PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rod De Minaur (ranked 6870 p4p, 5623 weight class) and Anssi Niilonen (ranked 677 p4p, 600 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

De Minaur
vs
Niilonen

177 cm
18
185
0 - 1 - 0

175 cm
18
180
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Good elbows
Good gas tank

Altitude Clothing

Conviction
Convicted Trap House

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rod De Minaur!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Anssi Niilonen!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Marco Blurström and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Niilonen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A slow jab from De Minaur misses its intended target.

De Minaur moves into the clinch successfully.
De Minaur misses with a hook to the ribs.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Niilonen.
De Minaur has a couple of punches blocked by Niilonen.
Niilonen trying to stall but De Minaur improves his position.
De Minaur misses with a punch on the inside.
De Minaur pushes Niilonen back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Niilonen wants to break the clinch but can't.

De Minaur breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A swing and a miss from De Minaur.
A big left from De Minaur misses.
Niilonen swats away the attempt to clinch by De Minaur.
De Minaur keeps the fight on the outside.
De Minaur has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

De Minaur closes the distance and clinches.
De Minaur lands with a right to the head.

De Minaur breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

De Minaur clinches with his opponent.

De Minaur breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Niilonen clinches with his opponent.
Niilonen fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Niilonen.
De Minaur lands a nice uppercut.
De Minaur dodges an elbow strike from Niilonen.

De Minaur pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

De Minaur has managed to clinch.
Niilonen blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Niilonen misses with a punch on the inside.
De Minaur lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
De Minaur tries to work over Niilonen's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
De Minaur prevents a body shot from Niilonen.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

De Minaur pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
De Minaur tries to clinch there but Niilonen circles away.

De Minaur moves into the clinch.
De Minaur working some nice short punches in the clinch.
De Minaur misses with a body punch.
De Minaur scores with a shoulder strike.
De Minaur lands a left hand that snaps the head of Niilonen backwards.
Niilonen is looking to break free of the clinch but De Minaur has double underhooks.
De Minaur lands a nice uppercut.
Niilonen misses with a hook to the ribs.
De Minaur misses with a hook from the clinch.
Niilonen misses with a punch to the body.
De Minaur throws a punch but it's blocked by Niilonen.
Still in the clinch, Niilonen scores with a nice short uppercut.
De Minaur lands a right hand.

Niilonen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Niilonen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
De Minaur goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
De Minaur struggles to land a body shot inside as Niilonen controls his hands.
A nice right hand lands inside from De Minaur.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Niilonen.

De Minaur escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
De Minaur lands a body shot.
De Minaur missing with a left hand there. Niilonen was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Niilonen gets tackled into the cage by De Minaur. De Minaur maintains the clinch.
De Minaur blocking some punches.
Niilonen blocks a body shot from De Minaur.
Niilonen lands with a left to the head.

De Minaur's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Niilonen tries to clinch but De Minaur is having none of it.

De Minaur drops Niilonen with a beautiful combination! Niilonen stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - De Minaur is looking for the KO!

Niilonen is rocked!

It looks like Anssi Niilonen has been cut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Niilonen tries to clinch up.
Niilonen is still on wobbly legs! Can De Minaur finish him?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Niilonen fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. De Minaur looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Niilonen tries to clinch there but De Minaur circles away.
De Minaur lands hard precision jab right on the jaw that stiffens Niilonen up and sends him tumbling to the mat! The ref grabs De Minaur from behind before he can pounce. Some folks in the crowd didn't like that stoppage, but I saw Niilonen's eyes roll way back in his head, he was done.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:11 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Rod De Minaur!