PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Tonis Liete (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benjamin Koppinen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Koppinen has chosen Groin kick - Pain time as his entrance music. Tonis Liete has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Liete
vs
Koppinen

175 cm
22
152 lbs
8 - 0 - 0

174 cm
19
155 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tonis Liete!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Benjamin Koppinen!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Koppinen throws a nice outside leg kick.
Liete looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Koppinen loads up on a big right hand but Liete slips the punch.
Liete ducks under a wild hook from Koppinen.
Koppinen throws a front kick aimed at Liete's knee but Liete avoids it well.
Koppinen throws a head kick that misses.
Liete misses with a low kick.
Liete ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A nice leg kick lands there from Liete.
Koppinen has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Liete swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Good shot there by Liete.
Koppinen wants to land a leg kick but Liete is out of range.
Koppinen looks to land a combination but Liete avoids it well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Liete looks to score with a jab to the body but Koppinen is just out of range.
Koppinen attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Koppinen feints and then cracks Liete's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Liete down.
Liete waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Koppinen.
Liete does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Tonis Liete seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Koppinen throws a right and a left that both miss.
Liete lands with a good body shot.
Liete defending well as Koppinen loads up on a big left hand.
Koppinen uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Liete.
A leg kick checked by Liete.
Liete avoids the head kick by Koppinen.
Liete scores with a sloppy right hand. Koppinen should have avoided that one.
Liete ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Liete fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
A good leg kick by Liete.

Liete clinches with his opponent.
A nice left hand lands by Liete.
Liete lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Koppinen or not.
Koppinen is trying to maintain a safe position but Liete gets an underhook and turns Koppinen into the cage.
Liete is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Koppinen is defending well for now.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Liete presses Koppinen against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Koppinen looks winded!
Koppinen throws a punch but it's blocked by Liete.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Liete breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Liete throws a series of punches but Koppinen avoids them all with ease.
We've been hearing reports that Liete has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Liete jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.

Koppinen is rocked!
Koppinen chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Koppinen is still on wobbly legs! Can Liete finish him?
Liete looks for the body kick but Koppinen saw that one coming.
Koppinen seems to have recovered his senses.
A bone on bone clash there as Liete blocks the leg kick.
Liete misses the shot to the body.
Koppinen jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Koppinen pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Liete dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Koppinen. That did some damage!
Koppinen misses with a head kick.

Liete lands a left and a right that sends Koppinen crashing to the canvas! Liete dives into mount looking to finish!
Koppinen really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Liete controlling his opponent.

Liete stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Liete tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Koppinen was well out of range. Poor timing from Liete.
Liete connects with a single shot there.
Liete drops Koppinen with a naaaaasty hook - Koppinen is in real trouble here! Liete dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:21 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tonis Liete!
Tonis Liete retains his featherweight title!
Benjamin Koppinen was interviewed post fight and said 'Well, i jumped to deep end.. and could not swim! No regregts, i had a chance to grap that title. Even it was just little chance, but needed to try. But what now? Maybe i move to kickboxing.'.