PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jallu Pesonen (ranked 1091 p4p, 135 weight class) and Samuel Cooke (ranked 1502 p4p, 186 weight class). Pesonen comes to the cage accompanied by DJ Orkidea - Joutsenlaulu. The crowd seem to be enjoying Cooke's choice of entrance music: Harm's Way - Warriors Will Reign. Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Pesonen
vs
Cooke

165 cm
25
164 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

184 cm
23
165 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jallu Pesonen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Samuel Cooke!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Seu Braga and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big right from Pesonen misses.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cooke. Pesonen does a little dance to reset his feet.
Pesonen 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.
Pesonen keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cooke has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Pesonen is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Cooke looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Pesonen. Cooke does a little dance to reset his feet.
A head kick from Pesonen lands but Cooke takes it in his stride.
Pesonen takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Cooke lands with a shot to the body.
Cooke moves away from the strike by Pesonen.
Cooke takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Pesonen throws a leg kick which misses Cooke's front leg but catches the back leg as Cooke tries to avoid it.
Pesonen wants to slow Cooke down by chopping away at his legs.
Pesonen bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cooke fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Jab by Cooke.
A nice combination there by Cooke.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Good work by Pesonen as he checks the leg kick.
Jallu Pesonen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
That kick from Pesonen tenderised Cooke's leg. Cooke is trying to keep his angry face on.
A lazy left from Pesonen finds it's target.
Pesonen throws a half hearted mid kick.
Cooke throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Pesonen misses with a wild body shot.
A big right from Pesonen misses.
Pesonen motions for Cooke to come forward. Pesonen throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Pesonen throws a front kick that sends Cooke stumbling back into the cage.
Pesonen scoring well with a low kick there.
Cooke lands a nice hook to Pesonen's body. Pesonen takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Cooke takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cooke misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Cooke takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cooke looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Pesonen misses with the body kick
and Cooke counters with a nice body shot.
Pesonen has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pesonen lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.

Cooke dives in and scores a takedown into Pesonen's guard.
Pesonen not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cooke accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cooke stopping the sweep attempt from Pesonen.

Cooke avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Pesonen working for a triangle but Cooke defends it easily.
Cooke lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Pesonen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cooke slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pesonen looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Cooke won't allow Pesonen to sweep him here.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Pesonen keeps moving.
Pesonen looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cooke is one step ahead there.
Pesonen keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.
Cooke has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Pesonen can't keep his opponent in guard - Cooke advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Cooke is trying to control. Pesonen wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Pesonen wants to control but Cooke is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Cooke in particular looking to stall.

Cooke looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Pesonen is trying to get back to full guard.

Pesonen looking for submissions off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jallu Pesonen will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Pesonen turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Cooke punishes Pesonen's body with a nice straight punch.
Cooke throws a jab when Pesonen was well out of range.
Cooke misses with a looping left.
Pesonen throws a shot from downtown. Cooke moves away and avoids it.
Cooke moves forwards but Pesonen connects with a nice, crisp jab.

Pesonen clinches with his opponent.
Cooke with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Pesonen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Cooke trying to land knees to the body.
Pesonen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Cooke manages to break the clinch.
Cooke is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Pesonen rather than just go for the knockout.
Cooke tries to close the distance and clinch but Pesonen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Pesonen throws a big shot that misses.
Cooke is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Pesonen with a body shot.
Pesonen blocks the body kick.
Cooke throws a body punch but Pesonen moves out of range.
A lazy body kick from Pesonen

and Cooke counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke wants to lay and pray for a moment but Pesonen keeps working.
Cooke prevents Pesonen from improving his position.
Cooke trying to control the action but Pesonen is working from the bottom.

Pesonen looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Pesonen looking for submissions off his back.
Pesonen is trying to get back to full guard.
Cooke is keen to just control but Pesonen is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
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. Cooke connects with a nice short shot to Pesonen's temple.
Cooke wants to pass to mount but Pesonen is defending the position.

Pesonen looking for submissions off his back.
Pesonen is not content to let Cooke control the position.
Cooke not doing much here.
Cooke passes into side control, despite Pesonen's attempt to control the position.
Pesonen manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke tries to roll over but Pesonen keeps him under control.
Cooke wants to control but Pesonen is keeping busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooke wants to get back to full guard.
Pesonen is trying to control the action in half guard but Cooke is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cooke is looking for a sweep. Pesonen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Pesonen trying to pass the guard but Cooke defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Cooke works his way to full guard. Good work.
Pesonen preventing the sweep.
Pesonen trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Cooke is looking for a triangle but Pesonen pushes his legs off easily.

Cooke working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Pesonen doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Pesonen manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Cooke is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Pesonen is aware though and is defending well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pesonen is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Samuel Cooke will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Pesonen scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Pesonen doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Cooke takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Pesonen connects with a single shot there.

Cooke closes the distance and pushes Pesonen back into the cage.
Cooke is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Pesonen is defending well for now.
A short right from Pesonen.

Pesonen pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A good leg kick by Pesonen.
Pesonen keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
A shot to the liver by Pesonen. Beautiful body shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A looping hook to the body misses from Pesonen. Cooke does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cooke feints and then cracks Pesonen's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Pesonen down.
Cooke looks for the body kick but Pesonen saw that one coming.
Pesonen missing with a left hand there. Cooke was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
An inside leg kick from Pesonen misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pesonen lands a nice looking body kick.
Pesonen tries to close the distance and clinch but Cooke swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Pesonen connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Jallu Pesonen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cooke ducks under a wild hook from Pesonen.
Pesonen throws a low kick but Cooke moves out of range easily.

Pesonen gets caught flat footed, as Cooke shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Pesonen is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Cooke is looking to control Pesonen's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Cooke avoid being mounted?

Cooke is defending against the submission attempts here by Pesonen.

Pesonen is trying to work for a kimura but Cooke is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooke wants to get back to full guard but Pesonen has passed into side control.
Cooke gets back to half guard.

Pesonen moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Cooke.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cooke wants to control but Pesonen postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pesonen thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Pesonen is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
You can see the frustration on Cooke's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Pesonen tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Cooke manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Cooke trying to control from half guard but Pesonen is working away.

Cooke is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Pesonen works his way to full guard. Good work.
Pesonen keeping full guard, as Cooke tries to pass.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jallu Pesonen showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Pesonen has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 29:28
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Jallu Pesonen!
Jallu Pesonen decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.