PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hannu Karpo (ranked 716 p4p, 1359 weight class) and Dave Beast (ranked 18 p4p, 42 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Karpo
vs
Beast

186 cm
29
191
12 - 6 - 0

190 cm
33
196
22 - 17 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

FF Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hannu Karpo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 17 - 0, fighting out of London, Dave Beast!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, George Francis and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Beast misses the jab.
Karpo slips a straight right by Beast.
Beast throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Karpo lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Beast circles away quickly and effectively.
Beast looks to score with a jab to the body but Karpo is just out of range.
Karpo closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Karpo throws a jab when Beast was well out of range.
Beast is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Karpo.
Nice body punch from Beast.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters circling - Karpo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Beast looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Karpo lands a really nice looking cross but Beast seems unphased.
Karpo looks to land a left hand but Beast moved out of range nicely.
Karpo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karpo bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

It looks like Dave Beast has been cut.
Beast throws a right hand that misses
and Karpo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Karpo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Beast thows a left - swing and a miss!
Karpo was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Karpo throws a looping overhand right but Beast ducks down to avoid it.
Beast slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Karpo waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Beast.
Beast swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Karpo throws a hook to the side of Beast's head but Beast sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Karpo takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Beast lands a jab to the nose.
Beast scores with a nice strike.
Karpo thuds his right hand into Beast's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Beast rushes Karpo and presses him up against the cage.
Beast lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Karpo backwards.
Karpo is trying to push Beast away but Beast has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Karpo blocks a body shot from Beast.
A short uppercut from Karpo.
A body shot lands from Karpo.
Karpo avoids a wild elbow strike from Beast.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Beast.
Beast lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Karpo tries to circle away but Beast has him pinned against the cage.
Beast lands a right hand.
Karpo pushes Beast back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Karpo lands a shoulder strike.
Karpo scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Karpo misses with a hook from the clinch.
Beast fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Karpo misses with a punch to the body.

Karpo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Beast tries to close the distance and clinch but Karpo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karpo throws a right and a left that Beast avoids nicely.
Karpo throws a big shot that misses.
Karpo is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Beast misses with a hook
and Karpo counters with a right hand to the body.
Beast misses with a right hand
and Karpo counters with a straight right hand.
A big left from Karpo misses.

Karpo closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Beast did well to prevent Karpo getting side control.
Karpo is looking to advance position but Beast won't allow it.
Karpo misses with a head shot. Beast uses the momentum to regain guard.
Beast looking to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karpo is fighting to break Beast's control of his arms but Beast is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Karpo drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Karpo jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Beast has Karpo pulled in close to control his posture.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Hannu Karpo will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dave Beast's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Karpo misses with a jab, cross combination.
Karpo has his takedown stuffed
and Beast counters with a stiff right hand.
Karpo misses with an uppercut. Beast saw that one coming.
Beast takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Beast misses with an uppercut.
Beast scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

It looks like Hannu Karpo has been cut.
Karpo slips under a jab from Beast.
Beast uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Karpo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Karpo misses with a hook
and Beast cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Karpo misses with a looping left.
Karpo looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Beast looks to land a right hand but Karpo moved out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beast misses with a hook.
Karpo throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Karpo paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Karpo misses with a hook
and Beast cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Beast swings away with a body shot that misses
and Karpo counters with a three punch combo that has Beast backing up. Beast nods at Karpo to acknowledge the strikes.
Nice uppercut lands for Beast. That snapped Karpo's head back.

Beast forces Karpo back against the cage and clinches.
Beast prevents a takedown attempt there.
Karpo blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Beast gets underhooks to prevent Karpo's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hannu Karpo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Beast fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Beast misses with the head strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Beast has Karpo pressed against the cage, preventing Karpo from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Beast.
Beast lands a nice uppercut.
Karpo can't break the clinch.

Karpo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Left hook, right uppercut from Karpo.
Nice takedown defense from Karpo. No joy for Beast on that attempt.
Karpo swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Karpo connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Beast lands with an uppercut that bounces Karpo off the cage and back into range.
Karpo keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Karpo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nice shot by Beast.
Beast misses with a hook.
Dave Beast seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Beast tries to sprawl but Karpo drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Beast manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Karpo keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.
Karpo can't find room to land a body shot as Beast controls the action.
Beast is pressed up against the cage. Karpo has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Beast down to the mat. Beast avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Karpo loads up on a big right hand but Beast slips the punch.
Beast loads up on a big right hand but Karpo slips the punch.
Karpo misses with a double jab.
A big right from Beast misses.
Beast throws a jab when Karpo was well out of range.
Karpo was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Karpo uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Beast.
Beast uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Karpo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Beast is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

Karpo gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Beast preventing the sweep.
Karpo is working hard here to advance position.

Karpo is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Karpo escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Beast gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Karpo seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Karpo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Beast chips away with some ground and pound.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Beast showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Beast cracks Karpo with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Beast takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Karpo waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Beast.
Beast misses with a double jab.
Beast throws an overhand right that lands on Karpo's shoulder, as Karpo tries to avoid the shot.
Beast lands a glancing blow to the side of Karpo's head.

Karpo fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Beast sprawls well initially but Karpo persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Beast keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Karpo is thwarting Beast's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beast keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Beast tries to kick Karpo off but Karpo keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Beast moves into full guard.
Karpo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Beast is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Karpo stopping the sweep attempt from Beast.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Karpo shoots in looking for a takedown. Beast tries to sprawl out of it but Karpo keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Beast manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Beast swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Beast uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Karpo.
Karpo uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Beast.
Karpo feinted with a counter takedown.
Beast tries to clinch up
and Karpo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice jab there from Karpo.
Beast looks to land a left hand but Karpo moved out of range nicely.
Karpo misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Beast.
Karpo takes a jab right on the kisser.
Beast misses with a right hand
enabling Karpo to counter with a crisp jab.
Jab by Beast.
Karpo takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Hannu Karpo is winning the standup battle so far.
Karpo on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Beast lands a nice shot that snaps Karpo's head back.
Karpo throws an off balance right hand
and Beast counters with a nice uppercut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Beast throws a jab when Karpo was well out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beast slips under a jab.
Karpo has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Beast finds it's way round the side to connect with Karpo's head.
Karpo misses with a wild combination.
Beast takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Beast misses with a straight right.
Beast connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Karpo momentarily.
Beast thows a left - swing and a miss!
Karpo takes a swing at Beast's ribcage but misses.
Sloppy strikes from Beast. Those never looked like landing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Beast comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Beast 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 28:29
Judge George Francis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dave Beast!
Dave Beast seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.