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 The Nordic Fire Championship once again put on a stellar event which once again showcased why Otso Jokinen is the pound for pound best fight in the MMA Tycoon world. The attendance at the LA Memorial was 900038 and the event sold just under 300,000 PPVs. Today we are going to take a closer look at the fights on the main card and what the result means for the fighters involved.
Marko Torturo Vs Lowieke De Vos
The first fight on the main card featured the light heavyweight title fight and everyone was wondering whether Torturo still had the motivation and drive to defend his belt after his tough run as of late. The first round started with Torturo landing a big hook early on that stunned De Vos but he wasn’t hurt and proceeded to find his own range. De Vos tried to land takedowns throughout the round but Torturo managed to stuff them all. Both fighters where mixing up their strikes amazingly, throwing high and low kicks and a variety of punches. De Vos couldn’t take it to the mat but landed more punches and kicks as Torturo always had to watch out for takedowns as well. Both fighters started off aggressive in the second round, landing strikes but Torturo started finding his groove and landing more efficiently. Torturo manged to land a few hard body kicks which combined with yet more failed takedown attempts from De Vos really took a toll on De Vos’ cardio. De Vos managed to land a takedown late in the second round but did nothing with it and it was not enough to steal the round from the champ. Early in the third it became clear De Vos was tired, Torturo still had lots of gas in the tank and really began to light De Vos up. De Vos managed to show why he is always dangerous with a few strong counters but Torturo’s chin held up fine. De Vos continues to try and close the distance and manages to clinch up late in the third but quickly disengages himself. Torturo won a few more striking exchanges before getting takedown by De Vos at the very end of the round but it was once again not enough. Now three rounds into the fight, the champ has come back from a bad first round and looked very in control of the fight. In the fourth round you could see how all of the body and leg kicks had worn down De Vos. Being a tough dude he hung in there, looking to land his own shots but really got picked apart by the champ whose confidence was growing by the round. The fight would probably not have gone 5 rounds had De Vos not been so tough, he started to eat more and more shots as Torturo became increasing accurate and started working good combinations too. The decision was just a formality, as the champ retained his belt by unanimous decision. It as a valiant effort by De Vos but Torturo showed why he is considered one of the best at 205.
Iiro Tolonen vs Pertti Rauta
In the second fight of the evening we got to see two of the biggest fighters under contract with the NFC duke it out for the super heavyweight strap. The veteran Tolonen came out aggressive looking to mix up accurate shots with occasional power shots. Tolonen quickly managed to find his range and started peppering Rauta who did not seem to have an answer. About halfway through the fight Tolonen lands a huge head kick that sends Rauta down and had him cut up bad. Rauta was waved back to his feet by the big veteran and showed class by landing a takedown even though he was clearly rocked. Tolonen managed to get back up to his feet but Rauta seemed to have recovered. Rauto clinched up with Tolonen at the end of the first but it was a clear round for Tolonen. In the second round Tolonen once again looked to establish his jab and mix in kicks, Rauta landed some strikes of his own but was clearly not as good as Tolonen on the feet. With a bit more than a minute left Rauta manages to land a nice takedown into guard and started working his ground and pound. Tolonen managed to stop Rauta from mounting him but ended the round on his back, making it a tough one to score. The start of the third round looked very similar to the second, Tolonen was using his range well to land more strikes but Rauto started having some success with his own jab and leg kicks. The striking for that round was just about even until Rauto switched it up and took Tolonen down with a nice takedown. Had he kept top position, that could have secured the round but the savvy veteran landed a nice sweep right into full mount. Tolonen managed to end the round in mount, raining down punches on his opponent. It was another close round, but one that should probably go to Tolonen. By the fourth round you could tell that these guys are too big to be fighting for so long but they both stayed active. By this point of the fight the accuracy of both their strikes had gone down but Tolonen was still being more active. About half way through the round Tolonen started finding his range again and landing heavy leg kicks and few good uppercuts. Rauta started to work hard for the takedown but managed to get it with only a minute left. Tolonen worked from the bottom but Rauta managed to end the round in half guard. Once again, a really close round. Tolonen obviously did not want this fight to go the distance and came out swining for the final round, leaving it ALL in the cage. He managed to land some big shots on Rauta who was running on nothing but fumes at this point. It seemed like all Tolonen had to do was land one or two big shots because Rauta was just stumbling all over the cage with exhaustion. Rauta is a veteran though and knew he had a chance if this went the distance and hung in there like one tough SOB. The score cards where interesting, as two judges gave Tolonen all 5 rounds while one judge actually gave Ruata 2,3 and 4. I believe the decision was the right one in the end, Rauta made some of those rounds really close with his grit and drive but Tolonen was the better fighter without a doubt.
