PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jan Hrozny (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Needadis Shepard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hrozny's entrance music is 'Paint It Black' by The Rolling Stones. A fine choice. Needadis Shepard will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Hrozny
vs
Shepard

189 cm
23
220 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

186 cm
24
220 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent knees
Powerful

Cobra Kai Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jan Hrozny!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Needadis Shepard!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Arvi Lind and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hrozny keeps the fight on the outside.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
Hrozny looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Shepard is fending him off so far but Hrozny persists. Nope, Shepard circles away and we're back to standing.
Shepard misses with a head kick.
A thudding body kick lands there by Shepard!
Hrozny is breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shepard cracks the inside of Hrozny's front leg.
Shepard fails in his attempt to clinch.
Hrozny looks to land a left hand but Shepard moved out of range nicely.

Shepard closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Hrozny takes a knee right on the jaw!
Shepard unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Shepard lands a good knee to the midsection. Hrozny won't want to take too many of those.
A knee to the head by Shepard.
Shepard leaning his opponent against the cage.
Hrozny takes an elbow to the temple.

It looks like Jan Hrozny has been cut.
Shepard unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Shepard stalling against the cage.
Shepard is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Shepard working Hrozny over with knees to the body.
Shepard crunches a lovely knee into Hrozny's ribcage.
Hrozny takes a knee right on the jaw!
Knees in the clinch landing for Shepard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepard utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Shepard landing knees to the body.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Shepard obliges.
Shepard manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Shepard utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Shepard working Hrozny over with knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Shepard landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Shepard lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Shepard lands an elbow that stopped Hrozny in his tracks for a moment.
Shepard landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Shepard working Hrozny over with knees to the body.
Shepard keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Hrozny's efforts to push away.
Shepard landing knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Shepard.
Hrozny takes a knee right on the jaw!
Shepard lands a knee to the head.
Shepard scores a nice knee to the body.
Shepard landing some nice looking knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shepard just leaning against Hrozny, taking a breather.
Hrozny fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Shepard landing knees to the body.
Shepard creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Hrozny's defenses.
Shepard utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Hrozny takes a knee to the side of the body.
Shepard connects with a knee to the head.
Hrozny tries to stall but Shepard uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Shepard lands a nice knee to the body.
Shepard putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hrozny in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Shepard putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hrozny in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Shepard lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Shepard landing knees to the body.

Hrozny pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Shepard avoids the body shot from Hrozny.
Shepard leaves Hrozny with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jan Hrozny. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shepard moves in looking to clinch but Hrozny pushes him off.
Shepard misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hrozny.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hrozny lands a head shot.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
Hrozny looks to score with a jab to the body but Shepard is just out of range.
Shepard wants to clinch.
Shepard moves in looking to clinch but Hrozny pushes him off.
Shepard avoids the body shot from Hrozny.
Hrozny thows a body shot but no joy.
Shepard misses with a head kick.
Shepard is looking to clinch.
Shepard throws a front kick aimed at Hrozny's knee but Hrozny avoids it well.

Hrozny bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Hrozny is looking to take a break and control but Shepard is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Shepard wants to get back to his feet but Hrozny drags him back down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hrozny tries to move to mount but Shepard blocks the move with his legs.
Shepard is trying to improve his position.
Hrozny wants to lay and pray for a moment but Shepard keeps working.
Shepard managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Hrozny.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Hrozny wants to lay and pray for a moment but Shepard keeps working.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Needadis Shepard dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jan Hrozny's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Shepard keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Shepard tried to score with a low kick but Hrozny checks it.
Shepard connects with a solid leg kick.
Needadis Shepard seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A solid leg kick lands there for Shepard.
Shepard tries to close the distance and clinch but Hrozny swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Shepard misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Shepard feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Hrozny's calf.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shepard connects with a solid leg kick.
Shepard misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Shepard clinches with his opponent.
Shepard stalling in the clinch.
Shepard unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Shepard unloads a knee to the mid-section. Hrozny lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Nice elbow from Shepard.
Shepard stalling against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepard gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Shepard putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hrozny in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Hrozny takes a knee to the side of the body.
Hrozny working hard to break the clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Shepard.
Shepard utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Hrozny takes a knee to the side of the body.
Shepard scores with a knee to the head.
Hrozny takes a knee to the side of the body.
Shepard connects with a knee to the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Shepard obliges.
Shepard scores a nice knee to the body.
Shepard keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Hrozny's efforts to push away.

