PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Elias Eberhard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Niko Sirkiä (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sirkiä has chosen Thergothon - Elemental as his entrance music. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Eberhard
vs
Sirkiä

184 cm
31
225 lbs
19 - 5 - 0

178 cm
32
229 lbs
29 - 8 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Kemists ↑ 5x160Q
//buriedALIVE// Fight Gear

Hellbent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Elias Eberhard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Niko Sirkiä!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Sam Margolis and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Eberhard displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Sirkiä.

Eberhard gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Sirkiä with a flurry of punches that miss.
Eberhard looking for a sweep. Not yet Eberhard, not yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sirkiä loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Eberhard wants to sweep but no luck.
Sirkiä is fighting to break Eberhard's control of his arms but Eberhard is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Sirkiä throws an elbow that misses. Eberhard uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sirkiä's guard. Nice move by Eberhard!
Eberhard pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sirkiä is keeping the position for now.
Eberhard in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eberhard missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Eberhard looking to pass the guard.
Eberhard wants to control from the top but Sirkiä keeps moving.
Sirkiä has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Sirkiä utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sirkiä pulls Eberhard in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Eberhard is defended easily by Sirkiä.
Eberhard ducks under a wild hook from Sirkiä.
Eberhard throws a shot from downtown. Sirkiä moves away and avoids it.
Eberhard tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sirkiä swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Sirkiä connects with a right hand. Eberhard shakes it off.
Eberhard lands a nice shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Sirkiä.
Sirkiä uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Eberhard.
Sirkiä shoots in but no luck this time.
Elias Eberhard has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Niko Sirkiä.
Sirkiä throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Eberhard's waist but Eberhard gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sirkiä off to one side.
Eberhard misses with a wild body shot.
Sirkiä throws an overhand right that lands on Eberhard's shoulder, as Eberhard tries to avoid the shot.
Sirkiä misses with the combination.
Sirkiä has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Sirkiä lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Eberhard scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Jab from Eberhard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Eberhard connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Sirkiä momentarily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eberhard misses with a body shot

and Sirkiä counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Sirkiä.
Sirkiä postures up in Eberhard's guard and throws a big left but Eberhard blocks it.
Sirkiä throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Eberhard looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Eberhard manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Eberhard putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Eberhard thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Sirkiä working to try and regain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elias Eberhard dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Sirkiä sizes up Eberhard with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Eberhard throws an overhand right that lands on Sirkiä's shoulder, as Sirkiä tries to avoid the shot.
Sirkiä swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Sirkiä misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Eberhard thuds a left hand into Sirkiä's body.
Eberhard steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Sirkiä.
Eberhard on the wrong end of a nice jab.
A jab from Sirkiä finds it's way through Eberhard's defenses.
Eberhard tries to clinch up.
Sirkiä will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Eberhard paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sirkiä scores with a hook.

Sirkiä manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Eberhard on his heels. He'll look to pass Eberhard's guard now, I'm sure.
Sirkiä stopping the sweep attempt from Eberhard.
Sirkiä wants to control from the top but Eberhard keeps moving.
Eberhard wants to sweep but no luck.
Eberhard utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Eberhard tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eberhard utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Eberhard is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Eberhard looking for a sweep. Not yet Eberhard, not yet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sirkiä is working Eberhard over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Eberhard tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Eberhard is trying to control the position but Sirkiä postures up.
Eberhard lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.
Eberhard wants to control from the top but Sirkiä keeps moving.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Eberhard is looking to work some ground and pound but Sirkiä has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sirkiä keeping moving, preventing Eberhard from controlling successfully.

Elias Eberhard has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Eberhard closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Sirkiä quickly recovers to half guard.
Eberhard content to control rather than advance.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sirkiä is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eberhard not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Eberhard is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

We're going to have a standup here because Elias Eberhard wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Sirkiä lands with a cross.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Elias Eberhard will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Sirkiä keeps the fight on the outside.
Eberhard missing with a left hand there. Sirkiä was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Sirkiä lands with an overhand left.
Sirkiä throws an overhand right that lands on Eberhard's shoulder, as Eberhard tries to avoid the shot.
Eberhard misses with a body shot.
Sirkiä steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Eberhard.
Sirkiä misses with a double jab.
Sirkiä thows a left - swing and a miss!
Sirkiä moves into range and connects with a jab.
Sirkiä lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Eberhard circles away quickly and effectively.
Sirkiä misses with a looping left.
Sirkiä throws a series of punches but Eberhard moves out of range.
Sirkiä scores with a jab. Eberhard acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sirkiä shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Niko Sirkiä seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Eberhard staying out of range there.
The fight stays on the outside here - Eberhard looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Eberhard throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Sirkiä on the side of the head.
Eberhard throws a good cross that connects.
Good shot there by Sirkiä.
Sirkiä keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Sirkiä connects with the punch.
Sirkiä throws a right hand that Eberhard ducks under and follows up with a left that Eberhard also avoids with ease.
Eberhard takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
We've been told by Eberhard's head coaches at The Stray Dogs that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Sirkiä might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A lazy left from Eberhard finds it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eberhard looks to land a left hand but Sirkiä moved out of range nicely.
The crowd cheers as Sirkiä lands an impressive looking overhand right. Eberhard doesn't seem phased though.
Sirkiä on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Eberhard lands with a nice body punch.
Sirkiä scores with a jab. Eberhard acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Eberhard misses with a straight right.
Sirkiä throws a looping overhand right but Eberhard ducks down to avoid it.
Sirkiä swings widly with a right hand
and Eberhard counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

Eberhard darts in and clinches Sirkiä up against the cage.
Eberhard lands a nice shot to the body.
Eberhard works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Eberhard lands a right hand that snaps the head of Sirkiä backwards.
Eberhard has a couple of punches blocked by Sirkiä.
Eberhard misses with a hook from the clinch.
Eberhard goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Eberhard misses with a punch to the body.
Eberhard lands a body shot.
A frustrated look appears on Sirkiä's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sirkiä prevents a body shot from Eberhard.
Eberhard tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Sirkiä blocking some punches.
Eberhard lands with a short shot to the head.
Niko Sirkiä has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A right hand to the body from Eberhard.
A right hand to the body from Sirkiä.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Sirkiä manages to break the clinch.
A slow jab from Sirkiä misses its intended target.
Elias Eberhard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Eberhard, as that shot connected.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Elias Eberhard.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Eberhard, 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 30:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Niko Sirkiä!
In his post fight interview, Niko Sirkiä gave a big smile as he said '"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die." '.
Elias Eberhard was interviewed post fight and said 'I'll bounce back, just you wait.'.