PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rafal Ulatowski (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rasmus Soderstrom (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Soderstrom comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Metallica Don't Tread on Me kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Ulatowski
vs
Soderstrom

169 cm
21
155 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

180 cm
28
166 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

West Coast Apparel
West Coast Apparel

RIOT Fightwear - New designs!
Rivers Edge Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rafal Ulatowski!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rasmus Soderstrom!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Steve Montenegro and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ulatowski ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Soderstrom moves away.

Ulatowski clinches up with Soderstrom and pushes him back against the cage.
Ulatowski fails to pull guard.
Soderstrom tries to land a knee to the head but Ulatowski blocks with his arms.
Soderstrom avoiding damage as Ulatowski throws knees to the body.
Soderstrom blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Ulatowski scores with a knee to the head.
Soderstrom unloads a knee to the mid-section. Ulatowski lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Ulatowski blocks an elbow strike.
Soderstrom scores a nice knee to the body.
Soderstrom misses with an elbow over the top.
Ulatowski blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ulatowski throws a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom scores with a shot to the side of Ulatowski's head.
Soderstrom lands a left hand that snaps the head of Ulatowski backwards.

Ulatowski has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Soderstrom uses from the top position.
Soderstrom wants to control from the top but Ulatowski keeps moving.
Ulatowski being controlled here, momentarily.

Ulatowski working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Soderstrom doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Soderstrom manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ulatowski throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Soderstrom throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ulatowski works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Soderstrom must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Soderstrom wants to stand and escape but instead Ulatowski has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Soderstrom looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Soderstrom trying to control the position.
Ulatowski stopping the sweep attempt from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Ulatowski preventing the sweep.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Rasmus Soderstrom wasn't active enough on the ground.
Ulatowski tries to close the distance and clinch but Soderstrom swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Soderstrom keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Ulatowski jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Soderstrom scores with a nice strike.
Ulatowski tries to clinch up but Soderstrom circles away and keeps his distance.
Ulatowski motions for Soderstrom to come forward. Ulatowski throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
A jab from Ulatowski finds it's way through Soderstrom's defenses.
Ulatowski throws a lazy uppercut
and Soderstrom counters with a nice uppercut.
Ulatowski walks into a jab.
Ulatowski takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
No joy there for Soderstrom, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderstrom tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Soderstrom throws out a powerful jab.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Ulatowski, right into the meat.
Soderstrom misses with an uppercut
and Ulatowski counters with a nice low kick that buckles Soderstrom's knee momentarily.
Rafal Ulatowski seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ulatowski swings away with a body shot that misses
and Soderstrom counters with a thumping low kick.
Ulatowski lands a nice looking body kick.
A slow jab from Soderstrom misses its intended target.
Ulatowski tries to score with a low kick but Soderstrom moves his leg out of the way.
Ulatowski tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A nice inside leg kick there by Soderstrom. That's going to slow Ulatowski down.
Ulatowski throws a leg kick which misses Soderstrom's front leg but catches the back leg as Soderstrom tries to avoid it.
Ulatowski fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ulatowski cracks the inside of Soderstrom's front leg.
Ulatowski misses with a low kick.
Soderstrom throws a nice outside leg kick.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Soderstrom checks a leg kick.
Soderstrom on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soderstrom tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ulatowski swats him away and circles back towards the center.
A head kick misses from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski misses with a body shot.
Soderstrom tries a head kick but it misses.
Ulatowski misses with a low kick.
A low kick from Ulatowski is predictable there
and Soderstrom counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Good leg kick by Soderstrom there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Soderstrom lands a nice looking body kick.
Soderstrom tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Soderstrom checks a leg kick.
Ulatowski throws a low kick but Soderstrom avoids it.
A clash of legs there as Soderstrom blocks the low kick.
Ulatowski throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Soderstrom counters with a good, hard body kick but Ulatowski shrugs it off.
Ulatowski misses with a left hand
and Soderstrom counters with a slapping leg kick.
Soderstrom is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ulatowski throws a leg kick
and Soderstrom counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Soderstrom fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Ulatowski is out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Rasmus Soderstrom will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Soderstrom clobbers Ulatowski with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Soderstrom tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Soderstrom throws a leg kick but Ulatowski sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Soderstrom throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Soderstrom takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Soderstrom tries a head kick but it misses.
Soderstrom defending well as Ulatowski loads up on a big left hand.
Ulatowski connects with a leg kick. Soderstrom looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Nice uppercut there from Ulatowski.
Soderstrom wants to slow Ulatowski down by chopping away at his legs.
A low kick from Ulatowski misses
and Soderstrom counters with a nice kick to the body.
Ulatowski blocks the body kick.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Soderstrom checks a leg kick.
Soderstrom on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Ulatowski throws a leg kick that is checked
and Soderstrom makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Ulatowski tries to clinch but Soderstrom moves away

