PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Diablo Rage (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Risto Retkikello (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Retkikello is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by SMC Hoodrats. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Rage
vs
Retkikello

185 cm
25
188 lbs
4 - 6 - 0

180 cm
20
195 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Frank`s TASTE 'Q147 Recovery/Muscle
Fenrir Fightgear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Diablo Rage!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Risto Retkikello!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A slapping leg kick lands for Rage.
Retkikello tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Retkikello misses with a body kick.
Risto Retkikello seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Retkikello goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Retkikello tries to clinch but Rage is having none of it.

Rage rushes Retkikello and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Retkikello tries for a takedown but Rage manages to get underhooks.
Rage stops a takedown attempt from Retkikello.

Rage's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Rage closes the distance and clinches.
Rage prevents the takedown attempt.
Diablo Rage has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Risto Retkikello.
Rage stalling against the cage.

Rage successfully pulls guard.
Retkikello working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Rage's head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rage 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.
Retkikello works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Retkikello trying to control the action but Rage is working from the bottom.
Retkikello is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rage has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Retkikello is working away from the top position though.
Retkikello is keen to just control but Rage is a slippery customer.
Rage regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Retkikello.
Rage trying to keep a closed guard but Retkikello is proving a slippery customer.

Retkikello stands and steps away. Rage gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Rage moves into the clinch.
Retkikello goes for a takedown in the clinch but Rage prevents it.
Retkikello jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Rage walks away with a smile on his face. Retkikello gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Rage closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Rage lands in his opponent's guard.
Retkikello looks gassed!
Rage prevents Retkikello from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rage preventing the sweep.

Rage gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Rage gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Retkikello tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Rage tightens his grip and picks Retkikello up, before dumping him to the ground. Retkikello manages to land in guard.
Rage trying to control but Retkikello is working from the bottom.
Rage passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rage controls the position.
Rage working away.

Rage working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Retkikello tries to improve position but can't.
Retkikello misses with a strike from the bottom.
Rage trying to control the action but Retkikello is working from the bottom.
Retkikello wants to control but Rage postures up.
Retkikello is looking for a sweep.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Retkikello throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Retkikello defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Rage.
Retkikello wants to clinch
and Rage counters with a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rage lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

It looks like Risto Retkikello has been cut.

Rage closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Retkikello to the mat! Retkikello manages to get full guard.
Rage trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Retkikello keeping moving, preventing Rage from controlling successfully.
Retkikello is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Rage dives into side control.
Rage passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Retkikello!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rage trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Rage lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Retkikello is working to get back to half guard.
Rage controlling the pace for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diablo Rage dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Risto Retkikello's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rage scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Retkikello is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rage is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Retkikello moves into full guard.
Rage wants to control from the top but Retkikello keeps moving.
Retkikello wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Rage is now in half guard.
Retkikello is breathing heavily.
Rage slows the pace down in half guard.
Rage wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Retkikello wants to get back to full guard.

Rage decides to return to a standing position.
Retkikello swings for the body but Rage moves out of range.
Retkikello clinches but Rage breaks the clinch
and Rage makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Retkikello really felt that one!
Retkikello is looking to clinch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Rage.
Rage lands a head kick. Retkikello smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Retkikello misses with a double jab

and Rage counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Retkikello's guard now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Rage passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Rage wants to control but Retkikello is keeping him busy.
Rage working away.
Rage in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Rage controlling the position from side mount.
Retkikello is looking for a sweep.
Diablo Rage overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rage lands a nice forearm strike.
Rage landing strikes.
Sloppy strikes there by Rage.
Retkikello tries to bench press Rage off him but Rage keeps the position.
Rage misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Rage creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Retkikello sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Rage is looking to take a break and control but Retkikello is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Retkikello tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Rage in side control, throwing shots but Retkikello defends.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Retkikello shoots in looking for a takedown. Rage tries to sprawl out of it but Retkikello keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Rage manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Rage closes the distance and clinches up with Retkikello, looking for a takedown. Rage pushes Retkikello against the cage but Retkikello circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Retkikello stuffs the takedown attempt from Rage. Rage gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Diablo Rage. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rage moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Rage throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Retkikello stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Rage misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Rage shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Retkikello's guard.
Rage lands a couple of elbows.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rage not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Rage tries to free his leg and advance position but Retkikello is retaining full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diablo Rage dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Risto Retkikello's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Retkikello lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Rage backs up against the cage.
Retkikello circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rage is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Retkikello can do to turn this around?
Retkikello throws a left and a right that both miss

and Rage counters with a single leg into guard. Retkikello didn't expect that.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Rage accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Retkikello wants to stand up but Rage is controlling him.

Rage stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Rage has Retkikello up against the cage in a clinch.

Rage breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Rage shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Rage seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Retkikello keeping moving, preventing Rage from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rage's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rage preventing the sweep.
Retkikello wants to stand and escape but Rage is having none of it.

Rage stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Rage changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Retkikello looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Rage stands up and beckons Retkikello to his feet.
Retkikello fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Diablo Rage is winning the standup battle so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Danga de danga de dang - Rage scores with a four punch combination!

Rage shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Retkikello wants to control but Rage is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Rage is keen to just control but Retkikello is a slippery customer.
Rage is taking a breather. Retkikello says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Rage missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Retkikello wants to control but Rage is keeping busy.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Rage in particular looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Retkikello punching from the bottom.
Retkikello wants to improve his position but Rage is controlling well.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Rage!
Retkikello cracks Rage with a right hand to the side of the head.
Retkikello misses with a head kick.
Nice takedown defense from Retkikello. No joy for Rage on that attempt.
Retkikello paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

Rage shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Retkikello is trying to defend but Rage finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Rage looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Retkikello with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Retkikello punching from the bottom.
Retkikello tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Retkikello is looking to improve his position.
Rage performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Rage is trying to control the action in half guard but Retkikello is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Risto Retkikello has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Retkikello misses with some strikes from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Retkikello looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Retkikello throws a head kick that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Diablo Rage showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Rage has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Andi Peters scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Diablo Rage!