PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Reiska Pekka Retale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marduk Thorn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Retale comes to the cage accompanied by The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up. Thorn has chosen Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death as his entrance music. Reiska Pekka Retale has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Pekka Retale
vs
Thorn

169 cm
25
154 lbs
18 - 4 - 0

165 cm
25
150 lbs
16 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

TFP Graphics - Pit Inc
Unique Wear and Custom Design

Brute

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Reiska Pekka Retale!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Marduk Thorn!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Wesley Smith and Stewart Dunkirk.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Retale fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Thorn connects with a jab.

It looks like Reiska Pekka Retale has been cut.
Reiska Pekka Retale seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Retale lands with a nice body punch.
A slow jab from Retale misses its intended target.
Thorn digs a good hook to Retale's body.
Retale thows a body kick. Thorn tries to catch it but that hurt him.

Retale clinches with his opponent.
Retale blocks an uppercut.
Thorn tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Retale misses with an elbow over the top.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thorn misses with a short punch on the inside.
Retale tries a body shot but Thorn blocks it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Thorn.
Retale prevents a body shot from Thorn.
Retale tries to throw a body punch but Thorn avoids it by throwing Retale back against the cage.
Thorn is trying to break the clinch but Retale has him pressed against the cage.
Retale goes for a takedown in the clinch but Thorn prevents it.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Thorn.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Thorn escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Thorn finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Thorn throws a push kick but Retale slaps the foot to one side.
Retale scores with a jab.
Thorn throws out a leg kick but Retale moves out of range and Thorn only half commits.
Retale tries to close the distance and clinch up but Thorn swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Retale tries to close the distance and clinch up but Thorn swats him away and circles back towards the center.
A good leg kick by Thorn.
Retale lands an overhand right.
Thorn moves out of range of the body kick from Retale.
Retale just misses with a punch to the body.
Retale connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thorn uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Retale.

Thorn clinches.
Thorn blocks an elbow strike from Retale.
Thorn can't find room to land a body shot as Retale controls the action.

Thorn escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Retale fails with a takedown attempt.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thorn moves out of range of the body kick.
Retale pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Retale misses with a head kick.
Thorn on the wrong end of a nice jab.

Thorn forces Retale back against the cage and clinches.
Thorn misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Retale.
Retale using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Thorn has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Thorn tries to land knees in the clinch but Retale avoids the damage to the body.
Retale tries a body shot but Thorn blocks it.
Thorn is looking to control Retale's arms but Retale gets an underhook and turns him. Now Thorn has his back to the cage.
Retale looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Reiska Pekka Retale. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Thorn prevents a body shot from Retale.
Retale tries to land knees in the clinch but Thorn avoids the damage to the body.
Retale scores a nice knee to the body.
Retale pushes Thorn back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
A head punch on the inside from Thorn fails to land.
Thorn is looking to break free of the clinch but Retale has double underhooks.
Thorn tries to work over Retale's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Retale missing with knees to the body.
A short right from Thorn on the inside.
Thorn swings wildly with an uppercut but Retale uses good head movement to avoid it.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Retale throws an elbow but it misses.
Thorn working some nice short punches in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Retale lands a shoulder strike.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Thorn managing to block the knees to the body from Retale.
Thorn lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Thorn misses with a short punch on the inside.
A left hand lands to the body for Thorn.
Thorn working aggressively here.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Retale prevents a body shot from Thorn.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Retale tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thorn avoids it.
Retale misses with a punch to the body.
Thorn lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Retale.

It looks like Marduk Thorn has been cut.
Thorn digs a right hand into Retale's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Retale's gas tank.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Retale unloads a knee to the mid-section. Thorn lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Retale crunches a lovely knee into Thorn's ribcage.
Thorn throws a head punch that misses.
Thorn misses with a hook to the ribs.
Thorn lands a left hand that snaps the head of Retale backwards.
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 Reiska Pekka Retale will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Retale throws a poor cross that misses
letting Thorn counter with a right hand.
Retale looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Thorn is fending him off so far but Retale persists. Nope, Thorn circles away and we're back to standing.
A clash of legs there as Retale blocks the low kick.
Retale looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Retale shoots in looking for a takedown. Thorn tries to sprawl out of it but Retale keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Thorn manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Retale throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Thorn tried to score with a low kick but Retale checks it.
Retale connects with a nice looking jab.

Retale closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Retale throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thorn is being controlled here.
Thorn is trying to buck Retale off.
Retale wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thorn keeps working.
Retale throws a strike aimed at the side of Thorn's head but Thorn avoids it well.
Retale trying to control the position but Thorn is working away.
Retale is trying to ground and pound but Thorn uses the momentary lack of control by Retale to regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Retale thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Retale thows a huge punch but Thorn dodges it nicely.
Retale throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Retale wants to advance to full mount but Thorn doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Thorn wants to stand up but Retale is controlling him.
Retale wants to control from the top but Thorn keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Retale is really struggling to control Thorn but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Retale missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Retale trying to control but Thorn is working from the bottom.
Thorn avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Retale looking to sit in guard and control but Thorn gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Retale pulls Thorn in close to prevent any damage.
Thorn preventing the sweep.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Retale trying to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Reiska Pekka Retale dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Thorn fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Thorn throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Thorn gets a clinch.
Thorn lands a shoulder strike.
Thorn can't find room to land a body shot as Retale controls the action.
Retale lands with a right to the head.
Nice body punch from Retale - that landed with a thud.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Retale as Thorn tries to tie him up.
Thorn misses with the head strike.
Retale just leaning against Thorn, taking a breather.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Thorn.
Retale misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Thorn pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Retale keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Retale throws a leg kick but Thorn sees it coming and moves out of range.
Retale checks a leg kick.
Retale connects with the punch.
Retale checks the leg kick.
Retale checks the leg kick nicely there.

Retale closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Retale wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thorn keeps working.
Retale content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thorn is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Retale asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Retale 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.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Retale is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Thorn will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Retale landing strikes.
Reiska Pekka Retale is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Retale wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thorn keeps working.
Retale wants to take a breather but Thorn manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Retale.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Thorn pushes Retale off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Retale keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
The fighters circle momentarily. Retale darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Retale fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Thorn on the side of the head.

Thorn moves into the clinch successfully.
Marduk Thorn has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Retale tries a knee to the head but Thorn blocks it.
Retale managing to block the knees to the body from Thorn.
Thorn misses with a short punch on the inside.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thorn throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Retale blocks it with crossed arms.
Thorn on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Thorn tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Retale managing to block the knees to the body from Thorn.

And that's the end of the fight!
Reiska Pekka Retale showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Retale, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Reiska Pekka Retale!
Our winner, Reiska Pekka Retale, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.