PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Esko Tikkanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Buster Knott (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Tikkanen might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Nyrkillä naamaan - Ei kannattais ees yrittää!. Knott has chosen Kanye West vs. The xx - Touch The Sky (Carlos Serrano Mix) as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Tikkanen
vs
Knott

182 cm
22
184 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

188 cm
22
178 lbs
14 - 9 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Experienced

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Vendetta Supplements 160Q

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Esko Tikkanen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Buster Knott!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Micheangelo Fripello and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knott throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Knott crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Tikkanen - the referee stops the clock and Knott gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Tikkanen. Knott manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Knott swinging wildly here.
Knott misses with a looping left.
Knott tries to bum rush Tikkanen with a series of wild strikes but Tikkanen uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Buster Knott seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tikkanen misses the body punch
and Tikkanen takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Knott clinches.
Knott looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Knott is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Tikkanen gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Tikkanen is trying to maintain a safe position but Knott gets an underhook and turns Tikkanen into the cage.
Tikkanen scores with a nice hook to the head.
Knott tries for a takedown but Tikkanen manages to get underhooks.
Tikkanen presses Knott against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Knott tries to score a body lock takedown but Tikkanen shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Esko Tikkanen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Buster Knott.
Knott avoiding damage as Tikkanen throws knees to the body.
Tikkanen gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Knott.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tikkanen is trying to stall.
Tikkanen goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Knott misses with the head strike.
Knott has Tikkanen pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Tikkanen manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
A nice left hand lands by Knott.
Knott blocks a punch to the side of the head.
The referee calls for Knott to work.
Tikkanen tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Knott avoids it.
Tikkanen tries a body shot but Knott blocks it.
Tikkanen trying to control the position but instead, Knott has worked for underhooks and has pushed Tikkanen into the cage.
Knott is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Tikkanen pulls him back up using the underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knott takes a shot to the head.
Tikkanen misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tikkanen scores with a shot to the side of Knott's head.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Knott missing with knees to the body.

Knott breaks from the clinch.
Tikkanen lets loose with a powerful body kick. Knott will feel that in the morning.
Tikkanen lands with a kick to the temple. Knott shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Tikkanen looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A combination from Knott does no damage.
Esko Tikkanen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Knott clinches up with Tikkanen and pushes him back against the cage.
Tikkanen lands a nice shot to the body.
Tikkanen missing with knees to the body.
Tikkanen is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Knott is defending well for now.
Knott drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Tikkanen gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Knott looking for a takedown.
Tikkanen lands a left hand.
Tikkanen letting Knott take a breather here.
Tikkanen tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Knott's elbow.
Tikkanen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Knott gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Tikkanen is defending against the submission attempts here by Knott.
Knott wants to lay and pray for a moment but Tikkanen keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen trying to control here.
Tikkanen holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Knott is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Knott not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Tikkanen wants to control but Knott is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Knott throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Knott wants to take a breather but Tikkanen is having none of it.
Tikkanen is looking for a sweep. Knott is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Buster Knott will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Knott shoots and misses
and Tikkanen counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Knott misses with a hook
and Tikkanen counters with a stiff right hand.
Buster Knott seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Knott fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tikkanen throws a head kick but Knott moves out of range.
Knott tries for a takedown but Tikkanen sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Tikkanen lands a jab to the nose.
Knott lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Tikkanen circles away quickly and effectively.
Knott shoots in looking for a takedown. Tikkanen tries to sprawl out of it but Knott keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Tikkanen manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
It looked like Tikkanen wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Esko Tikkanen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Buster Knott.
Knott lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Tikkanen circles away quickly and effectively.
Knott throws a right and a left that Tikkanen avoids nicely.
Tikkanen is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knott looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Knott closes this distance looking for a takedown but Tikkanen circles away.
Tikkanen darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Knott gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Tikkanen gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Esko Tikkanen!
Esko Tikkanen thanked the fans post fight for their support.
Buster Knott spoke after the fight, saying 'I'm young and still have a lot of upside. The same cannot be said of you.'.