PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Francesco Skrarez (ranked 2737 p4p, 244 weight class) and Finnish Experiment Il (ranked 1791 p4p, 188 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Skrarez
vs
Experiment Il

165 cm
30
158 lbs
8 - 11 - 0

175 cm
24
148 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 11 - 0, fighting out of London, Francesco Skrarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Finnish Experiment Il!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Marco Blurström and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Skrarez is looking to clinch.
Skrarez tries to clinch but Experiment Il is having none of it.
A good leg kick by Experiment Il.

Skrarez gets tackled into the cage by Experiment Il. Experiment Il maintains the clinch.
Skrarez crunches a lovely knee into Experiment Il's ribcage.
Skrarez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Experiment Il's elbow.
Experiment Il scores with a shoulder strike.
Experiment Il missing with knees to the body.
Experiment Il trying to control the position but instead, Skrarez has worked for underhooks and has pushed Experiment Il into the cage.
A short uppercut from Experiment Il.
Skrarez missing with knees to the body.
Skrarez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Skrarez misses with some punches.
Experiment Il blocks an elbow strike from Skrarez.
Experiment Il lands a knee to the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Experiment Il.
Skrarez goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Skrarez lands a shoulder strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Skrarez just misses with a elbow thrown towards Experiment Il's brow.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Skrarez just misses with a elbow thrown towards Experiment Il's brow.
Experiment Il avoiding damage as Skrarez throws knees to the body.
Experiment Il blocks a body shot from Skrarez.
Skrarez struggles to land a body shot inside as Experiment Il controls his hands.
Experiment Il's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Experiment Il is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Skrarez lands a knee to the body.
Experiment Il using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Skrarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Skrarez misses with a punch on the inside.

Experiment Il breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Skrarez clinches up with Experiment Il and pushes him back against the cage.
Skrarez struggles to land a body shot inside as Experiment Il controls his hands.
Skrarez swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Experiment Il leaning his opponent against the cage.

Experiment Il manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Skrarez takes a jab right on the kisser.
Skrarez tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Experiment Il counters with a left and a right that stings Skrarez.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Experiment Il avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Skrarez is looking to clinch.
Experiment Il throws a quick inside leg kick.
Experiment Il lands a nice looking body shot.
Skrarez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Experiment Il paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Experiment Il looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Experiment Il jabs Skrarez to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Francesco Skrarez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Experiment Il thuds his right hand into Skrarez's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Experiment Il uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Skrarez has time to react.
Experiment Il fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Skrarez has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Skrarez wants to clinch up but Experiment Il keeps it at a distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Experiment Il takes one to the chin there.
The fight stays on the outside here - Skrarez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Skrarez has taken the fight to the clinch.
Skrarez tries to work over Experiment Il's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Experiment Il blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Experiment Il lands a hook that snaps the head of Skrarez backwards.
Skrarez is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Experiment Il is defending well for now.
Experiment Il blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Skrarez misses with a punch to the body.
Experiment Il lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Skrarez is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Experiment Il is defending well for now.

Experiment Il breaks the clinch.
Experiment Il with a hook.
Experiment Il lands a nice looking kick to the body. Skrarez takes a step back to recover.

Skrarez moves into the clinch successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Skrarez avoiding damage as Experiment Il throws knees to the body.
Experiment Il with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Experiment Il makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Skrarez misses with the head strike.
Skrarez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Nice body punch from Skrarez - that landed with a thud.
Skrarez tries to land knees in the clinch but Experiment Il avoids the damage to the body.
Skrarez works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Experiment Il blocks an uppercut.
Experiment Il pushes Skrarez back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Skrarez misses with a short punch on the inside.
Experiment Il looking to stall.
Experiment Il lands a hook to the side of the head.
Experiment Il missing with knees to the body.
Skrarez misses with a short punch on the inside.
Skrarez misses with a punch on the inside.
Experiment Il has Skrarez pushed against the cage.
Experiment Il missing with knees to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Finnish Experiment Il dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Experiment Il thuds his right hand into Skrarez's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Skrarez scores with a jab to the jaw.
Skrarez looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Nice uppercut there from Experiment Il.
Skrarez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Experiment Il counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Skrarez doesn't manage to clinch there - Experiment Il circles away.

Skrarez has Experiment Il up against the cage in a clinch.
Skrarez doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Skrarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Skrarez tries to throw a body punch but Experiment Il avoids it by throwing Skrarez back against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Experiment Il lands a right hand.
Experiment Il lands a right hand.
Skrarez lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Experiment Il or not.
Skrarez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Experiment Il stalls.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Skrarez digs a right hand into Experiment Il's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Experiment Il's gas tank.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Skrarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Skrarez tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Experiment Il's elbow.
Experiment Il lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Experiment Il tries to land knees in the clinch but Skrarez avoids the damage to the body.
Experiment Il blocks a body shot from Skrarez.
Experiment Il on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Skrarez tries to work over Experiment Il's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Skrarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Skrarez throws a head punch that misses.
Skrarez throws a knee to the head but misses.
Skrarez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Skrarez misses with a short punch on the inside.

