PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Smooth Operator (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Uncle Rico (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Operator kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Beautiful in Blue alesana. Smooth Operator has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Operator
vs
Rico

198 cm
22
197 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

174 cm
28
190 lbs
14 - 8 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Powerful

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 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Smooth Operator!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Uncle Rico!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Arvi Lind and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big left from Operator misses.
Operator throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Operator ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Operator uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rico.
Operator takes a swing at Rico's ribcage but misses.
Rico thows a body shot but no joy.
Rico shoots for a double leg takedown but Operator sprawls well. He's pushed Rico's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Operator tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Rico was well out of range. Poor timing from Operator.
A big left from Rico misses.
Operator fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rico manages to avoid it.
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Rico wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Operator uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rico.
Operator scores with a hook to the body. Rico takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.

Rico shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Rico showed some decent athleticism there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rico trying to mount his opponent but Operator defends it.
Rico not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Rico throwing shots but Operator is blocking nicely.
Operator knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rico on the ground.

Rico is looking for a kimura here.
Rico has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Operator is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rico throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Rico stalling away here and it's allowed Operator to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Rico throwing strikes from guard but Operator blocks nicely.
Rico makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Rico prevents Operator from getting back to his feet.
Rico postures up in Operator's guard and throws a big left but Operator blocks it.

Operator pushes Rico off and gets back to his feet.
Rico thows a body shot but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Operator scores with a hook.
Operator dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Rico avoids the body shot from Operator.
Rico ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Operator moves away.
Operator takes a swing at Rico's ribcage but misses.
Operator misses with a body shot.
Rico moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Operator throws a body punch but Rico moves out of range.
Rico ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Operator moves away.
Rico lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Rico.
Danga de danga de dang - Rico scores with a four punch combination!
Operator is looking to wear down Rico with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Operator jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Operator lands a jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rico slips under a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Operator misses with a looping left.
Rico lands with a nice body punch.
Rico ducks under a wild hook from Operator.
Rico ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Operator keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Rico thows a body shot but no joy.
Rico misses with a body shot.
Rico keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rico uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Operator.
Smooth Operator is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rico takes a swing at Operator's ribcage but misses.
Rico stuns Operator with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Operator misses the shot to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Uncle Rico dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Operator falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rico counters with a left to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Operator. No joy for Rico on that attempt.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Operator!
Rico avoids the body shot from Operator.
Operator looks to score with a jab to the body but Rico is just out of range.
Operator uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Rico has time to react.
Operator throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Rico.
Rico dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Rico lands with a good body shot.
Operator uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rico.
Rico swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Operator uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rico.
Operator takes a swing at Rico's ribcage but misses.
Operator misses with a looping right.
Rico throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Jab by Rico.
Smooth Operator seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Operator cracks Rico with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Rico feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Operators jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Operator swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Operator misses with a series of wild punches.
A telegraphed right hand from Operator misses the target.
Operator avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Sloppy strikes from Operator. Those never looked like landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rico takes a swing at Operator's ribcage but misses.
Operator throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Rico swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Operator moves out of range as Rico strikes.
Rico slips a jab from Operator.
Operator lands a slapping body shot.
Operator misses with a body shot.
A jab from Operator misses.
Operator moves out of range as Rico strikes.
Rico shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Operator as he jumps to the side.
Operator lands with an overhand left.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rico defending well as Operator loads up on a big left hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Operator misses with a wild body shot.
Operator lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Smooth Operator is winning the standup battle so far.
Rico uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Operator.
Rico throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Operator lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Operator misses with a wild body shot.
Operator misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Operator keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Operator throws a body punch but Rico moves out of range.
Rico takes a swing at Operator's ribcage but misses.
Rico just misses with a punch to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Operator misses.
Rico cracks Operator with a right hand to the side of the head.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Operator!
Operator misses the shot to the body.
Rico uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Operator.
Operator swings away with a body shot that misses
and Rico counters with a nice body shot.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rico throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Operator stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Rico throws a body punch but Operator moves out of range.
Rico misses with a wild body shot.
Rico uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Operator.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rico tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Operator was well out of range. Poor timing from Rico.
Rico takes a swing at Operator's ribcage but misses.
Operator throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Smooth Operator dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Rico thows a body shot but no joy.
Rico cracks Operator with an open hand slap.
Operator just misses with a punch to the body.
Rico ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Operator moves away.
Rico throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Rico wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Operator fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Rico ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Operator moves away.
Operator looks to land a left hand but Rico moved out of range nicely.
Operator keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Operator scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Rico scores with a decent looking hook.
Operator keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Operator misses with a looping left.
Operator misses with a straight right.
Rico throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Operator lands with an overhand left.
Operator throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Rico throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Rico ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Operator moves away.
Rico is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Operator.
Operator misses the shot to the body.
Rico scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rico just misses with a punch to the body.
Operator keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Rico uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Operator.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Operator slips a straight right by Rico.
Operator jabs at Rico's body.
Rico thuds a left hand into Operator's body.
Operator tests Rico's chin there with a solid looking shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rico fails with a takedown attempt.
Rico takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Operator throws a body punch but Rico moves out of range.
Operator throws a jab but it's blocked by Rico.
Operator doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Operator thuds a left hand into Rico's body.
Rico moves out of range of the strikes.
Rico fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Operator looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Operator throws a lazy uppercut
and Rico counters with a right hand to the body.
Rico keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Operator ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Rico moves away.
Rico misses with a body shot.
Operator takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
A right-left combo lands from Rico.
A swing and a miss from Operator.
Rico takes a body punch but keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Operator misses with a body shot.
Nice jab there from Rico.
Rico throws a body punch but Operator moves out of range.
Operator swings and misses with a hook to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rico fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Operator manages to avoid it.
Operator throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Operator uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rico.
Operator throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Operator lands a really nice looking cross but Rico seems unphased.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rico avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Operator looks to throw the jab but Rico is out of range.

Rico gets the takedown into side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Uncle Rico.
I think Rico has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 28:29
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Uncle Rico!