PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ted Zanik (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Young (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zanik comes to the cage accompanied by Walk this way. Alex Young is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Zanik
vs
Young

220 cm
26
262 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

192 cm
26
265 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ted Zanik!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Alex Young!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Tarja Halkonen and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zanik shoots in and drives through. Young sprawls well.
Young is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.

Zanik pushes Young up against the cage in a clinch.
Zanik has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Young is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Zanik tries to pull guard but Young won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ted Zanik. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zanik has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Young is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Zanik jumps guard but Young turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Young escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Zanik really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Young misses with a head kick.
Alex Young seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
Zanik shoots in looking for a takedown but Young manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Zanik's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Young looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Young swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Young lands a head kick!

It looks like Ted Zanik has been cut.
Zanik shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Young pinned against the cage. Young gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Zanik has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Young finds it's way round the side to connect with Zanik's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Young fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Zanik, pushing him back against the cage.
Young prevents a takedown attempt there.
Young stops a takedown attempt from Zanik.
Young is trying to break free.
Young is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Zanik is defending well.
Zanik goes for a takedown in the clinch but Young prevents it.
Zanik tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Young just stands there and leans against the cage.
Young looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Zanik has Young pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Young manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Young prevents a takedown attempt there.
Young lands a hook that snaps the head of Zanik backwards.
Young misses with a punch to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zanik keeps control of Young as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Young is trying to force a seperation but Zanik has the dominant position.
Zanik jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Young walks away with a smile on his face. Zanik gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Zanik fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Young avoids it really well and circles away.
Young connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Zanik's hands.
Zanik circles away from the clinch attempt

and Zanik counters with a shoot takedown. Young fights it but they end up in guard.
Young tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Zanik loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Zanik scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zanik stops Young from standing up.
Zanik throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Young works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Young looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Zanik passes into half guard.
Zanik throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
We've been hearing that Zanik has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Young is holding on to half guard well.
Zanik with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Zanik wants to control but Young is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Zanik is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Young sees it coming and defends easily.
Zanik is controlling the pace.
Zanik wants to lay and pray for a moment but Young keeps working.
Zanik thows a huge punch but Young dodges it nicely.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Zanik thows a huge punch but Young dodges it nicely.
Zanik prevents Young from standing back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Young lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Young fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Young dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ted Zanik's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Young moves to clinch but Zanik breaks away

so Zanik counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Young keeping full guard, as Zanik tries to pass.
Zanik advances to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zanik throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Zanik is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Young defends it well.
Young keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Young is trying to maintain the position but Zanik is very close to passing his half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Young is not content to let Zanik control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Zanik in particular looking to stall.
Zanik 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.

Zanik is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Young is just riding it out for now. Zanik eventually gives up the hold.
Young really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zanik. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Young trying to hold on to Zanik's head to control him but Zanik postures up.
Zanik slows the pace down in half guard.
Zanik wants to take a breather but Young is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Young is looking to improve his position.
Zanik throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Zanik is working for a submission of some sort.
Young is not content to let Zanik control the position.
Zanik is pressing down on Young's thigh, looking to free his foot. Young is holding on for now.
Young looks like he's trying to stand up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young throws a poor cross that misses

and Zanik counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Zanik.
Zanik in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zanik controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Zanik working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Zanik advances to half guard.
Zanik is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Young in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Zanik punishing his opponent with strikes.
Zanik throwing strikes here but Young is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Young is trying to escape the mount.
Zanik lands a couple of good shots and Young has given up his back, trying to escape the position!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Young grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Young wants to escape the position.
Zanik thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.

Zanik is persistently looking for the submission but Young is defending it well.

Zanik looking for the choke but no joy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Young is really stuck here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ted Zanik dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ted Zanik's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A telegraphed takedown attempt from Zanik is defended easily by Young.
A looping hook to the body misses from Young. Zanik does a little dance to reset his feet.
Young's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Young duly obliges.
Zanik shoots for a double leg takedown but Young sprawls well. He's pushed Zanik's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Young throws a head kick but Zanik moves out of range.
Young scores with a nice right hand.

Ted Zanik's cut is getting worse.
Zanik fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ted Zanik. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zanik shoots for a double leg takedown but Young sprawls well. He's pushed Zanik's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Young looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Young lands a left and a right that send Zanik crashing to the mat, dazed. Young thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Young keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Young let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Young throws a right and a left that Zanik avoids nicely.
Young smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

Zanik is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Young cracks Zanik with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Oh Zanik is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Ted Zanik's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Alex Young is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Young connects with a left and a right that sees a clearly hurt Zanik covering up! Young comes in with a big uppercut and Zanik goes doooown! He's slumped up against the cage, eyes staring blankly into space.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:12 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Alex Young!
In defeat, Ted Zanik stepped up to the mic, saying 'Back to training, have to right the wrongs!'.