

Adams has Lehtonen up against the cage in a clinch.
Lehtonen can't break the clinch.
Adams tries to land a knee to the head but Lehtonen blocks with his arms.
Lehtonen wants to get back to striking at distance but Adams won't allow it.
Adams misses with a knee strike.

Lehtonen breaks from the clinch.
Lehtonen doesn't manage to clinch there - Adams circles away.
Lehtonen throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Lehtonen avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Adams.
Lehtonen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Lehtonen tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Lehtonen darts in trying to clinch
and Adams counters with a thumping low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Lehtonen closes the distance looking to clinch

and Adams moves into the clinch.
Adams using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lehtonen has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Adams tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
No luck for Lehtonen with that takedown attempt.
Adams throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Lehtonen's head.
Adams is looking to clinch.
Adams tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lehtonen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Adams is looking to wear down Lehtonen with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Lehtonen wants to clinch.
Adams swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Lehtonen closes the distance and clinches.
Lehtonen crunches a lovely knee into Adams's ribcage.

Lehtonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Lehtonen avoids a punch combination nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Crane Adams showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Adams 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Crane Adams!