PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Geraldo Hodges (ranked 24618 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matti Ciechan (ranked 5347 p4p, 0 weight class). Matti Ciechan is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Hodges
vs
Ciechan

165 cm
18
161 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

168 cm
25
160 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Geraldo Hodges!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Matti Ciechan!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Matti Vanhoillinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hodges fails to land the takedown.

Ciechan closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Hodges misses with a hook to the ribs.
Hodges could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Ciechan with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Hodges wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Ciechan stalls.
Ciechan swings wildly with an uppercut but Hodges uses good head movement to avoid it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hodges pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Hodges changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ciechan tries to avoid it but Hodges manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ciechan to the ground. Ciechan escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Ciechan works the jab nicely.

It looks like Geraldo Hodges has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ciechan instigates a clinch.

Ciechan works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Hodges being controlled here, momentarily.
Hodges is controlling Ciechan's posture.
Ciechan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Ciechan throwing strikes but missing.
Ciechan looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hodges looking to control.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Ciechan is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Ciechan slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Ciechan tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Ciechan has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Ciechan has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Ciechan decides to stand up, so the ref orders Hodges to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hodges shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Ciechan is doing well to control the position and prevent Hodges from advancing to side control.
Ciechan works his way to full guard. Good work.
Ciechan is pulling down on Hodges's head. It's preventing any offense from Hodges, at least for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ciechan's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Hodges works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Ciechan holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Hodges is looking to stall here but Ciechan recovers full guard.
Ciechan tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ciechan controlling Hodges's posture.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matti Ciechan dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Geraldo Hodges's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Ciechan shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Ciechan showed some decent athleticism there.
Hodges tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Ciechan manages to move to mount!
Ciechan has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Ciechan looking to finish with strikes here!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ciechan working the ground and pound effectively.
Ciechan controlling the position easily from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ciechan is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Hodges can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Ciechan controlling from mount.
Ciechan misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Ciechan scoring with strikes but Hodges is staying in there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ciechan looking to control and managing it successfully.
Ciechan throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Ciechan controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ciechan scoring with strikes but Hodges is staying in there.
Ciechan throwing strikes here but Hodges is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Ciechan looking to finish here with some ground and pound. He lands one big shot that has Hodges covering up... and two more big strikes land, forcing the referee to step in and put and end to proceedings! This fight is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:35 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Matti Ciechan!