PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marco Van Der Meanor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johan August Sandels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Van Der Meanor
vs
August Sandels

186 cm
19
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
21
192 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Good gas tank

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Marco Van Der Meanor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Johan August Sandels!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Arvi Lind and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sandels cracks Van Der Meanor with a good jab.
A cross from Sandels lands.
Van Der Meanor goes for a double leg but Sandels avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Sandels continues to drive forward.
Sandels's coach down at Team Tukkapölly was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Sandels's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Sandels connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
A big left from Van Der Meanor misses.
Van Der Meanor misses with a looping right.
Van Der Meanor walks into a left hand.
Sandels lands a glancing blow to the side of Van Der Meanor's head.
Van Der Meanor swings and misses with a hook to the body.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Sandels! But no joy.
Sandels lands a nice hook to Van Der Meanor's body. Van Der Meanor takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Sandels lands a nice shot that snaps Van Der Meanor's head back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Der Meanor takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Sandels scores with a jab to the body.
Van Der Meanor on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Van Der Meanor throws a head kick that misses.
Sandels throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Sandels connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

Van Der Meanor is rocked!
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Sandels, right into the meat.
Van Der Meanor tries for a takedown but Sandels sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Van Der Meanor on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Johan August Sandels seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Van Der Meanor scores with a takedown into Sandels's guard.
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.
Van Der Meanor passes Sandels's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Van Der Meanor seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Sandels does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Van Der Meanor looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Van Der Meanor throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sandels keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Van Der Meanor looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Van Der Meanor is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Der Meanor passes to side control.

Van Der Meanor is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Sandels has escaped the position, nice work there.
Van Der Meanor misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Van Der Meanor advances to full mount.
Sandels tries to hold on but Van Der Meanor postures up.
Sandels holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Van Der Meanor tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sandels is looking to improve his position but Van Der Meanor isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Van Der Meanor jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Sandels is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Sandels and Van Der Meanor has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Van Der Meanor wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sandels keeps working.
Van Der Meanor grinds an elbow into Sandels's temple.
Van Der Meanor landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
The ground and pound from Van Der Meanor seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Van Der Meanor with the ground and pound but Sandels regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Van Der Meanor not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Der Meanor not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Van Der Meanor is keen to just control but Sandels is a slippery customer.
Van Der Meanor throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Van Der Meanor working the head and body with strikes.
Van Der Meanor looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Sandels with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Sandels avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Van Der Meanor.
Van Der Meanor not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Van Der Meanor thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sandels's head.
Van Der Meanor missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Van Der Meanor thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Van Der Meanor thows a huge punch but Sandels dodges it nicely.
Van Der Meanor thows a huge punch but Sandels dodges it nicely.
Van Der Meanor stalling away here and it's allowed Sandels to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Johan August Sandels will probably get the nod.
That's time! Van Der Meanor's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Sandels misses with a wild body shot.
Sandels throws a good cross that connects.
Van Der Meanor pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Sandels enables Van Der Meanor to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Sandels manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Sandels preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Van Der Meanor trying to control the position from guard on top but Sandels is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sandels utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sandels keeping moving, preventing Van Der Meanor from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Der Meanor postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Sandels keeping moving, preventing Van Der Meanor from controlling successfully.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Der Meanor postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Van Der Meanor connects with a couple of short punches.
Sandels working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Van Der Meanor.
Van Der Meanor throws a strike but Sandels rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Van Der Meanor looking for a sweep. Not yet Van Der Meanor, not yet.
Van Der Meanor is striking off his back. Sandels thinks nothing of it though and passes easily into half guard.
Van Der Meanor is looking for a sweep. Sandels is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Van Der Meanor trying to control but Sandels postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Der Meanor tries to roll over but Sandels keeps him under control.
Van Der Meanor moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Van Der Meanor wants to sweep but no luck.
Van Der Meanor trying to keep a closed guard but Sandels is proving a slippery customer.

Sandels got a little sloppy there for a moment and Van Der Meanor has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Sandels has managed to get both his arms back between Van Der Meanor's legs - danger averted.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sandels postures up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Sandels cracks Van Der Meanor with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Van Der Meanor looks for a takedown but Sandels sprawls well.
A little jabbing left from Sandels on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Van Der Meanor chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Sandels can pounce on him.
Sandels scores with a decent looking hook.

Van Der Meanor closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Van Der Meanor lands in his opponent's guard.
Van Der Meanor works over Sandels with some ground and pound from guard.
Sandels not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sandels keeping moving, preventing Van Der Meanor from controlling successfully.
Van Der Meanor 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.

Van Der Meanor drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Sandels dives on top into guard.

Sandels must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Van Der Meanor isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Sandels stacks Van Der Meanor on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Sandels!
Van Der Meanor regains half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Van Der Meanor actively working from the bottom here.
Van Der Meanor trying to hold on to Sandels's head to control him but Sandels postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johan August Sandels showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Van Der Meanor takes a swing at Sandels's ribcage but misses.
Van Der Meanor with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Sandels to score with a decent uppercut.
Sandels cracks the inside of Van Der Meanor's front leg.
Van Der Meanor walks into a left hand.
Van Der Meanor misses the jab.
Sandels lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Sandels scores with a crisp jab that stopped Van Der Meanor in his tracks.
Sandels scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Sandels lands with a right hand.
Van Der Meanor pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Sandels.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Van Der Meanor tries to move into range but Sandels moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Sandels keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Oh Van Der Meanor is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Sandels has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Sandels throws a quick inside leg kick.
Van Der Meanor doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
A shot to the liver by Sandels. Beautiful body shot.
Sandels cracks Van Der Meanor with a nasty uppercut that draws ooohs from the crowd and sends Van Der Meanor tumbling backwards onto the mat. He tries to recover but Sandels pounces and lands a hail of unanswered strikes that forces the referee to step in to end the fight! Van Der Meanor is not happy but he gave the referee no choice!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Johan August Sandels!
A very excited looking Johan August Sandels made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.