Frankenstein Mir vs Niklas Nort
In the third fight on the main card we had two more super heavyweights go at it as they battled for position in a tough division. Both fighters came out looking to land some strikes but it went to the ground within a minute with Mir landing a nice takedown. Nort, however, managed to land a kimura sweep right away and started controlling Mir. It was a good battle for position but Mir managed to land his own reversal and get back on top. In the final minute or so Mir managed to pass Norts guard and threaten him with submissions. In the second round Mir shot for a takedown and got it right off the bat but was once again swept and this time right into mount. Nort did a good job controlling from mount but wasn’t being too active, after a few minutes Nort managed to advance to Mir’s back and held this position the entire round. The third round of the fight was pretty uneventful, Mir once again landed a takedown early and started working his ground and pound. It wasn’t as fast as the times before, but once again Nort lands a sweep and takes top position. Mir wasn’t having this though and mange to slip out on to Nort’s back. Mir started looking for a RNC but more to pass the time, wasn’t really looking to finish. Nort worked hard to get Mir of his back and managed to turn in to half guard. Mir wasn’t being active from top at all so Nort got to full guard and tied up Mir. The referee had no choice but to stand these guys up for the last minute but neither fighter managed to land a strike. Arguably the least eventful fight on the card, Mir won the fight by decision but I don’t think many people cared.
Alistair Overeem vs Nikolai Kovalenko
After a snooze fest of a fight the fans where ready for some action and, thankfully, Overeem and Kovalenko delivered. The first round was a full on brawl, both fighters were coming forward looking to land their strikes with authority. Overeem was looking to land some good punches but was obviously looking for that high kick while Kovalenko used his range well to land some combos, leg kicks and a lot of body shots. Overeem took some strong punches on the jaw but showed a good chin and continued to stay in the pocket. It was tough to judge such a fast paced round but Kovalenko edged him by a margin. Overeem responded great in between rounds and seemed to have gotten some good advice from his corner because he immediately clinched up with Kovalenko at the start of round two. Right away Kovalenko was on the defensive as Overeem looked work his versatile clinch game. Kovalenko managed to break the clinch but Overeem would stay tight and lock him back up. A little over half way through the second round Kovalenko manages to break clinch again but ended up eating a big left right combo from Overeem on the feet. Overeem wave Kovalenko up and started chasing him down for the finish. Kovalenko hung in there and right when he seemed to be doing better Overeem lands another combo and this one knocks him out cold. Very impressive win for Overeem, lost that first round but came back and changed up the game on his opponent and finished the fight.
Otso Jokinen vs Sam Hall
The fans had waited all they could wait at this point and the roar was deafening as both fighters received a great reception on the way to the cage. At the start of the first round Hall throws a big head kick right away to show he means business, Jokinen replies by clinching up right away and negate that ridiculous range advantage. In the clinch we all know what Jokinen does he best and he started mixing in his word class dirty boxing with good effect. Jokinen also looked for takedowns but Hall managed to keep this fight on the feet. Hall was looking to break clinch but also used his MT against the legend and was throwing knees, elbows and punches every chance he got. Near the end of the round Hall manages to bring it back to range and both fighters exchanged strikes as the round came to an end. Most of the round took place in the clinch and Jokinen showed his superior control and dirty boxing to take that first round. In the second round Jokinen started to show off his striking, bouncing around effectively whilst landing strong leg kicks and good body punches. Once again Jokinen showed he had no trouble striking with bigger guys. Hall was working his own striking but wasn’t landing near as much as he normally does. About halfway through the second round Jokinen clinches up again and starts landing some nice uppercuts and punches on Sam Hall. Hall was working his own striking but was on the defensive mostly and even ended up on his back near the end of the round. Jokinen landed a nice takedown from the clinch and started controlling his opponent. Both fighters were not doing much on the ground and ref stood the up but there was barely any time left in the round. Another clear round for the champ as he managed to show his striking, clinch and ground game all in the same round. Round three starts off looking much better for Hall as he manages to stuff a takedown and prevent a clinch attempt from Jokinen. Hall the clinches up with Otso and actually lands one or two nice elbows while defending Jokinen’s dirty boxing. But Jokinen once again works a takedown from clinch, this time with lots of time in the round. Jokinen starts working hard to pass the guard of Hall which proves to very tricky. With about a minute left Hall lands a great sweep right into full mount which got everyone on their feet. Jokinen started working really hard and Hall could not really capitalize with any damage before the round was done. The fourth round starts off great with both guys swinging for the fences until a low kick from Hall goes a bit high, but Jokinen doesn’t need much time and the fight continues fairly quickly. Jokinen starts looking to clinch again and gets it pretty early. Both fighters started laying it all in the line in the clinch with Jokinen landing some big punches and going for takedowns. Hall tried to work his MT but he had to be cautious of the takedowns and spend a lot of time defending. With less than a minute left, Jokinen lands a huge uppercut in the clinch, right up the middle. Hall is clearly rocked and Jokinen looked to take advantage with a takedown which Hall somehow manages to shrug off. Back at a striking distance, its clear Hall doesn’t have his legs under him and Jokinen smells the blood. Jokinen quickly jumps in with a huge 3 punch combo that had Sam Hall knocked out cold before he even hit the ground. There were only 10 seconds left in the round, showing great finishing instinct from Jokinen.
Once again Otso Jokinen managed to show the world just how good he is, fighting the much larger and very experience Sam Hall and managing to finish him within the time is very impressive. This was the best Otso has looked against a welterweight and I personally wouldn’t be surprised if we see him take on some middleweights next. Anyway folks, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the event and the review, this is Maxmillian Marks signing off for now.
Undercard results:
Tomi Juntunen def Simon Adebisi via Decision
Huey Freeman def Bruce McBrain via TKO
Tore Rebo def EJ Balingit via KO
Tony Tauno def Harry Stroker via TKO
Simo Silakka def Bob Stroker via Decision
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