PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rogerio Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Woima Karhu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie comes to the cage accompanied by Amazing entrance! with the theme FORT BATTLE from The Last of the Mohicans. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Gracie
vs
Karhu

185 cm
26
176 lbs
11 - 1 - 2

182 cm
20
175 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Decent elbows
Very quick

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Powerful

Gilop®

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 1 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Rogerio Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Woima Karhu!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Matti Vanhoillinen and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Karhu lands a high kick!
Karhu takes one to the chin there.
Karhu throws a wild body kick that Gracie sees coming a mile off.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Karhu.
Karhu tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Karhu misses with an attempted mid kick.
Gracie fails with a takedown attempt.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Karhu tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A head kick misses from Karhu.
Woima Karhu seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Karhu swivels and escapes.
A low kick from Karhu misses
and Gracie counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Karhu scores with a spinning back kick!
Karhu throws a lazy head kick

and Gracie counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Gracie.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Karhu holds on and takes a little breather.

Karhu looking for a guillotine here but Gracie defends easily.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Karhu is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie advances to half guard.
Gracie is looking to advance position but Karhu won't allow it.

Gracie is looking for a kimura but Karhu is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Gracie to get the leverage.

Gracie is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Karhu is trying to control but can't.
Gracie is looking to advance position but Karhu won't allow it.

Karhu looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Gracie trying to pass the guard but Karhu defending well.
Karhu trying to control here.
Gracie prevents Karhu from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karhu wants to control but Gracie is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Gracie landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Gracie is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gracie with the ground and pound but Karhu uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Karhu controlling Gracie's posture.
Karhu keeping full guard, as Gracie tries to pass.

Karhu pushes Gracie off and scrambles back to his feet.
Karhu goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karhu displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Gracie.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rogerio Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Good leg kick by Karhu there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Gracie takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Karhu, right into the meat.
Karhu pulls out of a head kick attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Woima Karhu dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Karhu throws a head kick but Gracie moves out of range.
Karhu will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Gracie checks a leg kick.
Karhu throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Karhu throws a leg kick but Gracie moved away.
Karhu throws a sloppy head kick and Gracie moves out of range easily.
Gracie checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Karhu throws a sloppy head kick and Gracie moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karhu takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Horrible takedown by Gracie or perhaps it was just good defense by Karhu which made him look bad.
A head kick by Karhu misses
and Gracie makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Karhu throws a lazy head kick
and Gracie counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A head kick misses from Karhu.
Karhu scores with a head kick.
Karhu misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Karhu misses with a body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie blocks a low kick nicely.
A low kick from Karhu misses

and Gracie counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Gracie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Gracie trying to pass the guard but Karhu defending well.

Gracie looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Karhu wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karhu wants to control but Gracie is keeping busy.
Karhu slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Karhu is pulling down on Gracie's head to control his posture.
Gracie looking to pass the guard.
Karhu is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Gracie advances to half guard.

Gracie is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Karhu defends it well.
Karhu gets back to full guard.
Rogerio Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Gracie postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Karhu is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Gracie, into his guard.
Karhu postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karhu postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing Karhu from controlling successfully.
Gracie wants to sweep here but Karhu controlling him for the moment.
Karhu must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Karhu trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Karhu looking to sit in guard and control but Gracie gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Karhu manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gracie manages to get himself to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Woima Karhu will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Karhu tries a head kick but it misses.
Gracie avoids the head kick by Karhu.
Karhu misses with a body kick.
Gracie tries to close the distance and clinch up but Karhu swats him away and circles back towards the center.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gracie takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Karhu misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nice sprawl there from Karhu as Gracie shoots in.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karhu throws a leg kick

and Gracie counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Gracie tries to free his leg and advance position but Karhu is retaining full guard.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
Gracieis looking to pass into half guard but Karhu pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Karhu is in guard.

Karhu drops back, looking for a kneebar! Gracie looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Gracie looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Gracie!
Karhu is looking to regain half guard here but Gracie keeps moving and retains side control.
Gracie working away.

Gracie swings around for an armbar but Karhu sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Gracie's guard.
Karhu trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracie is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Karhu would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Karhu trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Gracie pulls Karhu in close to his closed guard and prevents Karhu from doing any damage or advancing position.
Karhu tries to free his leg and advance position but Gracie is retaining full guard.
Gracie is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Gracie keeping full guard, as Karhu tries to pass.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Gracie.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karhu scores with a head kick.

Gracie is rocked!
A head kick misses from Karhu.
Karhu throws a sloppy head kick

and Gracie moves into the clinch.
Gracie misses with an elbow over the top.
Gracie pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Karhu avoids the elbow strike from Gracie, against the cage.
Gracie misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Karhu.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Gracie as Karhu tries to tie him up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Karhu avoids it.
Woima Karhu is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Karhu stalling in the clinch but Gracie improves position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Woima Karhu.
Karhu throws a head kick that misses.
Rogerio Gracie has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Woima Karhu is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Karhu.

And that's the end of the fight!
Woima Karhu comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Karhu winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Woima Karhu!