PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Candy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Grigory Stensky (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Candy comes to the ring accompanied by zZzz. Stensky has chosen GORBACHOV as his entrance music. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Candy
vs
Stensky

191 cm
33
276 lbs
19 - 12 - 0

185 cm
34
250 lbs
11 - 12 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Experienced

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 19 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, John Candy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Grigory Stensky!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Seu Braga and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stensky takes one to the chin there.
Candy misses with a wild combination.
Stensky pivots, looking for a leg kick but Candy is out of range and Stensky settles back down.
Stensky on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Candy looks to land a combination but Stensky avoids it well.
The fight stays on the outside here - Stensky looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Stensky closes this distance looking for a takedown but Candy circles away.
Stensky shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Candy sprawls well. Candy wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Stensky gets slowly back to his feet.
Stensky fails with a takedown attempt.
John Candy has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Grigory Stensky.
Candy slaps away a takedown attempt from Stensky, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Stensky looks for a takedown but Candy sprawls well.
A right-left combo lands from Candy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stensky throws a head kick but Candy moves out of range.
Candy throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Stensky shoots in but Candy avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Stensky doesn't manage to clinch there - Candy circles away.

Candy gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Candy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Stensky is one step ahead there.
Candy working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Stensky.
Candy pulls Stensky in to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.
Stensky with a flurry of punches that miss.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.
Stensky is fighting to break Candy's control of his arms but Candy is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Stensky throws a nice looking combination but Candy bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Stensky shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Candy as he jumps to the side.
Horrible takedown by Stensky or perhaps it was just good defense by Candy which made him look bad.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Stensky throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Candy's waist but Candy gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Stensky off to one side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stensky avoids the body shot from Candy.
Stensky wants to clinch up but Candy keeps it at a distance.
Stensky tries to clinch but Candy moves out of range.
Stensky misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Stensky shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Candy napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Candy tries to improve position but can't.
Stensky trying to control the position but Candy is working away.

Stensky looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Candy defending against the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stensky wants to control for a moment but Candy uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Candy is refusing to be controlled, as Stensky sits in half guard.

Stensky is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Stensky trying to control from half guard but Candy is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Grigory Stensky will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Stensky fails with a takedown attempt.

Stensky closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Candy quickly recovers to half guard.
Stensky is keen to just control but Candy is a slippery customer.
Candy moves into full guard.
Candy keeping full guard, as Stensky tries to pass.
Candy pulls Stensky in close to prevent any damage.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Candy bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Stensky's guard.
Grigory Stensky has got the better of the ground game so far.

Stensky is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Stensky is trying to keep Candy in close.
Stensky working a defensive guard but Candy manages to pass into side control anyway.
Stensky is trying to control Candy's posture but Candy avoids it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stensky is holding Candy down, trying to stall.
Candy moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
You can see the frustration on Stensky's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Grigory Stensky hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Stensky shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Candy defends it nicely.
Candy jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Stensky throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Candy takes a swing at Stensky's ribcage but misses.
Candy misses with an uppercut. Stensky saw that one coming.
Grigory Stensky seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Stensky throws a predictable looking body shot
and Candy connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Stensky is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Candy.
Candy works over Stensky's head and body with a nice combination.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A left lands for Candy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stensky connects with a looping right hand.
Candy avoids a punch combination nicely.
John Candy is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Candy gets caught flat footed, as Stensky shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Candy looking to hit a scissor sweep but Stensky is one step ahead there.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Candy manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Stensky manages to get himself to full guard.

Stensky throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Stensky wants to sweep here but Candy controlling him for the moment.
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 John Candy will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Candy fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Candy throws a hook to the side of Stensky's head but Stensky sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Stensky is looking to clinch.
Stensky tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Candy paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Stensky closes the distance and clinches.
Stensky wants a takedown.
Stensky throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Candys head.
Stensky tries to circle away but Candy has him pinned against the ropes.
Stensky drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Stensky can't get the takedown.
John Candy has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Grigory Stensky.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Candy is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Stensky drops down looking for an ankle pick but Candy pulls his leg out and moves away.
Candy leaves Stensky with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Candy digs a good hook to Stensky's body.
Candy misses with the combination.
Stensky tries to close the distance and clinch but Candy swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stensky tries to close the distance and clinch up but Candy swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Stensky shoots for a double leg takedown but Candy sprawls well. He's pushed Stensky's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Candy tries to sprawl but Stensky drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Stensky takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Stensky misses with a head shot. Candy uses the momentum to regain guard.
Stensky controlling from the top position.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stensky stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Candy swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Candy is pulling down on Stensky's head to control his posture.
Candy not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Stensky has gone for a leg lock! Candy slips out almost immediately though and dives into Stensky's guard.
Stensky bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Candy's guard.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stensky controls from within his opponent's guard.
Candy is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Stensky trying to control but Candy is working from the bottom.
Stensky postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Candy keeping moving, preventing Stensky from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Grigory Stensky.
A swing and a miss from Candy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Grigory Stensky comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Stensky has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 29:29
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Grigory Stensky!
A very excited looking Grigory Stensky made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.