PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Emmanuel Zsorats (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shael Connen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Connen has chosen Rock You Like a Hurricane as his entrance music. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Zsorats
vs
Connen

181 cm
21
180 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

175 cm
31
170 lbs
10 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Knockout power

$10

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Emmanuel Zsorats!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Shael Connen!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Paulsen Ambrosius and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zsorats scores with the left hand. Connen knows he should have avoided that one.
Zsorats misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Connen.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Zsorats.
Zsorats fails in his attempt to clinch.
Zsorats scores with a hook to the body. Connen takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Zsorats avoids the head kick by Connen.
Connen misses with a wild combination.
Nice takedown defense from Connen. No joy for Zsorats on that attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Zsorats.
Connen misses with a double jab.
Zsorats thumps Connen with a low kick.
Connen throws a series of punches but Zsorats avoids them all with ease.
Connen tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Connen clinches up with Zsorats and pushes him back against the cage.
Connen has a couple of punches blocked by Zsorats.
Zsorats drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Emmanuel Zsorats. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Connen is stalling here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Connen throws a head punch that misses.

Connen escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
That kick from Zsorats tenderised Connen's leg. Connen is trying to keep his angry face on.
Zsorats scoring well with a low kick there.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Connen misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Connen lands the left hand.
Connen throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Connen fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Connen misses with a two punch combination.
A shot to the liver by Zsorats. Beautiful body shot.
Connen misses with a looping right.
Shael Connen seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Connen has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Connen wants to break the clinch but can't.
Connen has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Zsorats is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Zsorats tries for a takedown. No joy.
Zsorats is working for takedown but Connen is calmly controlling the position for now.
Zsorats tries for a takedown but Connen manages to get underhooks.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Zsorats changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Connen fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Zsorats moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Zsorats throws a head kick that Connen semi-blocks.
Zsorats throws a chopping leg kick but Connen manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Connen throws a right and a left that Zsorats avoids nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connen circles away from the clinch attempt.
Connen scores with a hook.
Connen takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Zsorats thows a left - swing and a miss!
Connen fails to land with a series of punches.
Zsorats with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Connen to score with a decent uppercut.
Connen tries to clinch but Zsorats is having none of it.

Zsorats scores a takedown into full mount!
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Zsorats controlling the position easily from mount.
Connen's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Zsorats trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Zsorats controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zsorats looking to finish Connen with some ground and pound. This is bad for Connen!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Zsorats lands a nice shot to the head.
Zsorats raining down hammerfists from mount.
You get the feeling that Connen really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Zsorats with the ground and pound from mount.
Zsorats sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Zsorats unloading with bombs!

Connen is rocked!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Zsorats controlling the pace for now.
Connen is trying to stand up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emmanuel Zsorats dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Connen tries to clinch but Zsorats moves out of range.
Connen tries to clinch but Zsorats moves away

and Zsorats counters with a takedown into side control.
Zsorats is staying tight to Connen's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Zsorats prevents Connen from escaping the position.
Connen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zsorats. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Zsorats connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Connen some visible discomfort.
Zsorats trying to control the position but Connen is working away.
Zsorats staying calm.
Zsorats wants to control but Connen is keeping him busy.
Zsorats 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.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zsorats wants to lay and pray for a moment but Connen keeps working.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Emmanuel Zsorats just wasn't active enough.
Zsorats closes the distance and clinches up with Connen, looking for a takedown. Zsorats pushes Connen against the cage but Connen circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Connen waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Zsorats.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zsorats looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Zsorats showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Connen.
Zsorats dodges the punch combination from Connen.
Connen tries to bum rush Zsorats with a series of wild strikes but Zsorats uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Connen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Zsorats throws out the jab.
Zsorats lands with a nice body kick.
Connen swinging wildly here.
Connen misses with a left hand
and Zsorats counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Connen tries to clinch but Zsorats is having none of it.
Connen lands a jab.
Connen wants to clinch.
Connen chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Zsorats can pounce on him.
Zsorats chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Connen keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Connen scores with a decent looking hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Connen misses with a straight right.
Connen throws a combination that misses
and Zsorats makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Connen throws a series of punches but Zsorats avoids them all with ease.
Zsorats closes the distance and clinches up with Connen, looking for a takedown. Zsorats pushes Connen against the cage but Connen circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Zsorats shoots for a takedown but Connen saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Emmanuel Zsorats. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Connen takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Shael Connen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Connen tries to clinch but Zsorats is having none of it.
A cross from Connen lands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connen looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Connen fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Connen fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Connen looks to land a combination but Zsorats avoids it well.
Connen waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Zsorats.
Zsorats dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Connen. That did some damage!
Connen throws a right and a left that both miss.
Connen is breathing heavily.
Zsorats walks into a stiff left hand from Connen.
Connen's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Horrible takedown by Zsorats or perhaps it was just good defense by Connen which made him look bad.
A looping hook to the body misses from Connen. Zsorats does a little dance to reset his feet.

Zsorats drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Zsorats not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Zsorats passes Connen's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Connen is in trouble now - Zsorats has advanced to mount!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Zsorats wants to control the pace but Connen is squirming around nicely.
Zsorats unloading with bombs!
Zsorats controlling his opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zsorats lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emmanuel Zsorats dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Connen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Connen might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Connen throws a right and a left that Zsorats avoids nicely.
Connen throws a right hand that Zsorats ducks under and follows up with a left that Zsorats also avoids with ease.
Connen displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Zsorats.
Connen chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Zsorats can pounce on him.
Sloppy strikes from Connen. Those never looked like landing.
Connen tries to close the distance and clinch up but Zsorats swats him away and circles back towards the center.
No joy there for Connen, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Zsorats closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Zsorats lands in his opponent's guard.
Connen wants to stand and escape but Zsorats is having none of it.
Connen keeping moving, preventing Zsorats from controlling successfully.
Zsorats is pushing down on Connen's leg trying to pass to half guard. Connen is fighting to maintain full guard but Zsorats has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zsorats controlling the action here.
Zsorats working over Connen with some ground and pound. Connen looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Zsorats in particular looking to stall.
Connen pushes Zsorats off looking to stand but Zsorats dives back in and keeps control.
Zsorats sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Connen is looking to escape.
Zsorats slows the pace down in half guard.
Zsorats throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zsorats trying to pass the guard but Connen defending well.
Zsorats trying to control from half guard but Connen is working away.

Emmanuel Zsorats has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Connen defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Zsorats.
Zsorats lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Connen fails in his attempt to clinch.
Connen steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Zsorats.
Connen tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Connen displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Zsorats.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Emmanuel Zsorats. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Zsorats.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Connen throws a shot from downtown. Zsorats moves away and avoids it.
Zsorats with a lazy takedown attempt

and Connen counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Connen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zsorats's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Connen throws a right and a left that both miss.
Connen fails to land with a series of punches.
Connen is looking to clinch but Zsorats is avoiding it.

Connen closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Connen is defending well against a takedown attempt.

Connen pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Connen misses with a two punch combination.
Connen takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

Zsorats looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Connen!
Zsorats controlling his opponent.
Emmanuel Zsorats overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Connen wants to get back to his feet.
Connen takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zsorats raining down hammerfists from mount.

Zsorats looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Connen tries to buck Zsorats off but he can't manage it.
Shael Connen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Zsorats controlling the pace for now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Zsorats lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

And that's the end of the fight!
Emmanuel Zsorats showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Zsorats, 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 30:27
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Emmanuel Zsorats!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Emmanuel Zsorats made sure he mentioned $10, along with how happy he was to win his fight.