PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Chael Sonnen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Stevens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Sonnen
vs
Stevens

190 cm
25
197 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

183 cm
18
198 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Chael Sonnen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mike Stevens!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, George Francis and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sonnen misses with an uppercut.
A nice combination there by Stevens.
Stevens lands a slapping body shot.
Sonnen swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sonnen connects with the punch.
Stevens uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sonnen.
Stevens punishes Sonnen's body with a nice straight punch.
Mike Stevens seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sonnen moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Stevens looks to land a combination but Sonnen avoids it well.
Stevens's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Stevens duly obliges.

It looks like Chael Sonnen has been cut.
Stevens throws a series of punches but Sonnen avoids them all with ease.
Stevens scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
A jab lands there for Stevens.
Sonnen takes one to the chin there.

Sonnen is rocked!
Nice uppercut there from Stevens.
Oh Sonnen is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Stevens fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Sonnen, pushing him back against the cage.

Stevens pulls guard successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sonnen manages to get himself to full guard.
Sonnen seems to have got his legs back now.
Stevens throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Sonnen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Stevens throwing strikes but missing.
Sonnen keeping full guard, as Stevens tries to pass.
Stevens throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Sonnen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sonnen preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Stevens wants to control from the top but Sonnen keeps moving.
Sonnen knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Stevens on the ground.
Stevens working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
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.
Stevens throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Sonnen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Stevens slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Stevens has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Stevens scoring with punches and elbows.
Sonnen managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Stevens.
Stevens tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sonnen is not content to let Stevens control the position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Stevens working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Sonnen is avoiding damage well.

Stevens working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Stevens wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sonnen keeps working.
Sonnen gets back to half guard.
Sonnen on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Sonnen tries to get out of the position.
Sonnen avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Stevens.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevens wants to control but Sonnen is keeping him busy.
Sonnen taking some punishment here, with Stevens in his half guard.
Sonnen wants to get back to his feet.
Stevens trying to control the action but Sonnen is working from the bottom.
Stevens throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sonnen wants to get back to full guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Stevens is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Sonnen is just riding it out for now. Stevens eventually gives up the hold.
Sonnen avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Stevens.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Stevens dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Chael Sonnen's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Stevens cracks Sonnen with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Sonnen has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Stevens finds it's way round the side to connect with Sonnen's head.
Stevens scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Sonnen doesn't seem bothered though.

Sonnen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sonnen is looking to take a break and control but Stevens is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sonnen thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Stevens works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sonnen missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevens looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Sonnen wants to control from the top but Stevens keeps moving.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Chael Sonnen wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Stevens lands with a right hand.
Sonnen misses with a double jab
and Stevens counters with a leg kick.
Stevens throws a nice looking combination but Sonnen bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Stevens tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Stevens shoots for a takedown but Sonnen saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Sonnen closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sonnen lands in his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sonnen postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Sonnen is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sonnen pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Stevens is keeping the position for now.
Sonnen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Stevens working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Mike Stevens hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Sonnen closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sonnen lands in his opponent's guard.
Sonnen throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Sonnen trying to stand up but can't free himself from Stevens's guard.
Sonnen is fighting to break Stevens's control of his arms but Stevens is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Sonnen throwing strikes but missing.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Mike Stevens.
Some wild striking there from Stevens.
Stevens moves out of range of the strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Stevens uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

Sonnen shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Stevens is trying to defend but Sonnen finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Sonnen missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Chael Sonnen will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Chael Sonnen's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Stevens dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Stevens scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Sonnen swinging wildly here.
Sonnen looks for a takedown but Stevens sprawls well.
Sonnen has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Sonnen takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Chael Sonnen's cut is getting worse.
Sonnen has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Sonnen is defended easily by Stevens.
Sonnen throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Stevens lands a lovely overhand right.
Stevens comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Stevens has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens lands with a nice combination. Sonnen backs away looking to recover.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sonnen walks into a left hand.

Chael Sonnen's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Stevens tries to bum rush Sonnen with a series of wild strikes but Sonnen uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Stevens fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Sonnen loads up on a big right hand but Stevens slips the punch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Stevens.
Mike Stevens seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Stevens lands a two punch combo.
Sonnen does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Stevens avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Stevens with a jab.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stevens throws a good cross that connects.
Sonnen tries to score with a low kick but Stevens moves his leg out of the way.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevens lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Sonnen swinging wildly here.
A nice combination there by Stevens.
Stevens misses with a jab, cross combination.
Stevens swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Sonnen makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Stevens misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Sonnen darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Sonnen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Stevens's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sonnen stalling away here and it's allowed Stevens to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

Sonnen is trying to tuck his arms in to keep them safe but Stevens has managed to isolate one of them and has got a loose triangle. Sonnen is looking to defend but Stevens has done well to lock his legs together - this could be big trouble for Sonnen! Stevens pulls down on the head and a little smile comes across his face - he knows he's got it. Yep, Sonnen taps out and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:40 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Mike Stevens!
A relieved looking Mike Stevens thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.