PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Pekka Paniikki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Vladimir Grotesk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Paniikki
vs
Grotesk

175 cm
18
165 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

174 cm
18
166 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Pekka Paniikki!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Vladimir Grotesk!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Grotesk swings for the body but Paniikki moves out of range.
Paniikki tries to clinch but Grotesk moves out of range.
Paniikki tries to land a leg kick but Grotesk saw it coming and moves away.
Grotesk does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Paniikki tries to close the distance and clinch but Grotesk swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Paniikki avoids a punch combination nicely.
Grotesk swings away with a leg kick that misses.

Paniikki clinches up against the cage.
Paniikki controlling the action here for a moment.
Paniikki misses with a knee strike.
Paniikki prevents the takedown attempt.
Paniikki landing knees to the body.
Paniikki tries to land a knee to the head but Grotesk blocks with his arms.

Grotesk breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Paniikki darts in and clinches Grotesk up against the cage.
Grotesk wants to get back to striking at distance but Paniikki won't allow it.
Paniikki scores with a knee to the head.
Paniikki comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Grotesk can't break the clinch.
Paniikki unloads a knee to the mid-section. Grotesk lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Grotesk looks gassed!
Paniikki missing with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paniikki lands an elbow inside.
Grotesk wants to break the clinch but can't.
Grotesk blocks the elbow strike.
Paniikki gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Grotesk avoids the elbow strike from Paniikki, against the cage.
Paniikki missing with knees to the body.
Grotesk takes a knee right on the jaw!
Paniikki lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A nice glancing elbow lands by Paniikki.
Knees to the body from Paniikki.
Grotesk takes an elbow to the temple.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Paniikki.
Paniikki connects with a knee to the head.
Paniikki throws an elbow but it misses.
Paniikki looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Paniikki scores a nice knee to the body.
Paniikki lands an elbow inside.
Grotesk on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Paniikki tries to land knees in the clinch but Grotesk avoids the damage to the body.
Grotesk goes for a takedown attempt but Paniikki pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Paniikki tries to clinch up but Grotesk circles away and keeps his distance.
Grotesk throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Paniikki is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Grotesk lands a high kick to the side of Paniikki's head that stuns him and send him tumbling down to the canvas! Grotesk dives into guard, looking to finish.

Paniikki is rocked!

It looks like Pekka Paniikki has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Grotesk distracts Paniikki with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Oh Paniikki is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Grotesk scoring with some ground and pound.
Paniikki is wriggling around but Grotesk manages to pass to half guard.
Grotesk takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Grotesk passes to full mount!
Paniikki seems to have got his legs back now.
Grotesk landing strikes from the mount and Paniikki is in trouble!
Paniikki wants to try and get back to his feet.
Grotesk with good strikes from the mount here!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Grotesk cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Paniikki is trying to stand.
Paniikki is in a horrible position here. Grotesk smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grotesk cracks Paniikki with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Grotesk won't let Paniikki get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Grotesk lands a big shot there that rocks Paniikki but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Grotesk in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Paniikki's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Grotesk working the ground and pound effectively.
Grotesk scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Paniikki?
Grotesk raining down shots from the mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Grotesk lands a big shot there that rocks Paniikki but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Grotesk lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Grotesk scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Paniikki is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Grotesk with the ground and pound from mount.
Paniikki is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Paniikki trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Grotesk working Paniikki over with strikes here.
Paniikki tries to buck Grotesk off but he can't manage it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Vladimir Grotesk will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Pekka Paniikki's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Paniikki is looking to clinch.
Grotesk throws a head kick that misses.
Grotesk keeps the fight on the outside.
Paniikki moves in looking to clinch but Grotesk pushes him off.
Grotesk tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Grotesk wants to break free but Paniikki has control.

Grotesk escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Grotesk checks a leg kick nicely.
Vladimir Grotesk is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Grotesk throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Paniikki rushes Grotesk and presses him up against the cage.
Paniikki landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Paniikki lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Paniikki creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Paniikki lands an elbow that stopped Grotesk in his tracks for a moment.
Grotesk takes an elbow to the forehead.
Paniikki landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Paniikki unloads a knee to the mid-section. Grotesk lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Paniikki lands an elbow inside that Grotesk shrugs off.
Paniikki stops a takedown attempt from Grotesk.

Grotesk decides to pull guard.
Paniikki wants to get up but he can't break Grotesk's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Grotesk looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Grotesk 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.
Paniikki would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Paniikki stopping the sweep attempt from Grotesk.
Grotesk lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Paniikki!
Paniikki wants to get back to his feet.
Grotesk has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Paniikki is squirming around, avoiding Grotesk's attempts to control the action.
Paniikki is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Grotesk is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Paniikki can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Paniikki is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Grotesk working away from the top, dropping strikes.
You get the feeling that Paniikki really doesn't like being in this position too much.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Grotesk cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Grotesk landing punches.
Paniikki really wants to buck Grotesk off and get back to his feet.
Grotesk in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Grotesk with shots to the head and body - Paniikki looks very uncomfortable down there.
Grotesk lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Grotesk throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Grotesk thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Grotesk putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grotesk is landing with some decent strikes but Paniikki is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Grotesk scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Grotesk with good strikes from the mount here!
Grotesk has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Paniikki's face.
Grotesk connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Grotesk scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Grotesk lands a big shot to the head and Paniikki winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:45 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Vladimir Grotesk!
Vladimir Grotesk is the new lightweight champion!