PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Nick Pearson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ilmari Laine (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ilmari Laine is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Pearson
vs
Laine

185 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

179 cm
18
175 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nick Pearson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ilmari Laine!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Winston Howard and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pearson closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Pearson tries to clinch up but Laine circles away and keeps his distance.
Pearson doesn't manage to clinch there - Laine circles away.

Laine shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Pearson has his hands on Laine's head, controlling the position.
Laine preventing the sweep.
Laine stops Pearson from standing up.
Laine sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Laine forces his way into half guard.
Laine lands strikes from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pearson makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Pearson.
Laine preventing the sweep.
Laine trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Pearson has his foot on Laine's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Laine works his way back into a safe position though.
Pearson manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Laine wants to hold on but Pearson pushes him away.
Laine is in a horrible position here. Pearson smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Laine is wriggling around trying to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Laine is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Laine can do anything to dispel that myth.
Pearson with shots to the head and body - Laine looks very uncomfortable down there.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Laine sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Laine is looking to improve his position.
Pearson is trying to control. Laine wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Laine is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Pearson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Laine is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Laine keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Laine is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Pearson is nestled in close to Laine, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Laine is staying active underneath Pearson, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Pearson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Pearson works his way into side control.
Laine gets back to half guard.

Pearson wants to work for an arm triangle but Laine is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Pearson is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pearson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Pearson throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pearson landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Laine gets back to full guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Pearson content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pearson is breathing heavily.
Laine wants to sweep here but Pearson controlling him for the moment.
Pearson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Pearson loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Laine manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Pearson manages to get himself to full guard.
Pearson keeping moving, preventing Laine from controlling successfully.
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 Nick Pearson will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Laine swats away the attempt to clinch by Pearson.
Pearson throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Laine swats away the attempt to clinch by Pearson.
Laine throws a wild body kick that Pearson sees coming a mile off.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Laine shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Pearson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Laine is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Laine shoots for a double leg takedown but Pearson sprawls well. He's pushed Laine's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Laine with a poor takedown
and Pearson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Laine is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Nick Pearson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ilmari Laine.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pearson tries to close the distance and clinch but Laine swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Laine shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Pearson but Pearson pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Pearson dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Laine shoots and misses
and Pearson counters with a straight right hand.
Laine takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Nick Pearson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Left hook, right uppercut from Pearson.
Pearson scores with a head kick.
Pearson doesn't manage to clinch there - Laine circles away.
Laine misses with a lunging right hand
and Pearson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Laine is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Nick Pearson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Pearson.
Laine avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
No luck for Laine with that takedown attempt.
Pearson lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Pearson throws a head kick that half lands.
Good leg kick by Pearson there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A kick lands to the mid section there for Pearson.
Horrible takedown by Laine or perhaps it was just good defense by Pearson which made him look bad.
Pearson tries to clinch up but Laine circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pearson bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Laine's head.
Laine takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Pearson stuffs the takedown attempt from Laine. Laine gets slowly back to his feet.
Laine takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Nick Pearson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Pearson slaps away a takedown attempt from Laine, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Laine is breathing heavily.
Laine takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laine takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Pearson cracks Laine with an open hand slap.
Pearson darts in trying to clinch

and Laine counters with a nice double leg into side control. Pearson won't be happy with that.
Pearson manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Laine takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Ground and pound from Laine.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Pearson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Laine is working away from the top position though.
Laine trying to control the action but Pearson is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Pearson dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. And we move into the final round!

Pearson throws a nice head kick!
Laine shoots in and drives through. Pearson sprawls well.

Laine gets the takedown into side control.
Pearson tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Laine wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Laine looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Pearson is avoiding damage well.
Laine wants to lay and pray for a moment but Pearson keeps working.
Pearson wants to control but Laine postures up.
Laine wants to take a breather but Pearson manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Laine.
Laine throws a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pearson trying to keep a closed guard but Laine is proving a slippery customer.

Pearson looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Laine passes into half guard.
Laine really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Pearson. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Laine is pressing down on Pearson's thigh, looking to free his foot. Pearson is holding on for now.
Pearson is controlling Laine's position as best he can from this difficult position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Laine prevents Pearson from standing back up.
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. Laine connects with a nice short shot to Pearson's temple.
Laine not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Pearson is not content to let Laine control the position.
Laine works his way into full mount!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Laine in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Laine is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Pearson is trying to stand.
Laine pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Laine working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Pearson regains half guard.
Laine stalling.
Pearson is looking for a sweep. Laine is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laine wants to lay and pray for a moment but Pearson keeps working.
Laine takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Pearson wants to improve his position but Laine is controlling well.
Laine scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Laine wants to free his trapped foot but Pearson is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Laine drops an elbow to the side of Pearson's head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Laine thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ilmari Laine comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Pearson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nick Pearson!