PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frank Sinatra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Armo Kuusela (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kuusela is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Promentory. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Sinatra
vs
Kuusela

182 cm
40
201 lbs
39 - 21 - 4

192 cm
42
195 lbs
44 - 23 - 2

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Phantom Fightwear(50 $)
Perkele!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 39 - 21 - 4, fighting out of Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 44 - 23 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Armo Kuusela!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, William Gold and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sinatra fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Sinatra looks to throw the jab but Kuusela is out of range.

Sinatra shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Kuusela tries to get to full guard but Sinatra has control of the leg.
Kuusela is positioning himself well to prevent Sinatra advancing to mount.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kuusela wants to get back to full guard.
Sinatra stalling.
Kuusela looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuusela is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Sinatra not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kuusela is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sinatra looks to land a strike but Kuusela avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Sinatra wants to control from the top but Kuusela keeps moving.
Sinatra is stalling in the full guard.
Kuusela looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Sinatra misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kuusela.
Despite the aggression on Kuusela's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Kuusela thuds his shin into the meat of Sinatra's side.
Kuusela fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Sinatra manages to avoid it.
Kuusela throws a poor cross that misses
and Sinatra counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Kuusela thinking.

Sinatra gets the takedown into side control.
Kuusela tries to buck Sinatra off but Sinatra is having none of it.
Kuusela avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Sinatra.
Sinatra is chipping away with strikes.
Sinatra wants to control but Kuusela is keeping him busy.
Kuusela gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sinatra wants to take a breather but Kuusela is having none of it.
Kuusela tries to get to full guard but Sinatra has control of the leg.
Sinatra 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.
Sinatra tries to pass to full mount but Kuusela defends it.
Kuusela wants to get back to his feet.
Kuusela wants to get back to full guard.
Kuusela manages to get to full guard.
Sinatra sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Kuusela looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sinatra sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Sinatra's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kuusela tries to clinch but Sinatra moves away
and Sinatra counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kuusela throws a series of punches but Sinatra moves out of range.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kuusela scores with a spinning back kick!
Sinatra throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sinatra avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Sinatra appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sinatra scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Sinatra advances to mount.
Kuusela tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sinatra is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Kuusela can do to turn this around?
Sinatra dominating with strikes here.
Kuusela is trying desperately to improve position.
Kuusela is squirming around, avoiding Sinatra's attempts to control the action.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kuusela is working to get back to half guard.
Sinatra is landing with some decent strikes but Kuusela is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuusela wants to control but Sinatra is having none of it.
Sinatra lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Frank Sinatra overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kuusela tries to hold on but Sinatra postures up.
Sinatra lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Kuusela tries to hold on but Sinatra pushes him away.
A nice elbow there by Sinatra.
Kuusela wants to control but Sinatra is having none of it.
Sinatra tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sinatra tries to control but Kuusela wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sinatra controlling from the full mount.
Sinatra can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Kuusela is looking to escape.
Kuusela wants to try and get back to his feet.
Sinatra working the ground and pound effectively.
Kuusela tries to hold on but Sinatra pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sinatra fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Sinatra trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sinatra is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Kuusela is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Sinatra putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sinatra controlling from mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sinatra trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kuusela is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Kuusela really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Sinatra cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kuusela is desperately trying to improve his position but Sinatra has a good base and remains in mount.
Sinatra trying to control but Kuusela is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Sinatra dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Sinatra throws an overhand right that lands on Kuusela's shoulder, as Kuusela tries to avoid the shot.
A telegraphed right hand from Sinatra misses the target.
Sinatra digs a good hook to Kuusela's body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sinatra. Kuusela does a little dance to reset his feet.
Kuusela lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Sinatra misses the jab.
Kuusela avoids the body shot from Sinatra.
Sinatra fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Sinatra moves out of range of the body kick from Kuusela.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A chopping leg kick lands by Kuusela.
Horrible takedown attempt by Sinatra or perhaps it was just good defense by Kuusela, which made it look bad.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuusela wants to land a leg kick but Sinatra is out of range.
Kuusela's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Sinatra connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Kuusela scrambles back to his feet.
Sinatra shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frank Sinatra. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kuusela defending well as Sinatra loads up on a big left hand.
Kuusela dips to his left and cracks Sinatra with an uppercut!
Kuusela lands with a straight right. Sinatra didn't see that one coming.
Sinatra scores with a punch to the head.
A nice inside leg kick there by Kuusela. That's going to slow Sinatra down.
Kuusela gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Sinatra scores with a jab to the head.
Frank Sinatra is winning the standup battle so far.
Kuusela throws a leg kick
and Sinatra counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sinatra takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuusela connects with a looping right hand.

Kuusela tries to sprawl but Sinatra drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Kuusela actively working from the bottom here.
Kuusela is trying to stand up here but Sinatra is controlling him well.
Still in half guard, Sinatra seems content to control.
Sinatra throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Kuusela to regain full guard.
Kuusela seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Sinatra looking to pass the guard.
Sinatra connects with a couple of short punches.
Armo Kuusela has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuusela controls Sinatra momentarily but Sinatra frees himself.
Kuusela keeping full guard, as Sinatra tries to pass.
Sinatra lands a couple of digs.
Kuusela keeping full guard, as Sinatra tries to pass.
Sinatra is pushing down on Kuusela's leg trying to pass to half guard. Kuusela is fighting to maintain full guard but Sinatra has managed to sneak the leg through.
Sinatra works his foot free and advances to mount.
Kuusela is in a horrible position here. Sinatra smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Frank Sinatra is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuusela bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Kuusela in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Sinatra working a defensive guard here.
Kuusela looking to pass the guard.
Kuusela tries to stand but Sinatra is controlling from the bottom.

Sinatra has his foot on Kuusela's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Kuusela works his way back into a safe position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Frank Sinatra showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sinatra, 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:26
Judge William Gold scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Sinatra!
A very excited looking Frank Sinatra made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.