PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rob Mayhem (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Conner Steven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mayhem comes to the cage accompanied by pissed off and mad about it. The key to victory for Rob Mayhem has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Mayhem
vs
Steven

178 cm
25
160 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

165 cm
23
150 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good in bed

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rob Mayhem!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Conner Steven!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Summer Carpenter and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Steven.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Mayhem wants to get back to his feet.
Steven wants to lay and pray for a moment but Mayhem keeps working.
Mayhem is trying to get back to his feet.
Steven is putting a hurting on Mayhem here, landing some big shots from side control.
Mayhem managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Steven.
Mayhem is trying to improve his position.
Mayhem managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Steven.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Steven is working Mayhem over with some ground and pound from side control.
Steven tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Steven slows the pace down.
Mayhem tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mayhem takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Mayhem is trying to improve his position.
Mayhem tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Steven presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Steven is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Steven pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Steven controlling the position easily from mount.
Steven's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Steven blocks Mayhem's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Steven controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Steven with the ground and pound from mount.
Steven wants to control but Mayhem has made it back to half guard. Nice work.

Steven decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mayhem looks for a takedown but Steven sprawls well.
Mayhem fails to land the takedown.
Steven tries to clinch but Mayhem moves out of range.
Steven misses with a series of wild punches.
Mayhem tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Steven manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Mayhem moves in looking to clinch but Steven pushes him off.
Steven keeps the fight on the outside.
Mayhem shoots in for a takedown but Steven shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rob Mayhem. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mayhem moves in looking to clinch but Steven pushes him off.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mayhem fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rob Mayhem seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Mayhem drives through and clinches with Steven against the cage.
Steven is trying to break free.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Mayhem tries to pull guard but Steven holds him up against the cage and eventually Mayhem drops back down to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conner Steven 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.

Steven darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Steven sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Mayhem is trying to stand up here but Steven is controlling him well.
Mayhem is refusing to be controlled, as Steven sits in half guard.
Steven not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mayhem is trying to stand back up but Steven is controlling him
Steven is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Nice strikes from Steven there.

Steven is looking for a kimura here.
Steven throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Steven stops Mayhem from getting back to his feet.
Conner Steven has got the better of the ground game so far.
Steven performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Steven decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
The fight stays on the outside here - Mayhem looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Mayhem closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Steven tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Mayhem just stands there and leans against the cage.

Mayhem breaks from the clinch.
Steven shoots in looking for a takedown. Mayhem tries to sprawl out of it but Steven keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Mayhem manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Steven shoots in and drives through. Mayhem sprawls well.
Rob Mayhem has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Conner Steven.
Mayhem tries to score a power double leg takedown but Steven sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Mayhem somewhat.
Steven throws a push kick but Mayhem slaps the foot to one side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Steven feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Mayhem is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Steven with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Steven working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Steven stands up from Mayhem's guard - Steven perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Steven fails with an attempt to clinch.
Steven tries to clinch but Mayhem is having none of it.
Nice takedown defense from Steven. No joy for Mayhem on that attempt.
Mayhem gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Steven decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Mayhem's guard.
Mayhem will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
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!
Steven working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Steven not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Steven chips away with some ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Steven trying to control but Mayhem is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conner Steven showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! 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.

Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Steven.
Mayhem feints a jab promting Steven to slip. Mayhem then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Steven slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Mayhem tries to close the distance and clinch up but Steven swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Steven displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Mayhem.

Mayhem closes the distance and clinches.
Steven keeps control of Mayhem as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Mayhem escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mayhem 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.

Steven gets a clinch.
Steven is trying to pull guard but Mayhem has him pressed against the cage.
Steven goes for a takedown in the clinch but Mayhem prevents it.
Steven blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mayhem tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Steven stops a takedown attempt from Mayhem.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mayhem wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Steven wants to break free but Mayhem has control.
Mayhem unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Steven with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Steven wants the takedown. Mayhem is fighting it off but Steven persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Mayhem's guard against the cage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Steven stopping the sweep attempt from Mayhem.

Mayhem throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Steven throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Steven 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.
Steven throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Mayhem works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Steven accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Mayhem keeping moving, preventing Steven from controlling successfully.
Steven in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Steven has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Steven sitting in guard, not really doing much.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Conner Steven.

Steven manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Mayhem on his heels. He'll look to pass Mayhem's guard now, I'm sure.
Steven stays in close to Mayhem's body and controls the position.
Mayhem preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Steven controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Rob Mayhem has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Steven landing some decent shots from guard.
Mayhem wants to stand up but Steven is controlling him.
Conner Steven is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Steven sitting in guard here, content to control.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Conner Steven wasn't active enough on the ground.
Mayhem tries to clinch

and Steven counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Mayhem's guard now.
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!
Steven stops Mayhem from standing up.
Steven engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

And that's the end of the fight!
Conner Steven comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Steven winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 27:30
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 27:30
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Conner Steven!
A relieved looking Conner Steven thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.