PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Dave Finney (ranked 24863 p4p, 5410 weight class) and Darius Tanavoli (ranked 656 p4p, 531 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Finney
vs
Tanavoli

167 cm
23
163
0 - 2 - 0

175 cm
18
163
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Granite 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 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Dave Finney!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Darius Tanavoli!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Konstantin Menshow and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tanavoli circles away from the clinch attempt.
Finney blocks a head kick by Tanavoli.
Tanavoli fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Finney.
Finney shoots in for a takedown but Tanavoli shows good takedown defense.
Finney on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Tanavoli takes a swing at Finney's ribcage but misses.
Tanavoli throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

Tanavoli clinches up against the cage.
Tanavoli has Finney pressed against the cage, preventing Finney from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
I was talking to Finney's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Tanavoli tries to throw a body punch but Finney avoids it by throwing Tanavoli back against the cage.

Tanavoli is fighting off a takedown attempt but Finney is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Tanavoli to the mat. Tanavoli regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Finney seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Finney's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanavoli is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Tanavoli wants to hit a sweep here but Finney passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Tanavoli there!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Finney tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Tanavoli can't escape the position.

Finney working for a guillotine from mount but Tanavoli is in no mood to give up.
Finney controlling from mount.
Finney could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Finney is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Tanavoli has managed to escape the submission attempt.

Finney working for a guillotine from mount but Tanavoli is in no mood to give up.
Finney looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Finney controlling the position easily from mount.
Tanavoli is in all sorts of trouble here.
Finney punching from mount but Tanavoli doing a good job of avoiding damage.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Finney cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Finney tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Finney is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Tanavoli can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Finney dominated that round.
That's time! Finney's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Tanavoli lands a leg kick that knocks Finney off balance momentarily.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Finney is defended easily by Tanavoli.
Tanavoli lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Finney is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tanavoli can do to turn this around?
Tanavoli lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Finney takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tanavoli explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Finney shoots in looking for a takedown. Tanavoli tries to sprawl out of it but Finney keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Tanavoli manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Tanavoli scores with a punch to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanavoli lands a really nice looking cross but Finney seems unphased.
Finney throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Finney misses with the combination.
Finney is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Finney changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Tanavoli tries to avoid it but Finney manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Tanavoli to the ground. Tanavoli escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dave Finney. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Finney steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Tanavoli. That one must have hurt.
A slapping body kick lands there for Tanavoli.
Good leg kick by Tanavoli.
Tanavoli keeps Finney at a distance using the push kick.
Tanavoli thuds his shin into the meat of Finney's side.

Tanavoli drives through and clinches with Finney against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanavoli tries a body shot but Finney blocks it.
Nice elbow from Tanavoli.

It looks like Dave Finney has been cut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tanavoli has Finney pressed against the cage, preventing Finney from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Finney takes a shot to the head.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Tanavoli.
Tanavoli pushes Finney back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Tanavoli crunches a lovely knee into Finney's ribcage.
Tanavoli lands a damaging elbow.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Tanavoli takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Tanavoli lands a shoulder strike.

Dave Finney's cut is getting worse.
Tanavoli lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Tanavoli lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

Dave Finney's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Tanavoli misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Finney avoiding damage as Tanavoli throws knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Tanavoli.
Tanavoli misses with a punch to the body.
Tanavoli digs a right hand underneath Finney's ribcage. Finney let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Tanavoli is working Finney over against the cage.
Tanavoli can't find room to land a body shot as Finney controls the action.
Tanavoli tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Finney's elbow.
Tanavoli wants to stall.
Tanavoli misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Tanavoli throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Finneys head.
Tanavoli lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Finney prevents a body shot from Tanavoli.
Finney tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Tanavoli smiles and moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Finney takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Finney steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Tanavoli. That one must have hurt.
Tanavoli lands a head kick!

Jeez, Dave Finney's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.
Darius Tanavoli seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tanavoli scores with a nice head shot.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanavoli.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Tanavoli thows a body kick. Finney tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Finney fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanavoli.
Tanavoli scores with a head kick.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Dave Finney's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Darius Tanavoli!
A relieved looking Darius Tanavoli thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.