and Soderstrom counters by moving into the clinch.
Ulatowski is trying to maintain a safe position but Soderstrom gets an underhook and turns Ulatowski into the cage.
Soderstrom has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ulatowski tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
A left hand lands to the body for Soderstrom.
Soderstrom misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Ulatowski.
Ulatowski with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Ulatowski tries to land knees in the clinch but Soderstrom avoids the damage to the body.
Soderstrom utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom with a knee to the head.
Ulatowski throws a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Ulatowski blocks a body shot from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom throws a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Ulatowski with a knee to the head.
Ulatowski blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Soderstrom letting Ulatowski take a breather here.
Soderstrom with a knee to the head.
Ulatowski slows down the pace here.
Ulatowski throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Soderstrom blocks it with crossed arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ulatowski has Soderstrom pressed against the cage, preventing Soderstrom from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Soderstrom breaks the clinch.
Ulatowski with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Ulatowski lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Ulatowski on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Ulatowski walks forward, straight into a front kick from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A shot to the body from Ulatowski misses
and Soderstrom counters with a thumping low kick.
Ulatowski throws out a leg kick but Soderstrom moves out of range and Ulatowski only half commits.
Soderstrom comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Soderstrom misses with a right hand
and Ulatowski counters with an outside leg kick.
Ulatowski is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ulatowski takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Soderstrom misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Ulatowski throws a poor cross that misses
and Soderstrom counters with a nice uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ulatowski swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Soderstrom moves out of range of the body kick.
A combination from Ulatowski does no damage.
Ulatowski swats away the attempt to clinch by Soderstrom.
Soderstrom fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Ulatowski.
Rafal Ulatowski is winning the standup battle so far.

Soderstrom clinches with his opponent.
Soderstrom throws a knee to the head but misses.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Soderstrom putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Ulatowski in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Ulatowski is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Soderstrom scores with a shoulder strike.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Ulatowski throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Soderstrom blocks it with crossed arms.
Soderstrom stalling in the clinch.
Ulatowski avoiding damage as Soderstrom throws knees to the body.
Soderstrom has Ulatowski pushed against the cage.
Soderstrom is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Ulatowski is defending well for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ulatowski looking to slow down the pace here.
Ulatowski throws a knee to the head but misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Soderstrom just misses with a elbow thrown towards Ulatowski's brow.
Soderstrom looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Soderstrom lands a damaging elbow.
Soderstrom misses with a punch on the inside.
Ulatowski dodges an elbow strike from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski just leaning against Soderstrom, taking a breather.
Ulatowski with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Soderstrom tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Ulatowski avoids it.
Ulatowski misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski scores with a knee to the head.
Soderstrom pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Ulatowski lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A short uppercut from Soderstrom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ulatowski looking to slow down the pace here.
Ulatowski trying to land knees to the body.
Soderstrom lands a nice shot to the body.
Soderstrom throws a punch but it's blocked by Ulatowski.
Soderstrom lands a body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Rafal Ulatowski will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Ulatowski will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Ulatowski throws a right hand that misses
and Soderstrom counters with a big head kick but Ulatowski shrugs it off.
Soderstrom has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Ulatowski.
Ulatowski is looking to clinch.
Soderstrom throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A solid body kick from Ulatowski.

