PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Aaron Morris (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mika Saarenpää (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Morris might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to happy. This should be fireworks!

Morris
vs
Saarenpää

187 cm
22
177 lbs
8 - 6 - 0

183 cm
23
176 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

V-Mask Clothing + 70% laundry

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 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Aaron Morris!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mika Saarenpää!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Tarja Halkonen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saarenpää moves out of range as Morris strikes.
Saarenpää punishes Morris's body with a nice straight punch.
Saarenpää uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Morris displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Saarenpää throws out the jab.
Morris throws a leg kick but Saarenpää sees it coming and moves out of range.
We've been hearing reports that Morris has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Morris is looking to score with low kicks.
A nice leg kick lands there from Saarenpää.
A nice inside leg kick there by Saarenpää. That's going to slow Morris down.
Morris jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Morris throws a body shot but no joy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters circling - Morris throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Saarenpää swings for the body but Morris moves out of range.
Saarenpää tries a low kick but Morris avoids it.
Saarenpää keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saarenpää's jab looks to have found its range, popping Morris under the eye.
Morris stuns Saarenpää with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Morris sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Saarenpää works the jab nicely.
Nice body kick from Saarenpää.
Saarenpää defending well as Morris loads up on a big left hand.
Saarenpää tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Morris ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Morris moves out of range of the leg kick from Saarenpää.
Morris chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Saarenpää can pounce on him.
Saarenpää looks for the body kick but Morris saw that one coming.
Saarenpää scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Morris throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morris takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A looping hook to the body misses from Morris. Saarenpää does a little dance to reset his feet.
Saarenpää ducks under a wild hook from Morris.
Saarenpää showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morris.
Saarenpää throws a wild body kick that Morris sees coming a mile off.
Morris on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Morris on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Morris moves out of range of the body kick from Saarenpää.
Mika Saarenpää seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Saarenpää pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Saarenpää throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Saarenpää looks for the body kick but Morris saw that one coming.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Saarenpää fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Morris has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Saarenpää lands the left hand.
Morris throws a low kick, looking for Saarenpää's leg but Saarenpää calmly moves out of range.
Morris misses with a body shot.
Morris takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Morris takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Morris throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Saarenpää tries to land a leg kick but Morris saw it coming and moves away.
Morris defending well as Saarenpää loads up on a big left hand.
Morris throws a series of punches but Saarenpää moves out of range.
Nice shot lands for Saarenpää.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morris cracks a nice hook into Saarenpää's ribs.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morris closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Morris does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Saarenpää lands a nice leg kick that just misses Morris's sensitive parts.
Saarenpää scores with a punch to the head.
Morris swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Morris checks a leg kick nicely.
Saarenpää keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Saarenpää is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Morris had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Morris tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Morris is looking to wear down Saarenpää with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
A nice inside leg kick there by Saarenpää. That's going to slow Morris down.
Saarenpää ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Morris moves away.
Saarenpää slips under a jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mika Saarenpää dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Saarenpää scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Saarenpää showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morris.
Morris throws a one two combo.
Saarenpää keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Morris.
Morris misses with a looping right.
Morris fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Saarenpää avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Saarenpää stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Morris feints a jab promting Saarenpää to slip. Morris then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Saarenpää slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Morris throws a jab when Saarenpää was well out of range.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Saarenpää lands with a shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saarenpää closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Saarenpää with a hook.
Morris tried to score with a low kick but Saarenpää checks it.
Saarenpää lands a nice leg kick that just misses Morris's sensitive parts.
Saarenpää scores with a jab. Morris acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Morris on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Mika Saarenpää seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Saarenpää showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morris.
Morris misses with a straight right.
Morris misses with the combination.
Saarenpää stuns Morris with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
This entire fight has taken place on the feet so far and you wonder whether Morris might be better served trying to take this one to the ground because he's losing the standup battle so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morris displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Saarenpää throws out the jab.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Morris checks a leg kick.
