PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kari Taalasmaa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yoshi Honda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Taalasmaa
vs
Honda

155 cm
26
190 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

185 cm
24
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

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 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kari Taalasmaa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Yoshi Honda!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Anni Minnemäki and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Honda misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Honda throws a sloppy head kick and Taalasmaa moves out of range easily.
Taalasmaa tries to clinch there but Honda circles away.
Honda uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Taalasmaa.
Honda takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Honda changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Taalasmaa tries to avoid it but Honda manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Taalasmaa to the ground. Taalasmaa escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Honda doesn't manage to clinch there - Taalasmaa circles away.
Taalasmaa displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Honda.
Honda misses with a takedown attempt
and Taalasmaa counters with a left to the body.
Kari Taalasmaa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yoshi Honda.
Honda misses with a takedown attempt
and Taalasmaa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Taalasmaa scores with a body shot.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Taalasmaa, as that shot connected.
Honda shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Honda shoots in for a takedown but Taalasmaa shows good takedown defense.
Honda looks gassed!
Honda tries for a takedown but Taalasmaa sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Taalasmaa connects with a right hand. Honda shakes it off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taalasmaa scores with a body shot.
Honda takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Honda keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Taalasmaa fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Honda on the side of the head.
Taalasmaa catches Honda with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Taalasmaa throws a shot to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Honda gets caught napping as Taalasmaa dives in and scores a takedown. Honda manages to retain guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Honda being controlled here, momentarily.
Taalasmaa has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Taalasmaa seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Honda for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Kari Taalasmaa wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Honda takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Taalasmaa pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Taalasmaa lunges at Honda with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Honda's hand.
Good shot there by Taalasmaa.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Honda.

Taalasmaa looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Honda!
Taalasmaa looking to control and managing it successfully.
Honda really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Taalasmaa. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Honda takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Taalasmaa lands a big elbow.
Taalasmaa tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Honda tries to lock up and control but Taalasmaa gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Honda is desperately trying to improve his position but Taalasmaa has a good base and remains in mount.
Taalasmaa landing punches.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Taalasmaa raining down shots from the mount!
Taalasmaa controlling from the full mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Taalasmaa looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kari Taalasmaa dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Taalasmaa throws a big shot that misses.
Kari Taalasmaa is winning the standup battle so far.
Honda misses with a takedown attempt
and Taalasmaa connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Honda fails with the takedown.
Taalasmaa changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.

Taalasmaa closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Honda to the mat! Honda manages to get full guard.
Honda not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Kari Taalasmaa overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Taalasmaa postures up and lands a big shot to Honda's brow.
Taalasmaa not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Taalasmaa throwing strikes from guard but Honda blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taalasmaa showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

We're going to have a standup here because Kari Taalasmaa wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Taalasmaa lands a right hook to the body.
Taalasmaa keeps the fight on the outside.
Taalasmaa lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Honda at a distance.
Taalasmaa lands a body shot.
Honda is breathing heavily.
Honda ducks right into an uppercut from Taalasmaa.
Taalasmaa ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Honda fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Taalasmaa shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Honda taking some punishment here, with Taalasmaa in his half guard.
Honda has hold of Taalasmaa's hands but Taalasmaa slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Taalasmaa passes to side control.
Taalasmaa lands a decent elbow from side control.
Honda tries to buck Taalasmaa off but Taalasmaa is having none of it.
Taalasmaa lands a nice forearm strike.
Honda tries to bench press Taalasmaa off him but Taalasmaa keeps the position.
Taalasmaa has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Honda is being controlled here.
Taalasmaa lands a few punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Taalasmaa stalls from top position.
Taalasmaa landing a few strikes.
The referee asks Taalasmaa politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Taalasmaa prefers to stall for the moment though.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Taalasmaa is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Honda can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Honda wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Taalasmaa is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Honda will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Kari Taalasmaa just wasn't active enough.
Taalasmaa thuds his right hand into Honda's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Honda tries to close the distance and clinch but Taalasmaa swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Taalasmaa lands a nice hook to Honda's body. Honda takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Taalasmaa uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Honda has time to react.
Honda tries to clinch there but Taalasmaa circles away.
Honda tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Taalasmaa works the jab nicely.
Taalasmaa misses with a body shot.
Taalasmaa scores with a jab to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kari Taalasmaa dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! 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.

Honda throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Honda doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Taalasmaa counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Taalasmaa stalling.
Honda takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

We're going to have a standup here because Kari Taalasmaa wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Taalasmaa ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Honda moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taalasmaa is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Taalasmaa connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Taalasmaa blocks the body kick.
No luck for Honda with that takedown attempt.
Taalasmaa scores with a hook.
Taalasmaa lands an overhand right.
Honda gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Taalasmaa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Kari Taalasmaa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Yoshi Honda.
Honda gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Honda is rocked!
Taalasmaa lands a really nice looking cross but Honda seems unphased.
Honda is still on wobbly legs! Can Taalasmaa finish him?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Honda shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Taalasmaa counters with a big slam. Honda looks out but Taalasmaa is landing strikes to his unconscious opponent! Eventually the ref steps in to save Honda from any more punishment. A brutal conclusion to the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:05 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Slam). Kari Taalasmaa!
Kari Taalasmaa got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'