PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sam Ponjev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Esko Tikkanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tikkanen has chosen Nyrkillä naamaan - Ei kannattais ees yrittää! as his entrance music. Sam Ponjev has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ponjev
vs
Tikkanen

185 cm
29
180 lbs
21 - 3 - 0

182 cm
22
184 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid Muay Thai
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Bullet Proof System
Sun-Tzu. 15%

Worldwide Nutrition (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 21 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Sam Ponjev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Esko Tikkanen!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Jeff Smith and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ponjev takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Ponjev lands an overhand right.
Tikkanen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Ponjev throws out the jab.
Tikkanen wants to counter with a clinch but Ponjev pushes him away.
Esko Tikkanen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tikkanen keeps Ponjev at a distance using the push kick.
Tikkanen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Ponjev throws out the jab.
Tikkanen only half commits to the counter leg kick.

Tikkanen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Tikkanen stops a takedown attempt from Ponjev.

Ponjev breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Tikkanen rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Ponjev counters with a nice uppercut.
Ponjev slips a jab from Tikkanen.
Tikkanen delivers a nice body kick.

Tikkanen moves into range and clinches up with Ponjev.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Tikkanen looking to stall.
Ponjev lands an elbow inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tikkanen throws an elbow but it misses.
Tikkanen tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Ponjev avoids it.
Tikkanen lands a knee to the body.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Ponjev.
Tikkanen crunches a lovely knee into Ponjev's ribcage.
Tikkanen throws a punch but it's blocked by Ponjev.
Tikkanen lands a body punch in the clinch.
Tikkanen scores with a shoulder strike.

Ponjev works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Tikkanen looking to control.
Tikkanen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ponjev scoring with some ground and pound.
Ponjev showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Tikkanen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Ponjev has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Ponjev scoring with punches to the head and body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ponjev is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Ponjev throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Tikkanen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Tikkanen has control of Ponjev's left arm, preventing Ponjev from doing any damage.
Tikkanen not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Ponjev passes Tikkanen's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Tikkanen is trying to maintain the position but Ponjev is very close to passing his half guard.
Tikkanen is refusing to be controlled, as Ponjev sits in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Ponjev.

Tikkanen is defending against the submission attempts here by Ponjev.
Ponjev thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Ponjev looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Tikkanen with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Well, if Ponjev is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Tikkanen has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Ponjev is working away from the top position though.
Ponjev controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Tikkanen is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Ponjev passes to full mount!
Ponjev scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Tikkanen is looking to improve his position but Ponjev isn't that keen on the idea.
Tikkanen wants to control but Ponjev is having none of it.
Tikkanen is squirming around, avoiding Ponjev's attempts to control the action.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Tikkanen can do anything to dispel that myth.
Ponjev with a couple of short strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Ponjev throws a lazy uppercut
and Tikkanen counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Ponjev swats away the attempt to clinch by Tikkanen.
Ponjev feinted with a counter takedown.
Tikkanen is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ponjev appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Tikkanen looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Crunch! Tikkanen slams his shin into Ponjev's torso.
Ponjev on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Esko Tikkanen seems to be getting the better of the standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tikkanen lands a jab to Ponjev's midsection.
A slow jab from Ponjev misses its intended target.
Tikkanen scores with the left hand. Ponjev knows he should have avoided that one.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ponjev scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Ponjev is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Tikkanen will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Ponjev lands a nice forearm strike.

Ponjev is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Tikkanen knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
You can see the frustration on Tikkanen's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Ponjev tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Ponjev in side control lands a decent elbow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tikkanen is trying to control Ponjev's posture but Ponjev avoids it.

Ponjev wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Tikkanen, who protects the arm well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen struggling a bit here.
Sam Ponjev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ponjev trying to control the action but Tikkanen is working from the bottom.
Tikkanen is trying to control Ponjev's posture but Ponjev avoids it.
The strikes coming from Ponjev are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Ponjev cracks Tikkanen with a big right hand but Tikkanen just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tikkanen can't do much from the bottom here.
The referee asks Ponjev politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Ponjev prefers to stall for the moment though.
Ponjev lands a few punches from side control.
Tikkanen is not content to let Ponjev control the position.
Tikkanen can't do much from the bottom here.
Ponjev has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Ponjev scoring with punches from side control.
Tikkanen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ponjev. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ponjev wants to lay and pray for a moment but Tikkanen keeps working.
Ponjev working away.
Ponjev landing a few strikes.
Ponjev is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tikkanen can do to turn this around?
Tikkanen takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

Ponjev in side control, working for a kimura. He's got hold of an arm and he's torquing it... Tikkanen is tapping! That's the end of the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Sam Ponjev!
Sam Ponjev decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.