PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Liam Nilsson (ranked 4613 p4p, 463 weight class) and Marko Pjaca (ranked 4257 p4p, 440 weight class). Nilsson comes to the cage accompanied by Entombed- Left Hand Path. 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.

Nilsson
vs
Pjaca

177 cm
25
163 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
155 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Good in bed

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Helsinki Xtreme Fightwear

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Liam Nilsson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Marko Pjaca!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Aleksandr Martynov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice defenses there by Nilsson.
Nilsson just misses with a punch to the body.

Nilsson drives through and clinches with Pjaca against the cage.
Nilsson tries to pull guard but Pjaca holds him up against the cage and eventually Nilsson drops back down to his feet.
Nilsson misses with a knee strike.
Pjaca takes a shot to the head.

Pjaca breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Nilsson avoids the head kick by Pjaca.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nilsson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Pjaca feints a jab promting Nilsson to slip. Pjaca then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Nilsson slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Nilsson with a poor takedown
and Pjaca counters with a left to the body.
Nilsson fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Pjaca.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nilsson throws the kick towards the body but Pjaca avoids it.
A little jabbing left from Pjaca on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Nilsson shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Pjaca as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Liam Nilsson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pjaca misses with a low kick.
Pjaca is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Pjaca tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Pjaca looks winded!

Nilsson closes the distance and clinches.

Pjaca breaks from the clinch.
Pjaca throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Nilsson lands a two punch combo.
Marko Pjaca is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Nilsson misses with a takedown attempt - Pjaca sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Nilsson misses with the combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pjaca throws a head kick that misses.
Nilsson throws a big counter combination but Pjaca scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Nilsson pushes Pjaca up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Pjaca is trying to force a seperation but Nilsson has the dominant position.
Pjaca told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.

Nilsson breaks the clinch.
Pjaca tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Nilsson with a lazy takedown attempt
and Pjaca counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Pjaca just misses with a punch to the body.
Pjaca blocks a head kick by Nilsson.
Nilsson steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Pjaca.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Nilsson.
Nilsson closes the distance and clinches up with Pjaca, looking for a takedown. Nilsson pushes Pjaca against the cage but Pjaca circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Nilsson gets the takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nilsson tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Nilsson has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Nilsson taking a breather here.
Nilsson seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Pjaca for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nilsson passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Pjaca!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nilsson controlling from mount.
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 Liam Nilsson will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A nice combination there by Nilsson.
Nilsson lands a jab to the head.

Nilsson clinches up against the cage.

Pjaca pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Nilsson closes the distance and clinches.

Nilsson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nilsson lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Some bone on bone action there as Nilsson checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nilsson blocks a head kick by Pjaca.

Pjaca tries to keep at a distance but Nilsson has taken the fight into the clinch.
Nilsson prevents Pjaca from breaking the clinch.
Pjaca is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nilsson lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Pjaca backwards.
Nilsson struggles to land a body shot inside as Pjaca controls his hands.
Nilsson tries to pull guard but Pjaca won't allow it.
Nilsson is trying to pull guard but Pjaca turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Pjaca's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Nilsson moves into the clinch successfully.
Pjaca has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Nilsson's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nilsson fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Liam Nilsson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pjaca scores with a head kick.
Pjaca throws a sloppy head kick and Nilsson moves out of range easily.
Pjaca swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Nilsson moves into the clinch.

Nilsson drags the fight down to the ground.

Nilsson uses the cage to get back to his feet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nilsson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Marko Pjaca seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Nilsson takes the fight into the clinch.
Pjaca stops a takedown attempt from Nilsson.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nilsson tries to pull guard but Pjaca forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Nilsson successfully pulls guard.
Nilsson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Nilsson has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

Nilsson is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Pjaca is aware though and is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pjaca wants to stand and escape but instead Nilsson has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Nilsson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Pjaca can do to turn this around?
Nilsson sitting in guard here, content to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nilsson won't allow Pjaca to get back to his feet.
Nilsson is stalling in the full guard.
Nilsson continues to stall.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liam Nilsson dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Nilsson closes this distance looking for a takedown but Pjaca circles away.
Pjaca throws a counter combo.
Pjaca throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
The fight stays on the outside here - Nilsson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Pjaca keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Pjaca misses with a series of wild punches.

Nilsson shoots in and bounces Pjaca off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nilsson looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pjaca takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nilsson won't allow Pjaca to get back to his feet.

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.
Nilsson with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Nilsson 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.
Nilsson pushing down on Pjaca's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Nilsson performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nilsson stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Pjaca to get to his feet.
Nilsson with a lazy takedown attempt
and Pjaca connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Liam Nilsson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nilsson shoots in looking for a takedown. Pjaca tries to sprawl out of it but Nilsson keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Pjaca manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Nilsson misses with a two punch combination.
Pjaca let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Nilsson slips a straight right by Pjaca.
Nilsson shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Pjaca as he jumps to the side.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nilsson lands a head kick. Pjaca smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Nilsson is looking to chop away at Pjaca's legs.
Pjaca plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Marko Pjaca has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A leg kick checked by Pjaca.

Pjaca tries to keep at a distance but Nilsson has taken the fight into the clinch.

Nilsson decides to pull guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pjaca postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Liam Nilsson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Nilsson is on top in guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Liam Nilsson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Nilsson, 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Liam Nilsson!