Soderstrom rushes Ulatowski and presses him up against the cage.
Soderstrom avoiding damage as Ulatowski throws knees to the body.
Ulatowski throws a knee to the head but misses.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski tries a knee to the head but Soderstrom blocks it.
Ulatowski slows down the pace here.
Ulatowski blocks an elbow strike from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom missing with knees to the body.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Soderstrom avoids it.
Ulatowski trying to land knees to the body.
Soderstrom throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Soderstrom is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soderstrom on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Ulatowski slows down the pace here.
Soderstrom taking a breather.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the head but Soderstrom blocks with his arms.
Soderstrom connects with a nasty looking knee right to Ulatowski's face.
Soderstrom tries a knee to the head but Ulatowski blocks it.
Ulatowski is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Soderstrom is defending well for now.
Ulatowski lands a good knee to the midsection. Soderstrom won't want to take too many of those.
Ulatowski working Soderstrom over with knees to the body.
Soderstrom takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ulatowski is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Soderstrom is defending well for now.
Ulatowski stalls.
Soderstrom is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Ulatowski avoids the elbow strike from Soderstrom, against the cage.
Ulatowski managing to block the knees to the body from Soderstrom.
Ulatowski with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ulatowski putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Soderstrom in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Ulatowski misses with a knee strike.
A right hook to the body lands for Soderstrom.
Soderstrom with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Soderstrom throws an elbow that misses.
Ulatowski trying to land knees to the body.
Soderstrom blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ulatowski with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Ulatowski is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Ulatowski with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Ulatowski misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Soderstrom.
Knees to the body from Soderstrom.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Ulatowski has Soderstrom pushed against the cage.
Ulatowski avoiding damage as Soderstrom throws knees to the body.
Ulatowski landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Soderstrom putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Ulatowski in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Soderstrom missing with knees to the body.
Soderstrom managing to block the knees to the body from Ulatowski.
Soderstrom trying to stall but Ulatowski improves his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderstrom avoiding damage as Ulatowski throws knees to the body.
Soderstrom tries to circle away but Ulatowski has him pinned against the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Soderstrom's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Ulatowski using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Soderstrom has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Soderstrom misses with a hook to the ribs.
Ulatowski tries to land knees in the clinch but Soderstrom avoids the damage to the body.
Ulatowski tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Soderstrom throws an elbow that misses.
Ulatowski landing knees to the head.
Soderstrom trying to land knees to the body.
Ulatowski with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Ulatowski is trying to maintain a safe position but Soderstrom gets an underhook and turns Ulatowski into the cage.
Soderstrom avoiding damage as Ulatowski throws knees to the body.
Ulatowski missing with knees to the body.
Ulatowski is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Soderstrom is defending well for now.
Ulatowski avoiding damage as Soderstrom throws knees to the body.
Ulatowski blocks an elbow strike from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Soderstrom lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Ulatowski tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Ulatowski is trying to maintain a safe position but Soderstrom gets an underhook and turns Ulatowski into the cage.

That's four 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.
Ulatowski managing to block the knees to the body from Soderstrom.
Soderstrom lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A knee to the head by Ulatowski.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Soderstrom.
Soderstrom missing with knees to the body.
Soderstrom scores a nice knee to the body.
Ulatowski throws a knee to the head but misses.
Soderstrom tries to stall but Ulatowski uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Soderstrom breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Ulatowski connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Soderstrom lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Ulatowski has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Ulatowski and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Soderstrom takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Ulatowski throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Ulatowski keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Ulatowski misses with a body punch
and Soderstrom counters with a nice kick to the body.
An inside leg kick from Ulatowski misses.
Soderstrom throws a low kick, looking for Ulatowski's leg but Ulatowski calmly moves out of range.
Soderstrom moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Rafal Ulatowski.
I think Ulatowski has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Rafal Ulatowski!