Saarenpää lands the left hand.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Saarenpää misses with a body kick.
Saarenpää has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Morris jabs Saarenpää right on the nose. Saarenpää blinks but takes it well.
Morris slips a jab from Saarenpää.
Saarenpää throws a body shot but no joy.
Saarenpää loads up on a big right hand but Morris slips the punch.
Morris takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Morris tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Saarenpää was well out of range. Poor timing from Morris.
Saarenpää keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Morris.
Morris throws a leg kick but Saarenpää sees it coming and moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Saarenpää can pounce on him.
Morris throws an overhand right that lands on Saarenpää's shoulder, as Saarenpää tries to avoid the shot.
Morris lands with a straight right. Saarenpää didn't see that one coming.
Saarenpää connects with a body shot.
Saarenpää avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Saarenpää throws a jab but it's blocked by Morris.
Saarenpää lands with a thumping leg kick.
Saarenpää keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Saarenpää tries a low kick but Morris avoids it.
Donk. Morris catches Saarenpää right on the button with a cross.
Saarenpää connects with a leg kick. Morris looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Morris misses with a body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morris is looking to chop away at Saarenpää's legs.
Morris fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Saarenpää looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Nice body punch from Morris.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Morris misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Morris swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Morris throws a body shot but no joy.
Morris takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Saarenpää turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
A head kick misses from Morris.
Saarenpää misses with a low kick.
Saarenpää has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Morris finds it's way round the side to connect with Saarenpää's head.
Saarenpää explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
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 Aaron Morris will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Saarenpää pivots, looking for a leg kick but Morris is out of range and Saarenpää settles back down.
Saarenpää buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Saarenpää keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Saarenpää takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Morris misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Saarenpää.
Morris throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Saarenpää takes a jab right on the kisser.
Morris ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Saarenpää moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morris pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Saarenpää misses with an uppercut.
Saarenpää lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Morris throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morris moves out of range as Saarenpää strikes.
Morris uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Saarenpää.
Morris takes a swing at Saarenpää's ribcage but misses.
Saarenpää slips a jab from Morris.
Morris lands a high kick!
A telegraphed right hand from Morris misses the target.
Saarenpää scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Saarenpää throws a half hearted mid kick.
Morris misses with a low kick.
Saarenpää tries to work over Morris's front leg with a kick but Morris checks it.
A punch lands to the side of Saarenpää 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Saarenpää on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saarenpää uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morris.
Saarenpää misses the shot to the body.
Morris is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Saarenpää connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Saarenpää scores with a kick to the midsection.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Saarenpää throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Morris stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Morris on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Saarenpää. Saarenpää obviously looking to wear him down.
Saarenpää checks a low kick from Morris.
Morris takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Good work by Saarenpää as he checks the leg kick.
Morris will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Saarenpää fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Morris on the side of the head.
Saarenpää lands a front kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Saarenpää fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Morris on the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Saarenpää feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Morris's calf.
Morris takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
A chopping leg kick lands by Saarenpää.
That kick from Saarenpää tenderised Morris's leg. Morris is trying to keep his angry face on.
Saarenpää swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Saarenpää lands with a nice body kick.
Saarenpää thumps Morris with a low kick.
Saarenpää throws a quick inside leg kick.
Morris avoids a kick to the body.
Saarenpää dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Morris. That did some damage!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morris misses with a looping left.
A slapping leg kick lands for Saarenpää.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Saarenpää moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Saarenpää misses with a lunging right hand
and Saarenpää takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
A clash of legs there as Morris blocks the low kick.
A good leg kick by Morris.
A jab from Morris misses.
Saarenpää closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Morris misses with a body punch
and Saarenpää counters with a nice leg kick.
Morris's legs have taken a beating and he's really slowing down as a result.
Morris throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Morris scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Saarenpää fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Morris has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mika Saarenpää comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Saarenpää has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 28:30
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mika Saarenpää!
Mika Saarenpää seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.