PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rasmus Karhu (ranked 695 p4p, 674 weight class) and Magnus Thorgard (ranked 104 p4p, 99 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Karhu
vs
Thorgard

188 cm
23
212
10 - 1 - 0

194 cm
21
220
9 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

NARCOS

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rasmus Karhu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Magnus Thorgard!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Topper Green and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice uppercut there from Thorgard.
Karhu displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Thorgard throws out the jab.
Karhu was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
We've been told by Karhu's head coaches at Helsinki Private Gym that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Karhu misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Thorgard.
Thorgard feints the counter takedown.
Karhu is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Thorgard.
Karhu misses with an uppercut.
Karhu lands with an uppercut that bounces Thorgard off the cage and back into range.
Karhu uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thorgard.
Karhu looks to throw the jab but Thorgard is out of range.
Thorgard tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Thorgard throws a sloppy body shot

and Karhu counters with a crisp right hand that drops Thorgard! Karhu lets Thorgard back up to his feet, looking for a finish!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Karhu lands a big right hand that sends Thorgard crashing to the mat! Karhu stays standing though and waves Thorgard back to his feet!

Thorgard is rocked!
Thorgard looks to land a left hand but Karhu moved out of range nicely.
Thorgard is still on wobbly legs! Can Karhu finish him?
Karhu lands a nice shot to the body.

Thorgard shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Karhu looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Thorgard seems to have recovered his senses.
Thorgard preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thorgard wants to control from the top but Karhu keeps moving.
Thorgard throwing strikes from guard but Karhu blocks nicely.
Thorgard is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Thorgard throws a big elbow that misses.
Thorgard with a flurry of punches that miss.
Thorgard content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Karhu pulls Thorgard in close to prevent any damage.
Thorgard landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Thorgard throwing strikes but missing.
Karhu is adopting a defensive guard.
Thorgard not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Karhu just misses with a punch to the body.

Thorgard throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Karhu was covering up waiting for the punch and Thorgard finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Karhu is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thorgard throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Karhu works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Thorgard throws a strike but Karhu rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Karhu stays in close to Thorgard's body and controls the position.
Thorgard controlling the position.
Thorgard is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Karhu trying to control from the bottom.
Thorgard is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Karhu trying to control from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thorgard sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Karhu defending well though.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Thorgard in particular looking to stall.
Karhu trying to hold on to Thorgard's head to control him but Thorgard postures up.
Thorgard seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Karhu does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Thorgard seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Thorgard misses with a head shot. Karhu uses the momentum to regain guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rasmus Karhu dominated that round.
That's time! Karhu's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Karhu misses with an uppercut. Thorgard saw that one coming.

Karhu rushes Thorgard and presses him up against the cage.
Thorgard is trying to break the clinch but Karhu has him pressed against the cage.
Thorgard's coach down at Combat Wombat Burrow was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Thorgard's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Karhu working aggressively here.
Karhu lands a right hand.
Karhu has a couple of punches blocked by Thorgard.
Karhu fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Karhu scores with a shot to the side of Thorgard's head.
Thorgard misses with the head strike.
Karhu lands a nice shot to the body.
Karhu lands a nice uppercut.
Karhu throws a punch but it's blocked by Thorgard.
Karhu has a couple of punches blocked by Thorgard.
Karhu tries to throw a body punch but Thorgard avoids it by throwing Karhu back against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Karhu tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Karhu gets through Thorgard's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Karhu misses with a punch on the inside.
Karhu lands with a right to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Karhu misses with a punch on the inside.
Thorgard changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Karhu fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Thorgard fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karhu just misses with a punch to the body.
Thorgard avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Karhu throws a hook to the side of Thorgard's head but Thorgard sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Karhu throws a head kick but Thorgard moves out of range.
Thorgard connects with a single shot there.
Thorgard slips under a jab.
No joy there for Thorgard, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Karhu is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Thorgard.
Thorgard cracks Karhu with a good jab.
Karhu looks to land a left hand but Thorgard moved out of range nicely.
Thorgard loads up on a big right hand but Karhu slips the punch.
A looping hook to the body misses from Karhu. Thorgard does a little dance to reset his feet.
Karhu takes a swing at Thorgard's ribcage but misses.
Thorgard uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Karhu.
And Thorgard tries to counter it with a takedown but Karhu pushes his down on his head and steps out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thorgard is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Karhu.
Thorgard looks to throw the jab but Karhu is out of range.
Karhu defending well as Thorgard loads up on a big left hand.
Karhu moves out of range as Thorgard strikes.
Karhu displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Thorgard throws out the jab.

Karhu lands a big head kick that sends Thorgard tumbling to the mat! Karhu takes a step backwards and waves Thorgard back to his feet - he wants the finish!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thorgard looks up at the clock. Bad move! Karhu lands a right hand from hell, dropping Thorgard. Karhu pounces and finishes the fight with a flurry of punches and elbows.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:30 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rasmus Karhu!
Our winner, Rasmus Karhu, 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.