PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Niilo Hamalainen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Lewis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hamalainen comes into the arena with Face the Pain blaring out of the sound system. Lewis has chosen I Caught Fire as his entrance music. This should be fireworks!

Hamalainen
vs
Lewis

183 cm
26
185 lbs
3 - 5 - 2

185 cm
25
180 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
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 - 5 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Niilo Hamalainen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Steve Lewis!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Marco Blurström and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lewis stalks Hamalainen and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Hamalainen's face. Hamalainen staggers backwards, shaken.
Lewis scores with a spinning back kick!
Niilo Hamalainen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Hamalainen scores with a takedown into Lewis's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Lewis looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Hamalainen passes into half guard.
Lewis regains full guard. Nicely done.
Hamalainen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Hamalainen landing some decent shots from guard.
Hamalainen content to stall in guard here.
Hamalainen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Hamalainen seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Lewis for as long as he can get away with.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lewis had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Hamalainen defends it easily.
Lewis tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hamalainen is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Hamalainen continues to stall.

That's two 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.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Hamalainen closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Hamalainen wants to pass the guard but Lewis is defending well.
Hamalainen is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Hamalainen is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Hamalainen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lewis has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Hamalainen can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Hamalainen is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Hamalainen scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hamalainen sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Hamalainen looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Lewis is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Hamalainen jumps into side control!
Hamalainen is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Lewis will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hamalainen in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Lewis seems a little lost for a moment, as Hamalainen dominates the positioning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Niilo Hamalainen dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Hamalainen fails with the takedown
and Lewis counters with a left and a right that stings Hamalainen.

Hamalainen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Lewis is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Lewis is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Hamalainen controlling the pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lewis is looking for a sweep. Hamalainen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Hamalainen controlling the action here.
Lewis wants to get back to full guard.
Lewis is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamalainen lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Hamalainen performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Hamalainen is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Lewis can do to turn this around?
Lewis moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Lewis is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Hamalainen is aware though and is defending well.
Lewis tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hamalainen connects with a couple of short punches.
Hamalainen looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Lewis working a defensive guard but Hamalainen manages to pass into side control anyway.
Hamalainen just content to control the position.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lewis gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Hamalainen tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Lewis is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Hamalainen controlling the pace for now.
Hamalainen has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Hamalainen.
Hamalainen looking to finish Lewis with some ground and pound. This is bad for Lewis!
Hamalainen controlling the pace for now.
Hamalainen landing strikes from the mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hamalainen content just to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Niilo Hamalainen dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Lewis tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Hamalainen shoots in and bounces Lewis off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Hamalainen not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hamalainen postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamalainen is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Hamalainen fails with the takedown
and Lewis counters with a flying knee. Nice.

Hamalainen has managed to clinch.
Lewis prevents a takedown attempt there.
Lewis is trying to break the clinch but Hamalainen is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hamalainen gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Hamalainen performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Hamalainen continues to hold on tight.
More hug and hope from Hamalainen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Hamalainen shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Lewis is trying to defend but Hamalainen finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Hamalainen is taking a breather. Lewis says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lewis tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Hamalainen has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Hamalainen controlling the pace for now.
Steve Lewis has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Niilo Hamalainen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Niilo Hamalainen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Hamalainen, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Niilo Hamalainen!
As Niilo Hamalainen got his breath back, he grabbed the microphone and managed to blurt out the following: I'm the man of the hour, too sweet to be sour. What you see is what you get and what you don't is better yet!'.
In defeat, Steve Lewis stepped up to the mic, saying 'FUCK OFF'.