PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Roger de la Fuente (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juho Pennanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Juho Pennanen acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

de la Fuente
vs
Pennanen

178 cm
22
169 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

182 cm
19
175 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Very confident

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Roger de la Fuente!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Juho Pennanen!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Igor Prikhodko and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pennanen shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.

Pennanen is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. de la Fuente can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Pennanen looking to finish with strikes here!
de la Fuente tries to buck Pennanen off but he can't manage it.
Pennanen controlling the position easily from mount.
de la Fuente blocking the ground and pound.

Pennanen is going olschool here, as he tries to force de la Fuente to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so de la Fuente shrugs it off.
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.
de la Fuente avoids a series of strikes thrown by Pennanen.
de la Fuente holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Pennanen tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Pennanen won't let de la Fuente get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Pennanen trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Pennanen throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

Pennanen working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

Pennanen has control of de la Fuente's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and de la Fuente regains control of the situation pretty easily.
de la Fuente on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if de la Fuente tries to get out of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Pennanen looking to finish with strikes here!
de la Fuente is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
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.
Pennanen thowing shots but they're missing.
de la Fuente is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.

Pennanen wants to finish this one by submission but de la Fuente is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Pennanen.
Pennanen tries to control but de la Fuente wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Pennanen throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Pennanen tries to control but de la Fuente wriggling away.
Pennanen fails to advance to de la Fuente's back.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
de la Fuente holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Pennanen tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juho Pennanen dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Pennanen bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Pennanen sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but de la Fuente is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Pennanen has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
de la Fuente wants to get back to his feet.
Pennanen trying to control the action but de la Fuente is working from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pennanen looking to punish the body of his opponent here but de la Fuente is avoiding damage well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pennanen throws a strike aimed at the side of de la Fuente's head but de la Fuente avoids it well.

Pennanen tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Pennanen has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
de la Fuente is trying to buck Pennanen off.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
de la Fuente is looking to clinch.

de la Fuente takes the fight into the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

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.

de la Fuente breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
de la Fuente wants to clinch.
Pennanen shoots in and drives through. de la Fuente sprawls well.
A big head kick from de la Fuente and Pennanen is sent sprawling to the canvas!

It looks like Juho Pennanen has been cut.

Pennanen looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

de la Fuente gets to his feet - Pennanen follows without any prompting.

de la Fuente takes the fight into the clinch.
Pennanen jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as de la Fuente walks away with a smile on his face. Pennanen gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pennanen bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Pennanen is breathing heavily.

Pennanen is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but de la Fuente is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Pennanen tries to move to mount but de la Fuente blocks the move with his legs.
de la Fuente knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Pennanen on the ground.
de la Fuente is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Pennanen is controlling him well.

Pennanen has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
de la Fuente wants to clinch.

de la Fuente clinches up with Pennanen and pushes him back against the cage.
de la Fuente is pressed up against the cage. Pennanen has hold of a leg and is looking to drag de la Fuente down to the mat. de la Fuente avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Roger de la Fuente has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Juho Pennanen.
Pennanen keeps the fight on the outside.
de la Fuente tries to close the distance and clinch but Pennanen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
de la Fuente tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Pennanen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Horrible takedown by Pennanen or perhaps it was just good defense by de la Fuente which made him look bad.
Roger de la Fuente is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Pennanen swats away the attempt to clinch by de la Fuente.
de la Fuente is looking to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roger de la Fuente dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Juho Pennanen's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. And we move into the final round!

de la Fuente tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Pennanen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
de la Fuente is looking to clinch but Pennanen is avoiding it.

Pennanen fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. de la Fuente sprawls well initially but Pennanen persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

de la Fuente pushes Pennanen off and gets back to his feet.
de la Fuente misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
de la Fuente tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Pennanen paws at him with a jab and circles away.
de la Fuente is looking to clinch but Pennanen is avoiding it.
de la Fuente is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Pennanen 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.

Pennanen has gone for a leg lock! de la Fuente slips out almost immediately though and dives into Pennanen's guard.
Pennanen takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Pennanen working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. de la Fuente doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. de la Fuente manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de la Fuente stopping the sweep attempt from Pennanen.
de la Fuente wants to stand but Pennanen has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Pennanen is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Pennanen working for submissions but it's allowed de la Fuente to get to half guard.
de la Fuente wants to stand up but Pennanen is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pennanen wants to improve his position but de la Fuente is controlling well.
de la Fuente wants to stand up but Pennanen is controlling the position.
Pennanen is trying to maintain the position but de la Fuente is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Pennanen manages to get to full guard.

Pennanen has thrown up a leg looking for a triangle. de la Fuente doesn't defend quickly enough and Pennanen has managed to lock this one up! Can de la Fuente escape?! NO! He's tapping out! Damn, that was a quick submission - congrats to Pennanen on a fantastic submission victory.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:44 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Juho Pennanen!