PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Michael Sanders (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Max Steiner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steiner has chosen Agonoize - Baeng Baeng Goodbye as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Sanders
vs
Steiner

171 cm
27
145 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

174 cm
23
144 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Very quick

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Dampf-Punk Chemicals

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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Michael Sanders!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Max Steiner!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sanders avoids a punch combination nicely.
Steiner throws a right and a left that Sanders avoids nicely.
Steiner tries to clinch but Sanders moves away

and Sanders decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Steiner's guard.
Sanders trying to control but Steiner is working from the bottom.
Sanders is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Sanders looking to sit in guard and control but Steiner gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Sanders pulls Steiner in close to his closed guard and prevents Steiner from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Steiner preventing the sweep.
Steiner tries to stand but Sanders is controlling from the bottom.
Sanders controlling Steiner's posture.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Michael Sanders just wasn't active enough.
Steiner lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Steiner throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nice defenses there by Sanders.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Steiner throws a combination that misses

and Sanders counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Steiner is looking to get back to full guard here but Sanders has managed to pass to side control instead.
Sanders throws an elbow but Steiner slips to the side and avoids it well.
Sanders lands some shots froms side control.
Sanders looks up at the clock and then as Steiner takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Sanders smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
An elbow from Sanders crashes against the mat.
Sanders misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Sanders tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Steiner's face as Sanders controls the position.
Sanders has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Sanders's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sanders throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Steiner works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Steiner blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sanders.
Sanders throwing shots but Steiner is blocking nicely.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Steiner can do anything to dispel that myth.
Well, if Sanders 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.
Sanders not landing any meaningful shots this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Sanders dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Sanders avoids a punch combination nicely.
Steiner throws a nice looking combination but Sanders bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Steiner misses with a shot to the body

and Sanders counters with a shoot takedown. Steiner fights it but they end up in guard.
Steiner utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Steiner looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Sanders looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Steiner is on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Steiner trying to stand up but can't free himself from Sanders's guard.
Steiner preventing the sweep.
Steiner wants to stand and escape but instead Sanders has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Steiner not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Sanders loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Sanders is looking to work some ground and pound but Steiner has wrist control.
Sanders stopping the sweep attempt from Steiner.
Steiner lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Sanders!
Sanders regains half guard.
Steiner wants to stand but Sanders has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Steiner decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Steiner gets caught flat footed, as Sanders shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Sanders pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Steiner is keeping the position for now.
Steiner wants to sweep here but Sanders controlling him for the moment.
Sanders pushing down on Steiner's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Steiner tries to get to full guard but Sanders has control of the leg.
Sanders thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Steiner to regain full guard.
Sanders seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Steiner keeping moving, preventing Sanders from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Sanders dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Steiner tries to bum rush Sanders with a series of wild strikes but Sanders uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Sanders closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Steiner did well to prevent Sanders getting side control.
Sanders throwing shots but Steiner is blocking nicely.
Steiner really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sanders. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Steiner keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Sanders scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Sanders not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Sanders not doing much here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanders thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Sanders throwing shots but Steiner is blocking nicely.
Sanders thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Steiner's head.
Sanders wants to control but Steiner is keeping him busy.
Michael Sanders overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Steiner wants to improve his position but Sanders is controlling well.
Sanders is trying to control the action in half guard but Steiner is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Michael Sanders has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Steiner swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Steiner loads up on a big right hand but Sanders slips the punch.
Steiner throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sanders.
Steiner tries to clinch

and Sanders counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Steiner trying to keep a closed guard but Sanders is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanders looking to pass the guard.
Sanders 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.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Steiner holds on and takes a little breather.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Max Steiner wasn't active enough on the ground.
Steiner throws a left and a right that both miss

and Sanders counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Steiner!
Sanders landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanders throwing strikes here but Steiner is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Sanders lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sanders lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Sanders lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Steiner hang on?
Sanders prevents Steiner from getting the reversal.
Sanders misses with a head shot.
Max Steiner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sanders scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Steiner?

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Sanders showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sanders, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

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