PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tim Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matti Veijamo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Hardy
vs
Veijamo

187 cm
23
200 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

179 cm
22
183 lbs
5 - 4 - 1

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Tim Hardy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Matti Veijamo!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Hirohito Nitta and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Veijamo misses with the combination.
Hardy moves in looking to clinch but Veijamo pushes him off.
Veijamo throws a chopping leg kick but Hardy manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Hardy fails with a takedown attempt.
Hardy tries to clinch up but Veijamo circles away and keeps his distance.
Veijamo throws a jab but it's blocked by Hardy.
Veijamo fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Hardy.

Hardy rushes Veijamo and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Veijamo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Veijamo misses with a hook from the clinch.
I was talking to Hardy's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Veijamo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Veijamo softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Veijamo swings wildly with an uppercut but Hardy uses good head movement to avoid it.
Veijamo misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hardy.

Veijamo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Hardy tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Veijamo was well out of range. Poor timing from Hardy.
A head kick misses from Hardy.
Hardy works Veijamo's body with a nice hook.
Veijamo stuffs the takedown.
Veijamo swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Hardy works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
A combination from Veijamo does no damage.
Veijamo lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Hardy backs up against the cage.
A head kick misses from Hardy.
Veijamo with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Veijamo connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Hardy's hands.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Veijamo comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Hardy has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Veijamo.

Hardy tries to keep at a distance but Veijamo has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy jumps guard but Veijamo turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tim Hardy. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Veijamo lands an uppercut.
Hardy blocks an uppercut.

Hardy pulls guard.
Hardy tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hardy wants to hit a switch here but Veijamo passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Hardy there!
Veijamo takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy is wriggling around trying to escape.
Veijamo blocks Hardy's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Hardy is desperately trying to improve his position but Veijamo has a good base and remains in mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hardy tries to lock up and control but Veijamo gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Hardy working to try and regain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matti Veijamo dominated that round.
That's time! Hardy's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Hardy looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Hardy keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Veijamo.
Matti Veijamo seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Veijamo scoring well with a low kick there.
Veijamo has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Veijamo paws at him with a jab and circles away.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hardy looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hardy closes the distance looking to clinch
letting Veijamo counter with a right hand.
Hardy scores with a hook to the body. Veijamo takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Veijamo connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hardy scores with a takedown into Veijamo's guard.
Veijamo wants to sweep but no luck.
Veijamo really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Hardy. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Veijamo pulls Hardy in close to prevent any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Veijamo keeping moving, preventing Hardy from controlling successfully.
Hardy loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Hardy missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Hardy pushes down on Veijamo's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Veijamo tries to kick Hardy off but Hardy keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Veijamo is trying to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Veijamo is not content to let Hardy control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Hardy throws a strike but Veijamo avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Hardy working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hardy preventing the sweep.
Veijamo keeps trying to improve his position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Hardy cracks Veijamo with a right hand to the side of the head.
Hardy lands with an overhand left.
Matti Veijamo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch but Veijamo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Veijamo blocks a head kick by Hardy.
Matti Veijamo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Veijamo.
Veijamo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hardy looks for a takedown but Veijamo sprawls well.
Hardy tries to clinch but Veijamo moves out of range.
Veijamo throws out a counter right but Hardy avoids it with no problem.
Matti Veijamo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hardy tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Veijamo was well out of range. Poor timing from Hardy.
A nice leg kick lands there from Veijamo.

Veijamo clinches.
Veijamo slows down the pace here.
Hardy jumps guard but Veijamo turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tim Hardy. That's going to take a lot out of him.

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

Veijamo has Hardy up against the cage in a clinch.
Hardy avoiding damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy is looking to take this one to the mat.
Veijamo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Veijamo lands with a left to the head.
Hardy blocking some punches.
A short right from Veijamo.
Veijamo lands with a light punch inside.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Veijamo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Veijamo will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hardy needs to keep his hands up - Veijamo had a free shot at his head there.
Hardy misses with a body shot
and Veijamo counters with an inside leg kick.
Hardy is looking to wear down Veijamo with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Hardy takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matti Veijamo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Veijamo forces Hardy back against the cage and clinches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Veijamo.
Hardy presses Veijamo against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Veijamo misses with a body punch.
Veijamo lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Matti Veijamo seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Hardy takes a shot to the head.
Hardy jumps guard but Veijamo turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Veijamo throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Hardys head.
Veijamo pushes Hardy back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.

Veijamo breaks from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Veijamo moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Veijamo displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hardy wants to clinch up but Veijamo keeps it at a distance.

Veijamo has closed the distance and engaged Hardy in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Veijamo works on Hardy's body with a couple of short punches.

Veijamo breaks from the clinch.
Hardy tries to clinch up but Veijamo circles away and keeps his distance.
Hardy fails with an attempt to clinch.
Veijamo lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
A combination from Veijamo does no damage.
Hardy dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hardy pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Veijamo tries to counter with a clinch but Hardy shakes him off and moves away.

Hardy fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Veijamo, pushing him back against the cage.

Hardy jumps guard and drags Veijamo to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Hardy has a closed guard, preventing Veijamo from standing up.
Hardy manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Veijamo manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Veijamo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Tim Hardy overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Veijamo keeping full guard, as Hardy tries to pass.
Hardy looking to sit in guard and control but Veijamo gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Veijamo postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy has control of Veijamo's left arm, preventing Veijamo from doing any damage.
Hardy throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Hardy manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Veijamo manages to get himself to full guard.

Hardy slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Hardy won't allow Veijamo to sweep him here.
Matti Veijamo is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Hardy postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's four 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.
Hardy stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Veijamo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Veijamo has momentary wrist control but Hardy slips an elbow through the middle.
Tim Hardy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hardy is looking to work some ground and pound but Veijamo has wrist control.
Veijamo managing to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Hardy wants to clinch.
Hardy takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matti Veijamo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Veijamo winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matti Veijamo!