PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jon Tharis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marlo Stein (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tharis comes to the cage accompanied by Burning down the house. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Tharis
vs
Stein

188 cm
25
265 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

190 cm
26
266 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Global MMA Gear
[WOT] GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jon Tharis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Marlo Stein!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Summer Carpenter and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tharis tries a head kick but it misses.
Stein blocks a head kick by Tharis.
Stein chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Tharis can pounce on him.
Stein throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Stein has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Tharis.
Tharis keeps the fight on the outside.
Stein tries to bum rush Tharis with a series of wild strikes but Tharis uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Tharis misses with an uppercut.
Stein lands an overhand right.
Stein throws a nice looking combination but Tharis bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Stein instigates a clinch.
Tharis takes an elbow to the temple.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Tharis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Stein works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Tharis looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Stein is fending him off so far but Tharis persists. Nope, Stein circles away and we're back to standing.
Stein tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tharis swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tharis throws a head kick that misses.
Tharis shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Tharis throws a series of punches but Stein avoids them all with ease.
Stein avoids the body shot from Tharis.
Stein lands a nice hook to Tharis's body. Tharis takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Marlo Stein is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tharis lands a high kick!
Tharis throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Stein doesn't manage to clinch there - Tharis circles away.
Tharis connects with a body shot.
Tharis misses with a body kick.
Tharis scores with a leg kick.
Tharis misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jon Tharis. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stein is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Stein tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Tharis manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Stein takes a head kick and keeps coming.

Stein rushes Tharis and presses him up against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Stein.
Stein pushes off an throws an elbow but Tharis leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Tharis looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Stein slowing the pace effectively.
This has been an exciting period of action!
With the fighters up against the cage, Stein throws an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tharis avoids the elbow strike from Stein, against the cage.
Tharis tries to break free but Stein pushes him back against the cage.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Tharis obliges.
Stein lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Stein keeps control of Tharis as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Stein lands an elbow that stopped Tharis in his tracks for a moment.
Tharis tries to circle away but Stein has him pinned against the cage.
Tharis can't break the clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

Tharis pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Stein clinches with his opponent.
Tharis is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Stein throws an elbow that misses.

Tharis pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Stein fails with an attempt to clinch.
Tharis scores with a head kick. Stein tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Jon Tharis seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tharis misses with a body shot
and Stein counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Tharis keeps the fight on the outside.
Tharis ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Stein moves away.
Stein tries to clinch up
and Tharis counters with a left to the body.
Stein moves out of range as Tharis strikes.
A head kick misses from Tharis.
A good leg kick by Tharis.
Tharis keeps the fight on the outside.
Tharis misses with a body shot.
Tharis takes one on the button.
Tharis fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Stein.
Tharis misses with an attempted mid kick.
Tharis jabs Stein to the body, keeping him at a distance.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Stein fails in his attempt to clinch.
Stein wants to clinch up but Tharis keeps it at a distance.
Tharis takes a swing at Stein's ribcage but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stein misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Stein moves in looking to clinch but Tharis pushes him off.

Tharis closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Tharis looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Tharis 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.
Stein can't do much from the bottom here.
Tharis landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Stein is looking for a sweep.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
An elbow from Tharis crashes against the mat.

Tharis is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Stein knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Tharis postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jon Tharis 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.

Stein tries to clinch there but Tharis circles away.
Stein thows a body shot but no joy.

Stein forces Tharis back against the cage and clinches.

Tharis breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Marlo Stein is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Tharis avoids the head kick by Stein.

Stein gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Tharis looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Tharis wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Stein has him pressed against the cage.
Tharis is trying to break the clinch but Stein has him pressed against the cage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Tharis as Stein tries to tie him up.
Stein lands a hook that snaps the head of Tharis backwards.
Stein lands an elbow that stopped Tharis in his tracks for a moment.
Stein blocking some punches.
Stein looking to stall.

Tharis breaks the clinch.
Stein slaps away a takedown attempt from Tharis, before circling back to the center of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tharis will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Stein tries to clinch there but Tharis circles away.
A head kick misses from Tharis.
Stein uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tharis.
Tharis tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Stein was well out of range. Poor timing from Tharis.
Tharis is looking to wear down Stein with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Tharis tests Stein's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Stein moves in looking to clinch but Tharis pushes him off.
Stein throws a jab but it's blocked by Tharis.
Stein tries to clinch but Tharis is having none of it.
Tharis swats away the attempt to clinch by Stein.
Tharis pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Tharis thows a left - swing and a miss!
Tharis throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Tharis tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Stein was well out of range. Poor timing from Tharis.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stein is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Tharis gets a takedown into half guard.
Tharis thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Tharis throwing shots but Stein is blocking nicely.
Stein blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tharis.
Stein wants to control but Tharis is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Jon Tharis overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Stein avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Tharis.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tharis is thwarting Stein's attempts to control the position.
Stein really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Tharis. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Tharis not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Tharis is keen to just control but Stein is a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tharis scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Tharis missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Stein wants to get back to his feet.
Tharis thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Tharis wants to control but Stein is keeping him busy.
Stein has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Tharis is working away from the top position though.
Stein blocking the ground and pound attempt from Tharis.
Tharis lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Tharis stops Stein from getting back to his feet.
Stein is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Tharis throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tharis missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Tharis works his way into full mount!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Tharis with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Stein taking shots to the head.
Tharis with the ground and pound from mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tharis is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Tharis with shots to the head and body - Stein looks very uncomfortable down there.
Tharis with the ground and pound from mount.

Stein is rocked!
Tharis softens up his opponent with a couple of shots there and then CRACK! One massive shot lands there and Stein is out cold! Tharis jumps to his feet and celebrates on the cage with the fans, who are, quite frankly, going absolutely mental!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Jon Tharis!
An out of breath Jon Tharis thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.