PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Pertti Palo (ranked 2073 p4p, 1786 weight class) and Antonio Tarver (ranked 132 p4p, 105 weight class). Antonio Tarver is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Palo
vs
Tarver

169 cm
25
138
3 - 0 - 0

169 cm
25
145
6 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

Big Chief Nutrition & Laundry Services (70%)
UNDEFEATED

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Pertti Palo!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Antonio Tarver!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Anthony Taglia and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Palo lands a nice shot to the body.
Palo scores with a hook to the body. Tarver takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Tarver tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Palo manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tarver tries to grapple but his opponent circles

so Palo counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Palo loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Tarver is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Palo is stalling in the full guard.
Palo postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Palo is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Palo got a little sloppy there for a moment and Tarver has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Palo has managed to get both his arms back between Tarver's legs - danger averted.
Palo chips away with some ground and pound.
Palo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Tarver is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tarver working for a triangle but Palo defends it easily.
Palo slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Palo throwing strikes from guard but Tarver blocks nicely.
Palo slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Tarver not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tarver utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Tarver keeping moving, preventing Palo from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Tarver trying to keep a closed guard but Palo is proving a slippery customer.

Palo avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Palo is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tarver is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Palo throws a big right hand that misses.
Palo is working Tarver over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Palo got a little sloppy there for a moment and Tarver has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Palo has managed to get both his arms back between Tarver's legs - danger averted.
Tarver looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Tarver trying to control the position.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Palo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Tarver works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tarver lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Palo looking to control.
Palo seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Tarver pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Palo is keeping the position for now.
Palo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Tarver trying to control the position from guard on top but Palo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tarver is looking to pass into half guard but Palo pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Palo is in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tarver is trying to control the position but Palo postures up.
Palo controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Palo stopping the sweep attempt from Tarver.
Palo has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Tarver throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Palo keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Tarver's head.
Palo throws a strike but Tarver rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Tarver postures up.
Palo wants to sweep here but Tarver controlling him for the moment.
Palo bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Tarver's guard.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tarver trying to control the position.
Palo throws a big elbow that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Pertti Palo dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Palo swings for the body but Tarver moves out of range.
Tarver tries to close the distance and clinch but Palo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Palo drops down looking for a counter takedown but Tarver sprawls and moves away.
Palo lands a jab to the head.

Palo shoots in and bounces Tarver off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Pertti Palo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Tarver tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Palo content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Tarver working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Palo.

Tarver working for a triangle but Palo defends it easily.
Tarver is trying to keep Palo in close.
Palo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tarver can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tarver might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Palo haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

Tarver working for a triangle but Palo defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Palo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Tarver looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Palo missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Palo postures up in Tarver's guard and throws a big left but Tarver blocks it.
Tarver looking to hit a scissor sweep but Palo is one step ahead there.
Palo controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Palo knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Tarver on the ground.
Palo is looking to work some ground and pound but Tarver has wrist control.

Tarver working for a triangle but Palo defends it easily.
Palo cracks Tarver with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palo slips nicely into half guard.
Palo is keen to just control but Tarver is a slippery customer.
Palo winds up and cracks Tarver with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Palo throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Palo stalling.
Palo scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Palo keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Palo takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Tarver wants to improve his position but Palo is controlling well.
Palo is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palo working the head and body with strikes.
Tarver is trying to control but can't.
Palo throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Tarver to regain full guard.
Tarver keeping moving, preventing Palo from controlling successfully.
Palo is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Palo is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tarver trying to keep a closed guard but Palo is proving a slippery customer.

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.
Palo scoring with punches to the head and body.

Palo got a little sloppy there for a moment and Tarver has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Palo has managed to get both his arms back between Tarver's legs - danger averted.
Palo is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Palo is in close to Tarver's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Palo lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Palo stopping the sweep attempt from Tarver.
Tarver being controlled here, momentarily.
Palo throws a strike but Tarver rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tarver trying to control but Palo is working from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Pertti Palo dominated that second round.
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.

Tarver tries to close the distance and clinch up but Palo swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Palo swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Tarver.

Palo shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Tarver wants to improve his position but Palo is controlling well.
Palo is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
The fighters are battling for position here. Tarver manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Tarver working for a triangle but Palo defends it easily.
Palo wants to control from the top but Tarver keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tarver working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Palo.
Palo trying to control the position from guard on top but Tarver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Palo is really struggling to control Tarver but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Tarver avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Tarver working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Palo doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Oh but Tarver is tightening it up a little... Palo has to be careful here... He's got his foot tucked under now, this looks tight! Palo reacted too slowly and this one could be over in a matter of seconds! YES! Palo taps out! Nice BJJ there by Tarver!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Antonio Tarver!
Antonio Tarver is the new bantamweight champion!
After winning the bout, Antonio Tarver thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.