PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Anton Ilmarinen (ranked 233 p4p, 364 weight class) and Ivan Sidorov (ranked 26 p4p, 50 weight class). Sidorov has chosen Sidorov's Heart as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Ivan Sidorov has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Anton Ilmarinen's chin.

Ilmarinen
vs
Sidorov

186 cm
30
198
12 - 3 - 0

184 cm
28
202
15 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Good gas tank

Fantasy Threads
Shadow Realm Apparel

Silverback Sweatshop

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Anton Ilmarinen!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ivan Sidorov!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Gregory Folan and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sidorov fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Sidorov goes for a double leg but Ilmarinen avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Ilmarinen continues to drive forward.
Sidorov closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ilmarinen circles away.
Anton Ilmarinen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ivan Sidorov.

Ilmarinen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Sidorov drops down looking for an ankle pick but Ilmarinen pulls his leg out and moves away.

Sidorov scores with a takedown into Ilmarinen's guard.
Sidorov lands a couple of digs.
Sidorov throwing strikes but missing.
Sidorov advances position into side control!
Sloppy strikes there by Sidorov.
Ilmarinen tries to bench press Sidorov off him but Sidorov keeps the position.
Ilmarinen is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Sidorov off and has taken his back!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ilmarinen throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Sidorov!

It looks like Ivan Sidorov has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sidorov is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Sidorov keeps trying to improve his position.
Ilmarinen is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Ilmarinen gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Ilmarinen gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Ilmarinen apologises and we restart here on the feet.
Sidorov misses with a takedown

and Ilmarinen counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Ilmarinen won't allow Sidorov to sweep him here.
Ilmarinen works over Sidorov with some ground and pound from guard.
Ilmarinen landing some decent shots from guard.
Sidorov throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Ilmarinen content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Ilmarinen trying to control but Sidorov is working from the bottom.
Ilmarinen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Ilmarinen is working Sidorov over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Ilmarinen wants to control from the top but Sidorov keeps moving.
Ilmarinen lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Ilmarinen is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen passes into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sidorov tries to roll over but Ilmarinen keeps him under control.
Sidorov is still trying to improve position.
Ilmarinen tries to pass to full mount but Sidorov defends it.
Ilmarinen working the head and body with strikes.
Sidorov has hold of Ilmarinen's hands but Ilmarinen slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Well, if Ilmarinen is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sidorov is not content to let Ilmarinen control the position.
Sidorov tries to roll over but Ilmarinen keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sidorov regains full guard. Nicely done.
Sidorov bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Ilmarinen's guard.

Sidorov looking to pass the guard.
Ilmarinen looking for a sweep. Not yet Ilmarinen, not yet.
We've been informed that Sidorov has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Ilmarinen preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Ilmarinen trying to keep a closed guard but Sidorov is proving a slippery customer.
Sidorov sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Ilmarinen's guard.
Ilmarinen is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Sidorov's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Sidorov's back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sidorov breaks Ilmarinen's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Sidorov throws a big elbow that misses.
Sidorov throwing strikes from guard but Ilmarinen blocks nicely.
Ilmarinen trying to control the position here.
Ilmarinen trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Ilmarinen managing to control the position.
Ilmarinen keeping full guard, as Sidorov tries to pass.
Sidorov working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sidorov postures up.
Sidorov landing with the ground and pound.
Sidorov throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ilmarinen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Anton Ilmarinen dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Sidorov's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ilmarinen feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Sidorovs jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Ilmarinen is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sidorov can do to turn this around?

Sidorov closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Ilmarinen quickly recovers to half guard.
Ilmarinen gets back to full guard.
Sidorov throws a big elbow that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sidorov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sidorov stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Ilmarinen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Ilmarinen is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Ilmarinen working Sidorov over with strikes.
Anton Ilmarinen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sidorov on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Sidorov is looking for a sweep. Ilmarinen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Ilmarinen connects with a nice short shot to Sidorov's temple.
Ilmarinen seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sidorov is trying to get back to full guard.
Ilmarinen lands with a punch from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ilmarinen content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Sidorov is pressing down on Ilmarinen's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Ilmarinen with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ilmarinen stays in close to Sidorov's body and controls the position.
Ilmarinen stopping the sweep attempt from Sidorov.
Ilmarinen is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Sidorov 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.
Ilmarinen sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Ilmarinen is working Sidorov over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Ilmarinen chips away with some ground and pound.
Ilmarinen preventing the sweep.
Sidorov is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Ilmarinen trying to control the position from guard on top but Sidorov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Ilmarinen 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.
Ilmarinen preventing the sweep.
Sidorov lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Sidorov throws a strike but Ilmarinen rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Ilmarinen landing with the ground and pound.
Sidorov wants to sweep but no luck.
Ilmarinen pushes down on Sidorov's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Sidorov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Ilmarinen looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sidorov is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sidorov moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Ilmarinen working some strikes from top position.

That has opened up Ivan Sidorov's cut even more.
Ilmarinen is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Ilmarinen preventing the sweep.
Sidorov keeping moving, preventing Ilmarinen from controlling successfully.
Ilmarinen landing with the ground and pound.
Sidorov looking to hit a scissor sweep but Ilmarinen is one step ahead there.
Ilmarinen with a nice head shot there.

Ivan Sidorov's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Anton Ilmarinen!
Anton Ilmarinen retains his middleweight title!
Our winner, Anton Ilmarinen, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.