PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between AJ Strey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Stevenson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Michael Stevenson was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Strey
vs
Stevenson

180 cm
20
170 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

177 cm
22
170 lbs
4 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

5th Round

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, AJ Strey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Michael Stevenson!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, William Peck and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Strey is trying hard to land a takedown here. Stevenson sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Stevenson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Strey walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Strey throws a right hand that Stevenson ducks under and follows up with a left that Stevenson also avoids with ease.
Strey shoots in for a double leg but Stevenson sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Strey gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Strey fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for AJ Strey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevenson lands a glancing blow to the side of Strey's head.
Stevenson throws a head kick that misses.
Stevenson lands a jab.
Strey checks the leg kick.
Strey throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Strey swinging wilding here.
Stevenson tries to close the distance and clinch up but Strey swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Strey shoots for a double leg takedown but Stevenson sprawls well. He's pushed Strey's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Stevenson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Strey!
Strey is breathing heavily.
Stevenson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Strey takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Stevenson scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Strey?

Strey is rocked!
Stevenson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Strey. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Strey tries to reverse the position but Stevenson maintains control.
Stevenson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Strey's face.
Stevenson landing strikes, looking to finish!
Oh Strey is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Strey tries to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
Strey really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Strey seems to have got his legs back now.
Stevenson dominating with strikes here.
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.
Stevenson lands with some strikes.
Strey tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Stevenson connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
A nice elbow there by Stevenson.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Stevenson controlling the position easily from mount.
Stevenson fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Stevenson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevenson is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strey is squirming around, avoiding Stevenson's attempts to control the action.
Stevenson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Strey hang on?
Stevenson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Strey is looking to escape.
Stevenson landing strikes from the mount.
Stevenson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Strey hang on?
Stevenson trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Strey flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson with the ground and pound from mount.
Stevenson is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Strey can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Strey is in all sorts of trouble here.
Strey is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Strey is looking to improve his position but Stevenson isn't that keen on the idea.
Stevenson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Stevenson working Strey over with strikes here.
Stevenson with a couple of short strikes.
Stevenson cracks Strey with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Stevenson scores with a body shot.
AJ Strey is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Strey misses with a takedown attempt

and Stevenson counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Strey's guard now.
Strey looking for a sweep. Not yet Strey, not yet.
Stevenson looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Stevenson works over Strey with some ground and pound from guard.
Stevenson preventing the sweep.
Stevenson landing with the ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Stevenson's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Strey is trying to control the position but Stevenson postures up.
Stevenson working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Strey's head.
Stevenson lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Strey manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Stevenson manages to get himself to full guard.

Stevenson is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Stevenson can't break the clinch.
Strey tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Strey is trying to drag Stevenson to the mat but Stevenson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for AJ Strey. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Stevenson has picked Strey up - he's going for a ride! Stevenson dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Stevenson lands with a punch from half guard.
Ground and pound from Stevenson.
Well, if Stevenson is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Strey wants to improve his position but Stevenson is controlling well.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Stevenson lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strey wants to control but Stevenson passes into side.
Stevenson gets to mount! Strey was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Stevenson lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Stevenson landing strikes, looking to finish!
Stevenson looking to control but Strey is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Stevenson dominating with strikes here.
Stevenson breaks from Strey's wrist control and lands an elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Strey is in all sorts of trouble here.
Stevenson wants to control the pace but Strey is squirming around nicely.
Stevenson lands a heavy elbow.
Stevenson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Stevenson working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Stevenson lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Strey trying desperately to get to his feet.
Stevenson lands a big elbow.
You get the feeling that Strey really doesn't like being in this position too much.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Stevenson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Stevenson misses with a kick to the body.
Strey shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
enabling Stevenson to counter with a crisp jab.
Stevenson tries to clinch up but Strey circles away and keeps his distance.
Stevenson throws a sloppy head kick

and Strey counters with a shoot takedown. Stevenson fights it but they end up in guard.

Strey postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Stevenson is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Strey, into his guard.

Stevenson stands up and waves to Strey to follow him.
Strey is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson scores with a punch to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Stevenson lands a slapping body shot.

Stevenson scores with a takedown into Strey's guard.
Stevenson showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Stevenson advances to half guard.
Strey wants to get back to full guard but Stevenson has mounted him!
Stevenson lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strey is working to get back to half guard.
Stevenson looking to control but Strey is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Strey is trying desperately to improve position.
A nice elbow there by Stevenson.
Strey throwing hammer fists to the chest of Stevenson. What's that going to do exactly?
Strey flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Stevenson trying to control but Strey is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strey can't escape the position.
Michael Stevenson has got the better of the ground game so far.
Stevenson lands a nice shot to the head.
Strey really wants to buck Stevenson off and get back to his feet.
Strey swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Strey is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Stevenson tries to control but Strey wriggling away.

That's four 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.
A nice elbow there by Stevenson.
Stevenson tries to control but Strey wriggling away.
Strey is looking to improve his position but Stevenson isn't that keen on the idea.
Stevenson landing punches.
Stevenson avoids the attempt from Strey to control.
Strey in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Stevenson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Stevenson has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 26:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 25:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Stevenson!