Experiment Il breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Experiment Il's jab looks to have found its range, popping Skrarez under the eye.
Experiment Il throws a nice outside leg kick.
Skrarez tries to clinch there but Experiment Il circles away.
Experiment Il feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Skrarez's calf.
Skrarez takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Experiment Il connects with an inside leg kick.
Experiment Il has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Experiment Il cracks Skrarez with a right hand to the side of the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Skrarez tries to clinch but Experiment Il is having none of it.
Skrarez tries to close the distance and clinch up but Experiment Il swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Experiment Il scoring well with a low kick there.
Skrarez darts in trying to clinch
and Experiment Il counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Finnish Experiment Il is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Skrarez wants to clinch
and Experiment Il counters with a nice uppercut.
Experiment Il fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Skrarez has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Experiment Il throws a nice looking combination but Skrarez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Skrarez tries to clinch but Experiment Il moves out of range.
Skrarez is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Skrarez tries to clinch but Experiment Il moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Skrarez has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Experiment Il.
Skrarez wants to clinch
enabling Experiment Il to counter with a crisp jab.
Experiment Il stuffs the takedown attempt from Skrarez. Skrarez gets slowly back to his feet.
Skrarez tries to clinch but Experiment Il is having none of it.
Skrarez fails with an attempt to clinch.
Skrarez fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Francesco Skrarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Skrarez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Skrarez wants to clinch.
Experiment Il steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Skrarez.
Experiment Il throws a jab but it's blocked by Skrarez.
Skrarez throws a leg kick
and Experiment Il counters with a nice body kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Experiment Il takes the fight into the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Skrarez lands a hook that snaps the head of Experiment Il backwards.
Skrarez tries a body shot but Experiment Il blocks it.
Experiment Il lands with a light punch inside.
Experiment Il holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Experiment Il slows down the pace here.
Skrarez goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Experiment Il scores with a nice hook to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Experiment Il tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
A short right from Experiment Il on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Skrarez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Finnish Experiment Il showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Skrarez wants to clinch
and Experiment Il connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Skrarez wants to clinch up but Experiment Il keeps it at a distance.

Skrarez has taken the fight to the clinch.
Skrarez tries to land a knee to the head but Experiment Il blocks with his arms.
A head punch on the inside from Skrarez fails to land.
Experiment Il blocks an uppercut.
Skrarez goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Experiment Il blocks a body shot from Skrarez.
Skrarez tries a body shot but Experiment Il blocks it.
Skrarez tries to land knees in the clinch but Experiment Il avoids the damage to the body.
Experiment Il holding his opponent close, against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Skrarez working aggressively here.
Skrarez misses with an elbow over the top.
Skrarez misses with a body punch.
Experiment Il makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Skrarez lands a hook to the side of the head.
Experiment Il has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Experiment Il lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Skrarez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Skrarez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Experiment Il landing knees to the body.
Experiment Il working Skrarez over with knees to the body.
Experiment Il scores with a knee to the head.
Experiment Il scores a nice knee to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Experiment Il lands a right hand.
Experiment Il is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Skrarez is keeping busy.
Skrarez throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Skrarez tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Experiment Il avoids it.

Experiment Il escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Skrarez misses with a lunging right hand
enabling Experiment Il to counter with a crisp jab.

Skrarez is rocked!

Experiment Il has taken the fight to the clinch.
Oh Skrarez is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Experiment Il controlling the action here for a moment.
Skrarez seems to have got his legs back now.
Experiment Il looking to stall.
Skrarez misses with the head strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Skrarez throws a head punch that misses.

Experiment Il breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Experiment Il takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Skrarez misses with a two punch combination.
Skrarez fails with the takedown
and Experiment Il counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Experiment Il circles away from the clinch attempt.
Experiment Il wants to counter the offense by Skrarez and move into the clinch position.
Skrarez tries to clinch there but Experiment Il circles away.
Experiment Il appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Skrarez wants to clinch
and Experiment Il cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Experiment Il pushes Skrarez up against the cage in a clinch.
Experiment Il landing knees to the body.
A bit of stalling here from Experiment Il.
Skrarez tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Experiment Il avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Experiment Il stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
A short uppercut from Experiment Il.
A short uppercut from Experiment Il.
Skrarez swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Experiment Il avoiding damage as Skrarez throws knees to the body.
Skrarez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Skrarez working aggressively here.
Experiment Il lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Experiment Il throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Skrarezs head.
Finnish Experiment Il is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Skrarez misses with the head strike.
Skrarez misses with a body punch.
Skrarez tries a body shot but Experiment Il blocks it.
Skrarez is leaning against Experiment Il and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Experiment Il scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Experiment Il avoiding damage as Skrarez throws knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Skrarez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Experiment Il lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Skrarez missing with knees to the body.
Experiment Il blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Experiment Il on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Skrarez swings wildly with an uppercut but Experiment Il uses good head movement to avoid it.
Skrarez misses with the head strike.
Experiment Il lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Experiment Il avoids the elbow strike from Skrarez, against the cage.
Experiment Il blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Francesco Skrarez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Skrarez lands with a right to the head.
Experiment Il lands a nice knee to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Finnish Experiment Il comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Experiment Il has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 27:30
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Finnish Experiment Il!
Finnish Experiment Il decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.