PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rich Voss (ranked 4088 p4p, 4948 weight class) and Tatu Lehto (ranked 505 p4p, 580 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Voss
vs
Lehto

181 cm
19
170
2 - 1 - 0

180 cm
20
180
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rich Voss!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tatu Lehto!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Tarja Halkonen and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lehto goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Lehto throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Voss drops down looking for a counter takedown but Lehto sprawls and moves away.
Lehto is looking to land body kicks.
Lehto walks into a straight right hand from Voss.
Voss throws an overhand right that lands on Lehto's shoulder, as Lehto tries to avoid the shot.
Voss just misses with a punch to the body.
Voss thows a left - swing and a miss!
Voss throws a right hand that misses
and Lehto counters with an inside leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Voss throws a hook to the side of Lehto's head but Lehto sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Lehto uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Voss.
Lehto scores with a push kick.
Voss definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Lehto delivers a nice body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Lehto. No joy for Voss on that attempt.
Lehto stuffs the takedown attempt from Voss. Voss gets slowly back to his feet.
Lehto keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Voss.
Voss moves out of the way of the counter high kick fromLehto.
Lehto throws a front kick that sends Voss stumbling back into the cage.

Voss feints and as Lehto raises his hands in defense, Voss changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Lehto controlling the position.
Lehto keeping moving, preventing Voss from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lehto wants to stand but Voss is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lehto controls Voss momentarily but Voss frees himself.
Voss looking to pass the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Voss trying to control but Lehto is working from the bottom.
Voss throwing strikes from guard but Lehto blocks nicely.
Lehto 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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehto throws a body kick that misses

and Voss counters with a takedown into side control.

Voss working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Voss is looking to take a break and control but Lehto is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Voss tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Voss looking to control but instead Lehto has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Voss.
Voss is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Lehto blocking the ground and pound attempt from Voss.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lehto is trying to control but can't.
Voss trying to control from half guard but Lehto is working away.
Voss tries to pass the half guard into mount. Lehto knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
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 Rich Voss will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Lehto throws a leg kick but Voss sees it coming and moves out of range.
Voss was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Voss swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Lehto makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Lehto uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Voss.
Lehto only half commits to the counter leg kick.
Voss throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Voss backing away here, and Lehto unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Voss misses with a looping right.
Some bone on bone action there as Voss checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Lehto scores with a nice body kick.
Voss throws an off balance right hand
and Lehto counters with a leg kick.
Tatu Lehto seems to be getting the better of the standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lehto lands a leg kick that knocks Voss off balance momentarily.
Nice body kick from Lehto.
Lehto looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Voss changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Voss throws a right hand that misses
and Lehto counters with a nice low kick that buckles Voss's knee momentarily.
Lehto lands a nice leg kick that just misses Voss's sensitive parts.
Rich Voss seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Voss takes a swing at Lehto's ribcage but misses.
Nice body kick there by Lehto.
Lehto throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

and Voss counters with a shoot takedown. Lehto fights it but they end up in guard.
Voss sitting in guard here, content to control.
Voss throwing strikes but missing.
Lehto keeping moving, preventing Voss from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lehto trying to control the position.
Voss trying to control but Lehto is working from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Voss shoots in and gets a takedown into Lehto's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Voss loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Lehto keeping moving, preventing Voss from controlling successfully.
Lehto working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Voss.
Voss trying to control but Lehto is working from the bottom.
Voss is working Lehto over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Voss has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Lehto keeping moving, preventing Voss from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Voss working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Voss throws a poor cross that misses
and Lehto counters with a nice body kick.
Voss misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Lehto.
Lehto thinks about the counter body kick.
Voss takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Lehto.
Voss shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Voss crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Lehto - the referee stops the clock and Voss gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Lehto. Voss manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Lehto bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lehto throws a front kick that sends Voss stumbling back into the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Tatu Lehto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Lehto throws a nice inside leg kick.
A head kick from Lehto lands but Voss takes it in his stride.
Lehto looks for the body kick but Voss saw that one coming.
Voss fails with the takedown.
Voss shoots in but Lehto avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Lehto thinks about the counter body kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Voss 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.
Lehto connects with a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Voss tries to score a power double leg takedown but Lehto sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Voss somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rich Voss. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A jab from Voss misses.
Voss backing away here, and Lehto unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Voss will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Voss shoots in looking for a takedown. Lehto tries to sprawl out of it but Voss keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Lehto manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Voss backing away here, and Lehto unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
A nice leg kick from Lehto, right into the meat of the thigh.
Voss throws a body punch but Lehto moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Voss throws a poor cross that misses
and Lehto finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Lehto stuffs the takedown.
Lehto appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Voss swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Voss shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Lehto as he jumps to the side.
Voss throws a sloppy body shot
and Lehto counters with a slapping leg kick.
Lehto scores with a kick to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Voss avoids a kick to the body.
Lehto avoids the body shot from Voss.
Voss moves out of the way of the counter high kick fromLehto.
A slapping leg kick lands for Lehto.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lehto gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Voss counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Lehto trying to keep a closed guard but Voss is proving a slippery customer.
Lehto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Voss trying to control but Lehto is working from the bottom.
Lehto looking for a sweep. Not yet Lehto, not yet.
Voss looking to sit in guard and control but Lehto gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Lehto sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lehto stopping the sweep attempt from Voss.
Lehto throwing strikes but missing.
Lehto stopping the sweep attempt from Voss.
Lehto wants to control from the top but Voss keeps moving.
Lehto must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Voss is pulling down on Lehto's head. It's preventing any offense from Lehto, at least for the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tatu Lehto comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Lehto has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tatu Lehto!
Tatu Lehto really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!) logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.