PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Anton Ilmarinen (ranked 122 p4p, 475 weight class) and Mehmet Shakaromanov (ranked 16 p4p, 60 weight class). Mehmet Shakaromanov has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ilmarinen
vs
Shakaromanov

186 cm
31
198
14 - 3 - 0

185 cm
24
194
13 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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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 14 - 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 13 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mehmet Shakaromanov!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Trevor Gratis and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ilmarinen lands a glancing blow to the side of Shakaromanov's head.
Shakaromanov pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ilmarinen slips under a jab.
Ilmarinen blocks a jab.
Shakaromanov throws a solid leg kick but Ilmarinen takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Shakaromanov.
Shakaromanov on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Ilmarinen thuds a left hand into Shakaromanov's body.
Shakaromanov throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Shakaromanov plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

It looks like Anton Ilmarinen has been cut.
Shakaromanov is looking to chop away at Ilmarinen's legs.
Ilmarinen half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Shakaromanov is looking to land body kicks.

Ilmarinen bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ilmarinen trying to control the action but Shakaromanov is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shakaromanov tries to control the position but he's not in luck - Ilmarinen easily slips into full mount!
Ilmarinen lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ilmarinen trying to control but Shakaromanov is having none of it.
Shakaromanov holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Ilmarinen tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Ilmarinen postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Shakaromanov looks a forlorn figure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen tries to control but Shakaromanov wriggling away.
Ilmarinen landing strikes, looking to finish!
Ilmarinen landing strikes from the mount and Shakaromanov is in trouble!
Ilmarinen raining down hammerfists from mount.
Shakaromanov felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shakaromanov is squirming around, avoiding Ilmarinen's attempts to control the action.
Ilmarinen is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Shakaromanov is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Shakaromanov can do anything to dispel that myth.
Ilmarinen lands a nice shot to the head.
Ilmarinen is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ilmarinen looking to control but Shakaromanov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Ilmarinen thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shakaromanov really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Shakaromanov wants to hold on but Ilmarinen pushes him away.
Shakaromanov working to try and regain half guard.
Shakaromanov takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Shakaromanov really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ilmarinen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Shakaromanov tries to reverse the position but Ilmarinen maintains control.
Ilmarinen lands a big elbow.
Ilmarinen trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Ilmarinen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Ilmarinen landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ilmarinen lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Shakaromanov is rocked!
Ilmarinen is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Shakaromanov can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Shakaromanov is still in real trouble! Can Ilmarinen finish him?
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ilmarinen throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Ilmarinen raining down hammerfists from mount.
Shakaromanov wants to hold on but Ilmarinen pushes him away.
Ilmarinen raining down hammerfists from mount.
Ilmarinen postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Shakaromanov looks a forlorn figure.
Ilmarinen is in full mount looking to finish with strikes. He lands a big shot, followed by another and Shakaromanov goes limp! The ref jumps in to end the fight - a big win for Ilmarinen!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:50 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Anton Ilmarinen!
Anton Ilmarinen retains his middleweight title!
After winning the bout, Anton Ilmarinen thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.