PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Silvio Briatore (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antti Tuisku (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Briatore
vs
Tuisku

170 cm
28
198 lbs
11 - 3 - 1

185 cm
30
199 lbs
13 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 11 - 3 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Silvio Briatore!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 11 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Antti Tuisku!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Sergei Dronov and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tuisku scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

It looks like Silvio Briatore has been cut.
Briatore digs a good body shot into Tuisku's ribs.
Briatore misses with a hook.
Tuisku fails with a takedown attempt.
Tuisku lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tuisku tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Briatore lands a slapping body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tuisku uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Briatore.
Tuisku misses with a takedown attempt - Briatore sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Briatore throws a jab but it's blocked by Tuisku.
Tuisku with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Briatore to score with a decent uppercut.
Tuisku keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tuisku shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Briatore as he jumps to the side.
Silvio Briatore has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Antti Tuisku.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Briatore throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Tuisku stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Tuisku tries for a takedown but Briatore sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Tuisku shoots in for a double leg but Briatore sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Tuisku looks gassed!
A head kick misses from Tuisku.
Nice shot lands for Briatore.
Briatore throws a right hand that misses

and Tuisku decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Briatore's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tuisku won't allow Briatore to sweep him here.
Briatore has his hands on Tuisku's head, controlling the position.
Briatore is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Briatore keeping moving, preventing Tuisku from controlling successfully.
Briatore is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

Silvio Briatore has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Briatore swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Briatore scores with a jab. Tuisku acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Tuisku tries a head kick but it misses.
Tuisku shoots in looking for a takedown but Briatore manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Tuisku's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Tuisku throws a head kick that misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tuisku has his takedown stuffed
and Briatore counters with a left and a right that stings Tuisku.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Silvio Briatore will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Silvio Briatore's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Briatore throws a series of strikes that have Tuisku backpedaling.
Antti Tuisku seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Briatore looks to throw the jab but Tuisku is out of range.
Briatore swings widly with a right hand

and Tuisku counters with a nice double leg into side control. Briatore won't be happy with that.
Tuisku wants to control but Briatore is keeping him busy.
Briatore is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Tuisku working away.

Tuisku decides to stand up, so the ref orders Briatore to his feet.
Tuisku misses with a takedown attempt
and Tuisku takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Tuisku is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tuisku takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Briatore throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Tuisku stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Briatore misses with a takedown attempt
and Tuisku counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Briatore scores with a hook.
The fighters circling - Briatore throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Silvio Briatore is winning the standup battle so far.
Briatore slips a straight right by Tuisku.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Briatore lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Tuisku.
Briatore cracks Tuisku with a good jab.
Briatore throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Briatore connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Tuisku momentarily.
Briatore throws a looping overhand right but Tuisku ducks down to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tuisku gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Tuisku takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Silvio Briatore has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Antti Tuisku.
Briatore throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Tuisku throws a head kick but Briatore moves out of range.
Tuisku takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Tuisku avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Briatore looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tuisku shoots and misses
and Briatore connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Tuisku with a poor takedown
and Briatore cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Briatore misses with a hook. Tuisku ducked under it nicely.
Tuisku throws a hook to the side of Briatore's head but Briatore sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Briatore takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Tuisku shoots in but Briatore avoids the takedown attempt easily.
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 Silvio Briatore will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Silvio Briatore'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. This is the final round!

Briatore lands with a right hand.
Tuisku tries for a takedown but Briatore circles away easily

and Briatore counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Briatore lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Tuisku takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Tuisku is not content to let Briatore control the position.
Briatore lands strikes from half guard.
Briatore lands with a punch from half guard.
Silvio Briatore overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Briatore is nestled in close to Tuisku, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
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. Briatore connects with a nice short shot to Tuisku's temple.
Briatore seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Briatore scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Briatore is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Tuisku reverses the position - he's now on top in Briatore's guard.
Briatore wants to sweep here but Tuisku controlling him for the moment.
Briatore seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Briatore might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tuisku accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Briatore is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Briatore manages to break the clinch.
Tuisku throws a sloppy head kick and Briatore moves out of range easily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tuisku changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Briatore tries to avoid it but Tuisku manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Briatore to the ground. Briatore escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Briatore jabs Tuisku right on the nose. Tuisku blinks but takes it well.
Briatore scores with a sloppy right hand. Tuisku should have avoided that one.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Briatore is defended easily by Tuisku.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Briatore shoots in and drives through. Tuisku sprawls well.
Antti Tuisku has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Tuisku throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Briatore's waist but Briatore gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Tuisku off to one side.
Silvio Briatore has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Antti Tuisku.
Briatore slips under a jab from Tuisku.
Briatore throws a combination. Tuisku tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Briatore displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Tuisku shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Briatore counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Tuisku is staying active underneath Briatore, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Briatore is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Briatore working Tuisku over with strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Briatore takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Briatore content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Silvio Briatore is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Briatore is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Silvio Briatore showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Briatore 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Silvio Briatore!