PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Stevie Why (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dante Evangelisti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stevie Why has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Why
vs
Evangelisti

180 cm
28
180 lbs
15 - 9 - 0

183 cm
21
182 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Hades ®
Conviction

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 15 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Stevie Why!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dante Evangelisti!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Frank Dennis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Evangelisti swats away the attempt to clinch by Why.
Why looks to score with a jab to the body but Evangelisti is just out of range.
Why shoots in looking for a takedown but Evangelisti manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Why's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Evangelisti misses with a looping right.
A big right from Evangelisti misses.
Why shoots in but no luck this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Evangelisti motions for Why to come forward. Evangelisti throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.

Why closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Evangelisti quickly recovers to half guard.

Evangelisti pushes Why off and gets back to his feet.
Why dives in and grabs Evangelisti's left leg, looking for a takedown. Evangelisti pushes down on Why's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Stevie Why. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Why tries to clinch there but Evangelisti circles away.
Why fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Why shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Evangelisti sprawls well. Evangelisti wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Why gets slowly back to his feet.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Why.
Why shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Evangelisti as he avoids it easily.

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.
Evangelisti looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Evangelisti throws the left hand but Why avoids the punch easily.
Evangelisti jabs Why to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Nice takedown defense from Evangelisti. No joy for Why on that attempt.
A chopping leg kick lands by Evangelisti.
Evangelisti lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Why uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Evangelisti.
Evangelisti looks to land a combination but Why avoids it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Why shoots in and gets a takedown into Evangelisti's guard.
Evangelisti wants to stand and escape but Why is having none of it.
Why thows a big elbow that misses.
Evangelisti throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Evangelisti throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Evangelisti pushes Why off and scrambles back to his feet.
Why fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Evangelisti stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
No joy there for Evangelisti, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Evangelisti jabs Why to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Why steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Evangelisti.
Why closes the distance and clinches up with Evangelisti, looking for a takedown. Why pushes Evangelisti against the cage but Evangelisti circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Why misses with a takedown attempt - Evangelisti sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Why decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Evangelisti is trying to stand.
Why is stalling here. Evangelisti is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Why seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Evangelisti has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dante Evangelisti dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Why checks the leg kick.
Why shoots in for a takedown but Evangelisti shows good takedown defense.
Why shoots in but no luck this time.
Why shoots in for a double leg but Evangelisti sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Stevie Why. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A jab from Evangelisti misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Evangelisti is looking to chop away at Why's legs.
Why takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Why shoots in looking for a takedown but Evangelisti manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Why's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evangelisti scores with a jab.
Evangelisti fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Why has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Evangelisti misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Why counters with a nice double leg into side control. Evangelisti won't be happy with that.
Why in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Evangelisti gets back to half guard.

Why is looking for a kimura here.
Evangelisti keeping control of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Why wants to work for an arm triangle but Evangelisti is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Evangelisti is pressing down on Why's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Evangelisti preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Why looking to pass the guard.
Why thows a big elbow that misses.
Why postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Evangelisti pushes Why off and scrambles back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Why throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
enabling Evangelisti to counter with a crisp jab.
Evangelisti throws a jab when Why was well out of range.
Why has his takedown stuffed
and Evangelisti counters with a nice leg kick.
Evangelisti thows a body shot but no joy.
Evangelisti tries to bum rush Why with a series of wild strikes but Why uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Why gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Evangelisti counters with a nice leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Why drops his hands momentarily and Evangelisti takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Why uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Evangelisti.
Evangelisti misses with a straight left.
Jab, jab by Evangelisti - just one landing.

Why fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Evangelisti sprawls well initially but Why persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Evangelisti wants to control but Why is keeping busy.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Why is working for a kimura but Evangelisti is defending it quite comfortably.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Why is trying to control the action in half guard but Evangelisti is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dante Evangelisti showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Why slips a straight right by Evangelisti.
Why avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Evangelisti throws a predictable looking body shot

and Why counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Evangelisti!
Why throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Why looking to control but Evangelisti is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Stevie Why overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Why scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Evangelisti?
Why with good strikes from the mount here!

Why moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Evangelisti has worked his arm free - good work by Evangelisti!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Why trying to control the position but Evangelisti is working away.

Why wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Evangelisti, who protects the arm well.

Why thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Evangelisti is not content to let Why control the position.

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.

Why working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Evangelisti wants to get back to his feet but Why drags him back down.
Evangelisti is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Why's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Evangelisti is in trouble now - Why has advanced to mount!
Why looking to control but Evangelisti is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Why looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Evangelisti is desperately trying to improve his position but Why has a good base and remains in mount.
Evangelisti is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Why is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Evangelisti can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

Why looking to secure an arm triangle but Evangelisti defends it well.

Why working for a submission but Evangelisti is keeping him at bay.
Evangelisti wants to hold on but Why pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Why moves to back control.
Why is controlling the position but Evangelisti somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.
Evangelisti won't allow Why to pass to mount.

Why is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Why wants to work for an arm triangle but Evangelisti is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Evangelisti won't allow Why to pass to mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stevie Why showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Evangelisti 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight for Dante Evangelisti!
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight for Stevie Why!
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight for Stevie Why!

Stevie Why wins by split decision!