PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Doran Connell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Saunders (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Connell comes to the cage accompanied by Rob Kelly - Rockstar. Doran Connell has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Connell
vs
Saunders

184 cm
26
185 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

190 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

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 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Doran Connell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ben Saunders!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Steve Erwin and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saunders wants to clinch.
Ben Saunders seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Saunders tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Connell manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Saunders tries to clinch up.
Connell keeps the fight on the outside.
Saunders tries to clinch but Connell moves out of range.
Saunders fails with an attempt to clinch.
Saunders tries to clinch there but Connell circles away.

Connell darts in and clinches Saunders up against the cage.
Nice elbow from Connell.
Saunders fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Connell lands a damaging elbow.
Saunders takes a knee right on the jaw!
Connell comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Connell connects with a knee to the head.
Saunders misses with an elbow over the top.
Connell with a knee to the head.

Saunders is rocked!
Connell using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Connell lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Saunders is still on wobbly legs! Can Connell finish him?
Saunders jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Connell walks away with a smile on his face. Saunders gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Connell gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Saunders seems to have recovered his senses.
Connell avoids the elbow strike from Saunders, against the cage.
Saunders takes an elbow to the temple.
Connell lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Saunders tries to break free but Connell pushes him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Connell tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Saunders creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Connell blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Connell lands an elbow inside that Saunders shrugs off.
Saunders tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Connell just stands there and leans against the cage.
Connell throws a knee to the head but misses.
Connell creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Saunders's defenses.
Connell blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Connell misses with a knee strike.
Connell lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Saunders just misses with a elbow thrown towards Connell's brow.
Connell unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Saunders tries to land knees in the clinch but Connell avoids the damage to the body.
Saunders looks gassed!
Connell lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Saunders takes an elbow to the temple.
Connell lands a nice elbow.
Connell blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Saunders takes an elbow to the forehead.
Saunders fails to pull guard.
Doran Connell has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ben Saunders.
Connell dodges an elbow strike from Saunders.

Saunders drags the fight down to the ground.

Connell is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Connell is working Saunders over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Connell is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Connell tries to free his leg and advance position but Saunders is retaining full guard.
Connell stays in close to Saunders's body and controls the position.
Connell won't allow Saunders to get back to his feet.

Connell drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Connell jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connell engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Doran Connell just wasn't active enough.

Connell gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Connell landing knees to the head.
Connell unloads a knee to the mid-section. Saunders lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Saunders takes a knee right on the jaw!
Saunders takes a knee right on the jaw!
Connell lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Connell creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Saunders's defenses.
A knee to the head by Connell.
Saunders takes an elbow to the temple.
Connell creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Saunders's defenses.
A knee to the head by Connell.
Connell with a knee to the head.
Connell creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Saunders's defenses.
Connell lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Connell lands an elbow that stopped Saunders in his tracks for a moment.
Connell lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Connell lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Saunders pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Connell lands a knee to the head.
Saunders swings wildly with an uppercut but Connell uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nice elbow from Connell.
Connell lands an elbow that stopped Saunders in his tracks for a moment.
Connell lands a damaging elbow.
Saunders doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Connell tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Connell.
Saunders misses with some punches.
Saunders fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Doran Connell 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.

Saunders looks to clinch

so Connell counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Saunders can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Connell controls the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Saunders is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Connell is controlling him.
Connell is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Saunders closes the distance but Connell moves to the side

and Connell counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Saunders's guard now.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Connell stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Saunders swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Connell drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Connell jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Connell slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Saunders utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Connell postures up in Saunders's guard and throws a big left but Saunders blocks it.
Saunders wants to get back to his feet but Connell is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Connell controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Connell passes Saunders's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Connell is working for a kimura but Saunders is defending it quite comfortably.
Connell slows the pace down in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connell lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Connell is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Connell is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Saunders is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:41 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Doran Connell!