PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tali Ihantala (ranked 17 p4p, 308 weight class) and Gregory Motts (ranked 1 p4p, 4 weight class). I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Ihantala
vs
Motts

203 cm
31
253
18 - 8 - 0

190 cm
37
250
24 - 16 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Vegan Gains
Pound Town INC

Vegan Gains
Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the super heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 8 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Tali Ihantala!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Gregory Motts!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Kenichi Hosakawa and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Motts throws the left hand but Ihantala avoids the punch easily.
Ihantala gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Motts throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Ihantala ducks under a wild hook from Motts.
Ihantala fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Motts has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Ihantala swings widly with a right hand
and Motts counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A head kick from Ihantala lands but Motts takes it in his stride.
Ihantala delivers a nice body kick.
Ihantala misses with an uppercut.
Motts misses with an uppercut
and Ihantala counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Ihantala tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Motts paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ihantala with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Motts to score with a decent uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ihantala defending well as Motts loads up on a big left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Motts throws a hook to the side of Ihantala's head but Ihantala sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Motts throws a jab when Ihantala was well out of range.
Ihantala misses the shot to the body.
Motts avoids the head kick by Ihantala.
Ihantala connects with the punch.
Motts jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ihantala is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Motts throws a hook to the side of Ihantala's head but Ihantala sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Motts throws a hook but Ihantala avoids it easily.
Motts throws a right hand that misses
and Ihantala counters with a stiff right hand.
Motts might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

Ihantala moves into range and clinches up with Motts.
Ihantala tries to work over Motts's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ihantala lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Ihantala tries to throw a body punch but Motts avoids it by throwing Ihantala back against the cage.
Ihantala misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ihantala tries to work over Motts's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ihantala tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Motts's elbow.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Motts.
Motts tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ihantala 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.
Motts takes a shot to the head.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Ihantala struggles to land a body shot inside as Motts controls his hands.
Ihantala tries to work over Motts's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Motts doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Motts lands a hook to the side of the head.
Ihantala goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ihantala scores with a hook to the body.
Ihantala blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Ihantala throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Mottss head.
Ihantala swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ihantala.
Motts has a couple of punches blocked by Ihantala.
Ihantala gets through Motts's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Motts blocks a body shot from Ihantala.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Motts misses with a hook to the ribs.
Ihantala misses with a body punch.
Motts lands with a left to the head.
Motts swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A right hook to the body lands for Ihantala.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Motts.
Ihantala blocks a body shot from Motts.
Ihantala lands with a left to the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Motts.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Motts.
Ihantala misses with a hook from the clinch.
A short right from Motts on the inside.
Ihantala tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ihantala blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Motts can't find room to land a body shot as Ihantala controls the action.
Motts throws a head punch that misses.
Ihantala scores with a shot to the side of Motts's head.
Ihantala tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Motts's elbow.
Ihantala misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nice body punch from Ihantala.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Motts throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Ihantalas head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Motts tries a body shot but Ihantala blocks it.
Ihantala lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Ihantala digs a right hand into Motts's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Motts's gas tank.
Motts looks winded!
Ihantala lands a nice uppercut.
Motts doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ihantala tries to work over Motts's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Motts prevents a body shot from Ihantala.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ihantala.
Ihantala fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Motts tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ihantala fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Motts has a couple of punches blocked by Ihantala.
Motts lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Ihantala lands a right hand.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Ihantala.
Motts prevents a body shot from Ihantala.
Ihantala misses with a punch to the body.
Ihantala fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A short right from Ihantala on the inside.
Motts misses with a body punch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Tali Ihantala dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Motts lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Ihantala throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Motts throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Motts connects with a nice looking jab.
Ihantala misses with an uppercut. Motts saw that one coming.
Motts connects with a single shot there.
Motts uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Ihantala.
A jab from Motts finds it's way through Ihantala's defenses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Motts with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ihantala to score with a decent uppercut.
Motts tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ihantala was well out of range. Poor timing from Motts.
Ihantala slips under a jab from Motts.
Ihantala tries to clinch up but Motts circles away and keeps his distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ihantala throws a nice head kick!
Ihantala swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Motts looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Ihantala moves away from the strike by Motts.
Ihantala slips a straight right by Motts.
Ihantala connects with a body shot.
Motts waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ihantala.
An attempted straight right counter from Ihantala misses the target.
Ihantala missing with a left hand there. Motts was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Ihantala defending well as Motts loads up on a big left hand.
Ihantala thinks about countering with a head kick.
Ihantala throws an overhand right that lands on Motts's shoulder, as Motts tries to avoid the shot.
Motts is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ihantala.
Ihantala is looking to counter the offense by Motts and move into the clinch.
Motts misses with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Motts misses.
Motts throws an off balance right hand
and Ihantala counters with a stiff right hand.
Ihantala connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
A telegraphed right hand from Motts misses the target.
An attempted straight right counter from Ihantala misses the target.
A looping hook to the body misses from Ihantala. Motts does a little dance to reset his feet.
Ihantala keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Motts.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ihantala fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Ihantala changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Motts catches Ihantala with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Motts digs a good body shot into Ihantala's ribs.
Nice uppercut lands for Ihantala. That snapped Motts's head back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ihantala with a jab.
Motts blocks a head kick by Ihantala.
Motts looks to land a left hand but Ihantala moved out of range nicely.
Ihantala lands a big right hook! Motts looks hurt but is still standing! Ihantala lands a left jab and another right hook! This time Motts falls down and Ihantala dives in with a huge hammer fist! Motts's eyes roll back! The referee calls for the bell and Ihantala runs up the cage to celebrate with his fans!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Tali Ihantala!
Tali Ihantala retains his super heavyweight title!
After winning the bout, Tali Ihantala thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.