PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Steve Austin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rashad Evans (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Austin comes to the cage accompanied by Stone Cold theme. Evans is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Shook Ones. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Austin
vs
Evans

185 cm
23
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steve Austin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rashad Evans!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Wesley Smith and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Austin stuffs the takedown.
Austin lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Austin.

It looks like Rashad Evans has been cut.
Austin misses with the combination.
Evans fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Evans shoots in for a takedown but Austin shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Steve Austin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rashad Evans.
Austin stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Austin wants it to stay on the feet.
Evans tries to score a power double leg takedown but Austin sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Evans somewhat.
Evans takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Austin tries to bum rush Evans with a series of wild strikes but Evans uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Evans takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Evans shoots for a takedown but Austin saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Austin misses with the combination.
Austin misses with the combination.
Evans showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Austin.
Austin misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evans shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Austin pinned against the cage. Austin gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Austin ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Evans should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Austin rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Evans moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Austin throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Evans shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Austin defends it nicely.
Evans looks winded!
Austin defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Evans.
Austin will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Evans looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Austin is fending him off so far but Evans persists. Nope, Austin circles away and we're back to standing.
Steve Austin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Evans tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A left and a right from Austin both land. Nice combination.
Austin lands with a nice combination. Evans backs away looking to recover.
Evans is trying desperately to land a takedown but Austin is having absolutely none of it. This is turning into a bit of a nightmare for Evans.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Austin tries to bum rush Evans with a series of wild strikes but Evans uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown by Austin or perhaps it was just good defense by Evans which made him look bad.
Austin fails to land with a series of punches.

Austin gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Austin goes for a takedown attempt but Evans pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Austin leaves Evans with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Austin feints a jab promting Evans to slip. Austin then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Evans slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

Austin has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans is trying to force a seperation but Austin has the dominant position.
Austin has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Evans is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Evans tries to score a body lock takedown but Austin shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Austin is trying to break free.
Austin tries to score a body lock takedown but Evans shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Austin gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Evans.

Austin pulls Evans into guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Austin is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Evans is looking to control Austin's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Evans avoid being mounted?
Evans really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Austin. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Austin is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Evans is trying to stand back up but Austin is controlling him
Austin not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Evans has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Austin is working away from the top position though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Austin lands a two punch combo.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Some wild striking there from Austin.
Austin lands a nice shot to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Austin dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rashad Evans's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Evans tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Austin paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Evans fails to land with a series of punches.
Steve Austin is winning the standup battle so far.
Evans swinging wildly here.
Austin misses with a wild body shot.
No joy there for Austin, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Evans closes this distance looking for a takedown but Austin circles away.
Austin fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Evans closes the distance and clinches up with Austin, looking for a takedown. Evans pushes Austin against the cage but Austin circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Evans tries for a takedown but Austin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Steve Austin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rashad Evans.
Austin feints a jab promting Evans to slip. Austin then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Evans slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Austin ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Evans is breathing heavily.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Austin jumps guard and drags Evans to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Austin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Evans is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evans is fighting to break Austin's control of his arms but Austin is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

We're going to have a standup here because Steve Austin wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Evans swats away the attempt to clinch by Austin.
Evans stuffs the takedown.
Austin displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Evans.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Austin digs a good hook to Evans's body.

Austin moves into the clinch.
Austin lands a body punch.

Austin successfully pulls guard.
Evans in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Austin striking from his own guard.
Austin 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.

Austin is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Evans defends well.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Austin is looking for a triangle but Evans pushes his legs off easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans trying to control but Austin is working from the bottom.
Austin has control of Evans's left arm, preventing Evans from doing any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Evans stopping the sweep attempt from Austin.

Austin throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Evans connects with a couple of short punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Evans throwing strikes from guard but Austin blocks nicely.

Austin looking for a guillotine here but Evans defends easily.
Evans is looking to work some ground and pound but Austin has wrist control.
Austin is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Evans gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Evans shoots for a double leg takedown but Austin sprawls well. He's pushed Evans's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Austin tries to bum rush Evans with a series of wild strikes but Evans uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Austin dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Rashad Evans's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Evans on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Evans tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Austin lands a jab to Evans's midsection.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Evans shoots in and bounces Austin off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Austin throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Steve Austin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Evans drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Austin manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Evans has Austin in his guard.

Austin gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Evans takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Evans changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Austin looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Austin gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Evans missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Austin controlling the position well.

Evans is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Austin defends it well.
Austin manages to get to full guard.
Austin is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Evans trying to control the position from guard on top but Austin is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Austin trying to control the position.
Evans throws an elbow that misses. Austin uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Evans's guard. Nice move by Austin!
Austin trying to control the position from guard on top but Evans is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Steve Austin has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Evans lands a two punch combo.
Austin lands a two punch combo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Austin rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Evans moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Evans showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Austin.
Austin lands a right hook to the body.
Austin dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Evans has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Austin keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Austin looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Evans misses with a wild combination.

Austin shoots in and bounces Evans off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Austin trying to control the position from guard on top but Evans is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Austin is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Evans looking to control.
Austin slips nicely into half guard.
Evans wants to control but Austin is keeping busy.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Austin slows the pace down in half guard.
Rashad Evans has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Steve Austin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Austin showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Austin has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27

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