PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Toney Shields (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rickard Franzen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Toney Shields has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Shields
vs
Franzen

195 cm
18
193 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

178 cm
20
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Hates pizza

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid 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 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Toney Shields!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rickard Franzen!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Anni Minnemäki and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Franzen rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Shields moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Franzen misses with a wild body shot.
Shields avoids the head kick by Franzen.

Franzen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Shields wants to stand but Franzen is controlling the position.
Shields can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Franzen controls the pace.
Shields trying to control the position.
Shields will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Franzen sitting in guard here, content to control.
Franzen has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Shields is proving hard to escape from.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franzen looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Franzen throws a right hand that Shields ducks under and follows up with a left that Shields also avoids with ease.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Franzen pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Franzen throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Franzen swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Shields counters with a series of strikes. Franzen will be more careful next time no doubt.
Franzen swinging wildly here.

Franzen drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Shields trying to control the position.
Franzen postures up in Shields's guard and throws a big left but Shields blocks it.
Franzen throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Shields works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franzen stands and steps away. Shields gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Shields misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Franzen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
A hook to the body from Franzen.

Franzen pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Shields has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Franzen misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Shields throws a big counter combination but Franzen scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Franzen throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Shields.
Franzen explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Shields is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franzen misses with the combination.
Shields seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Shields throws a right and a left that Franzen avoids nicely.
Franzen shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Shields as he avoids it easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shields throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Franzen's waist but Franzen gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Shields off to one side.
Some wild striking there from Franzen.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Shields gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Franzen moves into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Toney Shields. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Franzen takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rickard Franzen 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.

Nice sprawl there from Franzen as Shields shoots in.
Franzen shoots in but no luck this time.
Shields drops down looking for a counter takedown but Franzen sprawls and moves away.
Franzen throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
It looked like Shields was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Franzen has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A nice combination there by Shields.
Shields shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Franzen as he avoids it easily.
Franzen misses the shot to the body.
Franzen tries to clinch up but Shields circles away and keeps his distance.

Franzen gets caught napping as Shields dives in and scores a takedown. Franzen manages to retain guard.

Franzen manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Franzen pulls guard.
Franzen tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shields wants to stand but Franzen is controlling his posture from full guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Franzen bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Shields's guard.

Franzen controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Franzen looking to pass the guard.

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

Shields trying to control the position from guard on top but Franzen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Franzen pulls Shields in close to prevent any damage.
Shields in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Shields is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Franzen is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Franzen has escaped and now he's on top!

Franzen controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franzen trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Franzen controlling from the top position.

Franzen stands and steps away. Shields gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Franzen closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Franzen lands in his opponent's guard.
Franzen controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Franzen stands and steps away. Shields gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Franzen misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Shields.

Franzen clinches up against the cage.
Franzen just leaning against Shields, taking a breather.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Shields is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Franzen to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Toney Shields. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shields fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Shields misses with the head strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rickard Franzen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Shields checks the leg kick.
Franzen throws a right hand that Shields ducks under and follows up with a left that Shields also avoids with ease.
Shields went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Franzen looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
As Franzen looks to move away, Shields throws a big counter combo bu Franzen just gets out of the way.
Franzen displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Shields is rocked!
Rickard Franzen seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Franzen closes the distance looking for a takedown. Shields stuffs it but Franzen still has hold of him. Franzen picks Shields up in a fireman's lift! The crowd roars in approval. Franzen slams Shields to the floor and that's really hurt Shields - he doesn't know where he is! Franzen throws a couple of strikes and the referee steps in to save him! This one is in the books!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:28 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rickard Franzen!