PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Stu Prior (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Karsten Pis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Prior
vs
Pis

175 cm
23
150 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

182 cm
18
157 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Stu Prior!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Karsten Pis!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Marco Blurström and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A combination from Prior does no damage.
Pis looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Prior tries for a takedown but Pis circles away easily

and Pis counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Pis throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pis accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Pis's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Prior is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Pis tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Pis regains full guard. Nicely done.

Pis is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pis is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pis looks to land a strike but Prior avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Pis throwing strikes but missing.
Pis cracks Prior with a solid left hand.
Pis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Pis throwing strikes but missing.
Pis missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pis accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Pis looking to pass the guard.
Prior is breathing heavily.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Prior has a takedown stuffed.
Prior looks to land a combination. Pis sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Pis misses with a series of wild punches.
Prior closes this distance looking for a takedown but Pis circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Stu Prior. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Pis looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pis seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Pis landing some decent shots from guard.
Pis throwing strikes but missing.
Pis lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Prior throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Prior preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pis with a flurry of punches that miss.
Pis is looking to work some ground and pound but Prior has wrist control.
Pis with a flurry of punches that miss.
Pis slips nicely into half guard.
Prior taking some punishment here, with Pis in his half guard.
Pis is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Karsten Pis dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Pis fails with the takedown.
Prior fails in his attempt to clinch.
Prior moves in looking to clinch but Pis pushes him off.
Pis with a poor takedown
and Prior counters with a straight right hand.
Prior shoots in for a takedown but Pis shows good takedown defense.

Pis feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Pis with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Pis distracts Prior with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Pis has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Pis landing with the ground and pound.
Prior working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pis.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pis advances to half guard.
Prior won't allow Pis to pass to mount.
Pis working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Prior pushes Pis off looking to stand but Pis dives back in and keeps control.
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. Pis connects with a nice short shot to Prior's temple.
Prior is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Pis scores with a couple of nice shots.
Pis seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Pis slips a nice elbow through Prior's hands, connecting with Prior's forehead.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Pis is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Pis is nestled in close to Prior, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Prior keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Prior keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Pis blocks the strikes from Prior.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pis landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Prior pushes Pis off looking to stand but Pis dives back in and keeps control.
Prior keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Pis missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Prior keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Stu Prior has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Karsten Pis.
Prior looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Pis avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Prior misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Prior throws a right and a left that both miss.
Prior keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

That's four 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.
Prior tries to clinch but Pis moves out of range.
Stu Prior is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A big left from Prior misses.
Pis closes the distance and clinches up with Prior, looking for a takedown. Pis pushes Prior against the cage but Prior circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Pis avoids a punch combination nicely.
Prior keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Prior misses with an uppercut. Pis saw that one coming.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pis wants to clinch.
Prior swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Karsten Pis showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Prior throws a hook to the side of Pis's head but Pis sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A punch combination from Prior misses.
Pis keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Pis drives through with a takedown into guard.
Pis is stalling in the full guard.
Pis postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pis makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Prior trying to strike off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pis wants to control from the top but Prior keeps moving.
Prior avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Pis is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Pis distracts Prior with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Prior preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pis passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Prior avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Pis.

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.
Pis postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Pis tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Pis landing a few strikes.
Pis throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Prior regains half guard.
Pis looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Pis wants to control but Prior is keeping him busy.
Prior keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pis throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Pis misses with a head shot. Prior uses the momentum to regain guard.
Prior wants to stand and escape but Pis is having none of it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Pis accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Pis sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Prior's guard.
Prior blocking the ground and pound attempt from Pis.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Pis is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Pis not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Stu Prior has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Pis slips a nice elbow through Prior's hands, connecting with Prior's forehead.
Pis is stalling here. Prior is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Pis seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Prior has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Pis struggling a bit here.
Karsten Pis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Prior lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Pis down.

And that's the end of the fight!
Karsten Pis comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Pis winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Karsten Pis!