PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jack Whitley (ranked 23875 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raimo Virtanen (ranked 7533 p4p, 0 weight class). Raimo Virtanen acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Whitley
vs
Virtanen

210 cm
25
140 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

160 cm
19
130 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jack Whitley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Raimo Virtanen!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Arvi Lind and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Whitley throws a head kick but Virtanen moves out of range.
Virtanen fails with an attempt to clinch.
No joy there for Whitley, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Virtanen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Virtanen sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Whitley's guard.
Virtanen is looking to stall here but Whitley recovers full guard.

Whitley is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Virtanen working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Virtanen trying to control but Whitley is working from the bottom.
Whitley knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Virtanen on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whitley bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Virtanen's guard.

Virtanen being controlled here, momentarily.
Whitley seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Virtanen for as long as he can get away with.
Whitley really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Virtanen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Whitley's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Virtanen manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Whitley manages to get himself to full guard.

Whitley trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Virtanen keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Whitley's head.
Whitley tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Whitley has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Virtanen has passed into side control.
Whitley is looking for a sweep.
Whitley misses with a strike from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Virtanen thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Whitley manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Whitley sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Virtanen manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Virtanen looking to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitley missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Virtanen tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Virtanen looks winded!
Virtanen can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Whitley controls the pace.

Virtanen is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Whitley is aware though and is defending well.
Whitley has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Whitley is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Whitley landing with the ground and pound.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Whitley sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Raimo Virtanen will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Virtanen tries to keep at a distance but Whitley has taken the fight into the clinch.

Whitley gets control of Virtanen's arms and successfully pulls guard. Whitley will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Whitley will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Whitley is working an open guard so Virtanen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Whitley tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Virtanen just stands there and leans against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Virtanen has picked Whitley up - he's going for a ride! Virtanen dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Whitley moves into full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Virtanen won't allow Whitley to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Virtanen trying to control the position from guard on top but Whitley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Virtanen with a flurry of punches that miss.

Whitley throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Whitley not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Whitley keeping moving, preventing Virtanen from controlling successfully.
Whitley throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Virtanen trying to control but Whitley is working from the bottom.
Virtanen with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Virtanen distracts Whitley with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Virtanen advances to half guard.

Whitley actively working from the bottom here.
It looks like Virtanen is going to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitley throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Whitley tries to get to full guard but Virtanen has control of the leg.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Virtanen ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Whitley throws a nice head kick!
Virtanen throws a shot to the body.
Virtanen fails in his attempt to clinch.
Virtanen pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Virtanen is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitley moves out of range of the body kick from Virtanen.

Virtanen darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Whitley has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Virtanen is on him like a limpet, forcing Whitley back against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Whitley manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

Virtanen has hold of one of Whitley's legs. Whitley is fighting the takedown attempt but Virtanen gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Whitley escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Virtanen gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Virtanen trying to control but Whitley is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Raimo Virtanen will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Virtanen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Virtanen trying to control from half guard but Whitley is working away.
Whitley flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Whitley wants to get back to full guard.
Whitley on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Virtanen trying to control the action but Whitley is working from the bottom.
Whitley wants to get back to full guard but Virtanen has passed into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Whitley gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Virtanen takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Whitley is looking to improve his position.
Virtanen is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Whitley pushes Virtanen off and gets back to his feet.
Virtanen moves forwards but Whitley connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Raimo Virtanen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Whitley dips to his left and cracks Virtanen with an uppercut!
Whitley circles away from the clinch attempt.

Virtanen shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Virtanen was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
You can see the frustration on Whitley's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Whitley holding on.
Whitley tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Virtanen wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Whitley throwing some weak shots from the bottom that do no damage.
Whitley wants to control but Virtanen postures up.
Whitley throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
A lull in the action here.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Virtanen looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

Virtanen closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Whitley's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whitley looking to hit a scissor sweep but Virtanen is one step ahead there.

Whitley looking for a guillotine here but Virtanen defends easily.
Virtanen scoring with punches to the head and body.
Jack Whitley has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Raimo Virtanen is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Whitley had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Virtanen defends it easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raimo Virtanen comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Virtanen 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 Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:30
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raimo Virtanen!