Hrozny breaks from the clinch.
Hrozny keeps the fight on the outside.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Hrozny.
Shepard has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Shepard is not content to let Hrozny control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shepard gets back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shepard tries to get to full guard but Hrozny has control of the leg.
Shepard really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Hrozny. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Hrozny not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hrozny stops Shepard from getting back to his feet.

Hrozny is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hrozny throwing shots but Shepard is blocking nicely.
Hrozny wants to pass to mount but Shepard is defending the position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Shepard dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hrozny. That did some damage!
Hrozny misses with a wild body shot.
Shepard wants to clinch up but Hrozny keeps it at a distance.
Hrozny fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
Shepard is looking to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shepard throws a head kick but Hrozny moves out of range.
A telegraphed right hand from Hrozny misses the target.
Hrozny throws a right and a left that both miss.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
Shepard looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Shepard throws a nice head kick!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Shepard tries to clinch but Hrozny moves out of range.
Shepard swings for the body but Hrozny moves out of range.
Shepard misses with a looping right.
Needadis Shepard is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Shepard.
Hrozny is looking to wear down Shepard with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Shepard tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Hrozny closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Shepard to the mat! Shepard manages to get full guard.
Hrozny advances to half guard.

Hrozny 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.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Needadis Shepard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Jan Hrozny's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Shepard moves in looking to clinch but Hrozny pushes him off.
Shepard tries to clinch but Hrozny moves out of range.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
A swing and a miss from Hrozny.
Shepard avoids the body shot from Hrozny.
Shepard throws a sloppy head kick and Hrozny moves out of range easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shepard misses with an uppercut.
Shepard ducks under a wild hook from Hrozny.
Shepard takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hrozny dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hrozny swats away the attempt to clinch by Shepard.
Hrozny keeps the fight on the outside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepard tries to clinch up.
Donk. Hrozny catches Shepard right on the button with a cross.
Shepard tries a head kick but it misses.
Hrozny swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Shepard counters with a head kick. That will keep Hrozny thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Shepard tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Nice body punch from Hrozny.
Hrozny stalks Shepard and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Shepard's face. Shepard staggers backwards, shaken.

Hrozny shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Shepard's guard.
Shepard looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Hrozny puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Hrozny seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Shepard does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Shepard tries to roll over but Hrozny keeps him under control.

Hrozny seems to be looking for submissions.
Jan Hrozny has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shepard won't allow Hrozny to pass to mount.
Hrozny seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Shepard does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Hrozny throwing shots but Shepard is blocking nicely.
Shepard is looking to control Hrozny's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Shepard avoid being mounted?

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Hrozny throws a shot to the body.
Hrozny loads up on a big right hand but Shepard slips the punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hrozny misses with a takedown attempt - Shepard sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Needadis Shepard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shepard throws a nice inside leg kick.
Shepard doesn't manage to clinch there - Hrozny circles away.
Shepard drops his hands momentarily and Hrozny takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Hrozny throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Shepard sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hrozny avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Needadis Shepard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Hrozny tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Shepard was well out of range. Poor timing from Hrozny.
Decent striking displayed by Hrozny there.
Hrozny circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hrozny throws a big shot that misses.
Shepard doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

Hrozny shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Hrozny throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Hrozny wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shepard is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Hrozny lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Hrozny wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
Shepard really wants to buck Hrozny off and get back to his feet.

Hrozny goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Shepard turns into him and now he's in Hrozny's guard.
Shepard would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jan Hrozny showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Shepard has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 27:29
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 27:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Needadis Shepard!