PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Antero Rokka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pops Maellard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rokka kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Twilight Guardians - Out of Our Hands. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Rokka
vs
Maellard

188 cm
38
197 lbs
35 - 22 - 0

183 cm
32
188 lbs
13 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Sydney Fight Gear

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 35 - 22 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Antero Rokka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Pops Maellard!
The judges for this bout are Darius Henderson, Winston Howard and Ben Watson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rokka shoots for a takedown but Maellard saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Maellard with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Rokka to score with a decent uppercut.
Rokka has been working on his boxing with his coaches at LOD-Guts & Glory Gym in the buildup to the fight.
Rokka uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Maellard.
Rokka darts in looking for a takedown but Maellard gets double underhooks and turns Rokka into the cage.
Rokka misses with a combination
and Maellard counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Rokka fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antero Rokka. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Maellard scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Rokka shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Maellard as he jumps to the side.
Rokka swinging wildly here.
Maellard flicks out a counter leg kick but Rokka steps away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maellard ducks under a wild hook from Rokka.
Maellard keeps the fight on the outside.
Maellard lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

Rokka shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Rokka was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Maellard is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rokka looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Maellard is avoiding damage well.
Maellard tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Rokka wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Maellard manages to work his way to half guard, despite Rokka's best efforts.
Maellard wants to improve his position but Rokka is controlling well.
Maellard trying to control from the bottom.
Maellard has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Maellard is trying is best to control the position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Maellard blocking the ground and pound attempt from Rokka.
Rokka wants to pass the guard but Maellard is defending well.
The fighters are battling for position here. Maellard manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Rokka pushing down on Maellard's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Rokka trying to mount his opponent but Maellard defends it.
Rokka thows a huge punch but Maellard dodges it nicely.
Maellard keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Rokka lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Rokka 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.
Maellard wants to improve his position but Rokka is controlling well.
Rokka working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Rokka throwing shots but Maellard is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maellard is looking to control Rokka's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Maellard avoid being mounted?
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Rokka missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Maellard keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Maellard wants to improve his position but Rokka is controlling well.
Rokka takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Rokka thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Maellard's head.
Rokka not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rokka throwing shots but Maellard is blocking nicely.
Maellard trying to hold on to Rokka's head to control him but Rokka postures up.
Maellard is looking for a sweep. Rokka is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maellard is trying to control but Rokka manages to pass to mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rokka looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Maellard tries to lock up and control but Rokka gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Rokka scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Maellard?
Maellard tries to lock up and control but Rokka gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Rokka working Maellard over with strikes here.
Maellard is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Rokka lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Maellard hang on?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rokka dominating with strikes here.
Maellard is looking to improve his position but Rokka isn't that keen on the idea.
Maellard blocking the ground and pound.
Maellard wants to control but Rokka is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antero Rokka 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.

Rokka will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A slow jab from Rokka misses its intended target.
Maellard lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

Rokka closes the distance and clinches.
Rokka is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Maellard pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Rokka breaks from the clinch.
Antero Rokka seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maellard swats away the attempt to clinch by Rokka.
Maellard 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.
Rokka throws a hook but Maellard avoids it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maellard moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Rokka shoots for a takedown but Maellard saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Maellard uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Rokka.
A shot to the liver by Maellard. Beautiful body shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maellard moves out of range as Rokka strikes.
Maellard lands a slapping body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Maellard drops Rokka with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Rokka looks back up at him and smiles so Maellard waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.

Rokka is rocked!
No luck for Rokka with that takedown attempt.
Oh Rokka is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antero Rokka. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Maellard fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rokka seems to have got his legs back now.
Maellard looks for the body kick but Rokka saw that one coming.
Maellard lands a head shot.
Maellard bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Rokka lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Maellard circles away quickly and effectively.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rokka takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Rokka keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Maellard wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Rokka tries for a takedown but Maellard circles away easily
and Maellard counters with a stiff right hand.
Antero Rokka is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rokka misses with the body kick
and Maellard comes in over the top with a devastating right hand! Rokka stumbles back against the cage, looking to regain his senses but Maellard is on him like rabid pit bull! Rokka slumps to the ground under a storm of punches and this fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Pops Maellard!
A very excited looking Pops Maellard 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.