PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Steve Simon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aganja Muamba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Simon comes into the arena with Down With The Sickness blaring out of the sound system. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Simon
vs
Muamba

190 cm
21
235 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

210 cm
23
264 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Steve Simon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aganja Muamba!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Marco Blurström and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Simon swats away the attempt to clinch by Muamba.
Muamba avoids the head kick by Simon.
No luck for Muamba with that takedown attempt.
Aganja Muamba seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Muamba lands a head kick!
Simon tries to clinch but Muamba moves away
and Muamba counters with a straight right hand.
Muamba throws a head kick that half lands.
Muamba shoots in looking for a takedown. Simon tries to sprawl out of it but Muamba keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Simon manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Muamba shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Simon but Simon pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Steve Simon has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aganja Muamba.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Simon tries to close the distance and clinch up but Muamba swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Muamba pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Muamba changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Simon tries to avoid it but Muamba manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Simon to the ground. Simon escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Muamba pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Simon stuffs the takedown attempt from Muamba. Muamba gets slowly back to his feet.

Muamba drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Muamba drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Simon manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Muamba has Simon in his guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Simon throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Muamba throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Simon passes Muamba's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Muamba looks gassed!
Muamba is trying to get back to full guard.
Muamba blocking the ground and pound attempt from Simon.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Simon trying to control the action but Muamba is working from the bottom.
Simon wants to stand up but Muamba is controlling the position.
Muamba blocking the ground and pound attempt from Simon.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aganja Muamba dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Simon tries to clinch up but Muamba circles away and keeps his distance.
Muamba misses with an attempted mid kick.
Muamba pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Muamba avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Simon feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Simon pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Muamba is keeping the position for now.

Simon stands up from Muamba's guard - Simon perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muamba wants to clinch up but Simon keeps it at a distance.

Simon clinches.

Simon pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Simon misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Simon tries to close the distance and clinch but Muamba swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Muamba misses with a takedown attempt

and Simon counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Simon.
Muamba is breathing heavily.

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.
Simon has Muamba pressed up against the ropes and is working for takedown. Muamba manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Simon displaying some good clinch control by pressing Muamba up against the ropes.
Muamba fails to pull guard.

Simon breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Muamba shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Simon is trying to control but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Simon is looking to improve his position.
Muamba missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Simon kicks Muamba off and gets back to his feet.
Muamba takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Simon wants to clinch up but Muamba keeps it at a distance.

Simon moves into the clinch.

Simon has picked Muamba up - he's going for a ride! Simon dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Simon tries to stand but can't do so whilst Muamba controls his leg.

Simon decides to stand and escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Simon dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Muamba avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Muamba keeps the fight on the outside.
Muamba shoots and misses

and Simon counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Simon.
Simon missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Simon passes into half guard.
Muamba takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Muamba wants to improve his position but Simon is controlling well.
Steve Simon overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
It looks like Simon is going to stand back up.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Simon not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Simon decides to stand and escape the position.
Simon throws a head kick that misses.
Muamba circles away from the clinch attempt.
Muamba circles away from the clinch attempt
and Muamba counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Simon shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Muamba avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Simon.
Nice strikes from Simon there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Simon missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Simon passes the guard and advances to mount!
Simon scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Muamba?

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Simon showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Simon has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Simon!