PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jie Liu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Erkki Vieri (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Liu comes to the cage accompanied by The Cinematic Orchestra ft. Roots Manuva - All Things To All Men. Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Liu
vs
Vieri

173 cm
30
162 lbs
24 - 9 - 1

180 cm
28
170 lbs
22 - 2 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Granite chin

Heisenberg
KAISER

Heisenberg
Sparta Fightware

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 24 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Jie Liu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Erkki Vieri!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Vieri instigates a clinch.
Vieri can't find room to land a body shot as Liu controls the action.
Vieri has a couple of punches blocked by Liu.
Liu misses with a short punch on the inside.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Vieri has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Liu goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Vieri can't find room to land a body shot as Liu controls the action.
Liu's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Liu has a couple of punches blocked by Vieri.
Vieri has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Liu is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Vieri blocks an uppercut.
Liu misses with a hook from the clinch.
Liu working hard to break the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Vieri fails to land.
Liu tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Vieri looking to stall.
I was talking to Liu's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Liu is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Liu makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Vieri drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Jie Liu has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Erkki Vieri.
Liu lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vieri blocks a body shot from Liu.
Vieri blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Vieri misses with a punch on the inside.
Liu scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Vieri lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Liu working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Vieri lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
A nice left hand lands by Vieri.
Liu drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Vieri gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Liu looking to slow down the pace here.
Vieri scores with a hook to the body.

Vieri escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
A combination from Vieri does no damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Vieri throws a leg kick but Liu moved away.
Vieri feints and then cracks Liu's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Liu down.
Liu misses with a takedown attempt
and Vieri counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Liu misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Vieri.
Liu stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Vieri.
Liu is looking to score with low kicks.
Vieri pivots, looking for a leg kick but Liu is out of range and Vieri settles back down.
Liu slips under a jab from Vieri.
Vieri connects with a solid leg kick.
Vieri looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Liu is fending him off so far but Vieri persists. Nope, Liu circles away and we're back to standing.
Liu avoids a punch combination nicely.
A head kick from Liu lands but Vieri takes it in his stride.
A solid leg kick lands there for Vieri.
A head kick by Liu misses
and Vieri counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Liu fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Vieri manages to avoid it.
Vieri misses with a takedown attempt

and Liu counters with a nice double leg into side control. Vieri won't be happy with that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vieri avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Liu.
Vieri is looking for a sweep.

Liu is trying to get an arm triangle but Vieri is defending well.

Liu is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Vieri knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Vieri is trying to improve his position.

Liu is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Vieri is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Liu cracks Vieri with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vieri is looking for a sweep.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Vieri taking a bit of punishment here - Liu scoring with strikes.
You can see the frustration on Vieri's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Vieri looking for a sweep but Liu has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Vieri tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Vieri is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Liu cracks Vieri with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Liu trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Vieri manages to regain half guard. Good work.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Liu lands strikes from half guard.
Liu is trying to control the action in half guard but Vieri is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
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 Jie Liu will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Vieri takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Liu tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Liu lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Vieri stalks Liu and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Liu's face. Liu staggers backwards, shaken.
Liu throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Vieri misses with a leg kick

so Liu counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
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!
Liu throwing strikes but missing.
Liu with a nice head shot there.
Liu preventing the sweep.
Vieri keeps trying to improve his position.
Liu passes Vieri's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Liu throwing shots but Vieri is blocking nicely.
Vieri wants to improve his position but Liu is controlling well.
Liu looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Liu lands with a punch from half guard.
Vieri moves into full guard.
Vieri looking to hit a scissor sweep but Liu is one step ahead there.
Liu passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Liu passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Vieri!
Liu putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Liu manages to capitalize on a mistake by Vieri to take his back!
Liu lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Vieri hold on?!
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!
Vieri tries to escape the position.
Liu is landing with strikes from the back.
Will Liu go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Vieri trying to control the position but Liu manages to sink in the hooks.
Vieri can't escape the position.

Liu tightening his grip on Vieri, looking for the choke.
Vieri breaks Liu's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Vieri throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Liu works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Liu is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Liu wants to sweep here but Vieri controlling him for the moment.
Liu tries to strike from the bottom.
Liu preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Vieri advances position into side control!
The ground and pound from Vieri seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Liu tries to bench press Vieri off him but Vieri keeps the position.
Vieri working the ground and pound.
Liu is looking to regain half guard here but Vieri keeps moving and retains side control.
Liu prevents Vieri from improving position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vieri in side control, throwing shots but Liu defends.
Liu manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
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. Vieri connects with a nice short shot to Liu's temple.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Liu manages to get to full guard.
Vieri trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Vieri landing some decent shots from guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Liu has his hands on Vieri's head, controlling the position.
Jie Liu overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Liu looking for a sweep. Not yet Liu, not yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Vieri lands a lovely overhand right.
Vieri connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Vieri fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Liu has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Vieri shoots in and gets a takedown into Liu's guard.
Liu keeping full guard, as Vieri tries to pass.
Vieri postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Liu is working actively from the bottom, looking for submissions. He's escaped his hips to the side and he's going for an armbar! Vieri has his hands clasped together but Liu extends and breaks Vieri's desperate grasp, forcing a tap out due to armbar! Nice BJJ displayed there by Liu.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:49 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Jie Liu!
A victorious Jie Liu thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.