PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Cesar James Ardona (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Arman Shaker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

James Ardona
vs
Shaker

180 cm
21
185 lbs
4 - 7 - 0

180 cm
20
182 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Cesar James Ardona!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Arman Shaker!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Ben Zyskovitsi and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ardona dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Shaker looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Shaker is looking to clinch.

Shaker manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Ardona on his heels. He'll look to pass Ardona's guard now, I'm sure.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Shaker working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Ardona striking off his back but it's not causing Shaker any problems.
Ardona is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Ardona being controlled here, momentarily.
Shaker wants to control from the top but Ardona keeps moving.
Ardona trying to keep a closed guard but Shaker is proving a slippery customer.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Ardona with a nice cross.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaker moves in looking to clinch but Ardona pushes him off.
Shaker has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Shaker pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ardona's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Ardona duly obliges.
A leg kick checked by Ardona.
Ardona fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Shaker misses with a leg kick.
Shaker tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Shaker throws a wild body kick that Ardona sees coming a mile off.
Ardona looks for the body kick but Shaker saw that one coming.
Ardona will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Ardona misses with a series of wild punches.
Ardona defending well as Shaker loads up on a big left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaker darts in looking for a takedown but Ardona gets double underhooks and turns Shaker into the cage.
Ardona wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Shaker has him pressed against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Shaker is looking for a takedown.
Cesar James Ardona has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arman Shaker.
Ardona has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Ardona is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Ardona tries to break free but Shaker pushes him back against the cage.
Ardona can't break the clinch.
Ardona prevents a takedown attempt there.

Shaker is trying to trip Ardona. He has hold of a leg but Ardona is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Shaker persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaker wants to control from the top but Ardona keeps moving.
Shaker throwing strikes but missing.
Ardona wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Shaker manages to pass to side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Shaker missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ardona is looking to escape.

Shaker is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Ardona pushes Shaker off looking to stand but Shaker dives back in and keeps control.
Shaker working over Ardona with some ground and pound. Ardona looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaker is trying to control. Ardona wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Shaker stops Ardona from getting back to his feet.

Shaker is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Ardona defends it well.

Shaker is looking for a kimura but Ardona is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Shaker to get the leverage.

Shaker is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Shaker performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Ardona blocking the ground and pound attempt from Shaker.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shaker passes the guard and advances to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Arman Shaker will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Shaker closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Shaker prevents Ardona from standing back up.
Shaker trying to control from Ardona's half guard. Ardona has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Ardona keeping moving, preventing Shaker from controlling successfully.
Shaker looking to sit in guard and control but Ardona gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Shaker looking for a sweep. Not yet Shaker, not yet.
Ardona has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Shaker is proving hard to escape from.

Shaker is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ardona is aware though and is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ardona wanted to stand there but Shaker had control of the position.
Ardona has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Shaker is trying to keep Ardona in close.
Ardona tries to stand but Shaker is controlling from the bottom.
Ardona won't allow Shaker to sweep him here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Shaker looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Ardona has picked Shaker up and slammed him! Shaker can't keep hold of the triangle and Ardona manages to pass to side control!
Ardona tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
You can see the frustration on Shaker's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Ardona tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.

Ardona stands up.
Shaker misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Horrible takedown by Shaker or perhaps it was just good defense by Ardona which made him look bad.
Ardona fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaker throws a looping overhand right but Ardona ducks down to avoid it.
Shaker wants to clinch but Ardona slips to the side
and Ardona counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Shaker thinking.
Shaker walks forward, straight into a front kick from Ardona.
Cesar James Ardona is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Shaker shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Ardona won't allow Shaker to pass to mount.
Shaker is still trying to improve position.
Shaker trying to control the pace.
Shaker trying to control the action but Ardona is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaker wants to pass to mount but Ardona is defending the position.
Shaker keeps trying to improve his position.
Arman Shaker has got the better of the ground game so far.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Shaker is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shaker pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Shaker can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Ardona is looking to escape.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shaker lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Arman Shaker showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Shaker showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ardona.
Shaker looks to score with a jab to the body but Ardona is just out of range.
Shaker tries to clinch but Ardona is having none of it.
Shaker throws a nice looking combination but Ardona bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ardona stuffs the takedown attempt from Shaker. Shaker gets slowly back to his feet.
Left hook, right uppercut from Ardona.
Cesar James Ardona is winning the standup battle so far.
Shaker takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Shaker throws a lazy head kick
and Ardona counters with a series of strikes. Shaker will be more careful next time no doubt.
Shaker is looking to clinch but Ardona is avoiding it.
Ardona misses the jab.
Ardona avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ardona misses with a body kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A head kick misses from Ardona.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaker tries a head kick but it misses.
Ardona scores with a three punch combo!
Ardona moves out of range as Shaker strikes.

Shaker instigates a clinch.
Ardona is looking to break free of the clinch but Shaker has double underhooks.
Ardona tries to break free but Shaker pushes him back against the cage.
Shaker tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Ardona smiles and moves away.
Shaker throws a head kick that misses.
Ardona slaps away a takedown attempt from Shaker, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Cesar James Ardona has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arman Shaker.
Shaker avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaker blocks a head kick by Ardona.
Shaker misses with a leg kick.
Ardona lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Cesar James Ardona is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ardona misses with a double jab.
Ardona swats away the attempt to clinch by Shaker.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Ardona gets caught flat footed, as Shaker shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Shaker pushes down on Ardona's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Ardona is trying to stand up here but Shaker is controlling him well.
Shaker working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

Shaker wants to work for an arm triangle but Ardona is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ardona tries to kick Shaker off but Shaker keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Shaker controlling the action here.
Ardona tries to get to full guard but Shaker has control of the leg.

Shaker maintaining the dominant position here and is working for a kimura. He's locked it up! Ardona could be in real trouble here! He's trying to wriggle out but Shaker has cracked it and Ardona is screaming in pain - he's tapped out! Great finish by Shaker!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:52 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Arman Shaker!