PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sthawy Sthowp (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mickey O Neil (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sthowp comes to the cage accompanied by Blind Guardian - Into the Storn. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Sthowp
vs
O Neil

180 cm
32
174 lbs
20 - 20 - 0

187 cm
34
177 lbs
22 - 17 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

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 20 - 20 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sthawy Sthowp!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mickey O Neil!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Daniel Cesar and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sthowp with a lazy takedown attempt
and O Neil counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Sthowp thinking.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Sthowp is defended easily by O Neil.
O Neil throws the left hand but Sthowp avoids the punch easily.
Sthowp misses with a takedown attempt - O Neil sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sthawy Sthowp. That's going to take a lot out of him.
O Neil jabs Sthowp to the body, keeping him at a distance.

O Neil closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
O Neil gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Sthowp.
Sthowp wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but O Neil has him pressed against the cage.
O Neil stalling the fight.
O Neil throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Sthowps head.
A short left from O Neil.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Neil lands a left hand that snaps the head of Sthowp backwards.
O Neil lands a right hand.
O Neil tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
O Neil lands an uppercut.
Sthowp looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Sthowp wants a takedown.
A head punch blocked on the inside by O Neil.
A short uppercut from O Neil.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for O Neil.
O Neil lands a right hand.
O Neil lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
O Neil controlling the action here for a moment.
Sthowp takes a shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Neil lands with a short shot to the head.
Sthowp blocks an uppercut.
O Neil tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sthowp's elbow.
Nice body punch from O Neil - that landed with a thud.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
O Neil tries to throw a body punch but Sthowp avoids it by throwing O Neil back against the cage.

O Neil breaks from the clinch.
Sthowp takes one on the button.

O Neil gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

O Neil's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sthowp with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling O Neil to score with a decent uppercut.
Mickey O Neil is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sthowp fails in his attempt to clinch.
O Neil takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Neil's jab looks to have found its range, popping Sthowp under the eye.
O Neil misses with a jab, cross combination.
O Neil misses with the combination.
Sthowp is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Sthowp clinches.
O Neil slowing the pace effectively.
A head punch blocked on the inside by O Neil.

O Neil escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

O Neil fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Sthowp, pushing him back against the cage.
O Neil misses with some punches.
O Neil avoiding damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from O Neil.
O Neil is struggling to control the position.
Sthowp misses with a short punch on the inside.

O Neil breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
O Neil works Sthowp's body with a nice hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sthowp tries to close the distance and clinch up but O Neil swats him away and circles back towards the center.
O Neil throws a big shot that misses.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sthowp.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
O Neil is not content to let Sthowp control the position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
The strikes coming from Sthowp are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mickey O Neil dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

O Neil connects with a good right hand that stumbles Sthowp. Sthowp circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Sthowp circles away from the clinch attempt.
A lazy left from O Neil finds it's target.
A big left from O Neil misses.
O Neil swinging wildly here.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
O Neil has Sthowp up against the cage in a clinch.
O Neil scores with a nice hook to the head.
O Neil is stalling here.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for O Neil.
O Neil blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

O Neil's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
O Neil throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sthowp.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Neil throws a right and a left that Sthowp avoids nicely.
O Neil thows a left - swing and a miss!
O Neil has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Sthowp swats away the attempt to clinch by O Neil.
Sthowp wants to clinch.

O Neil closes the distance and pushes Sthowp back into the cage.
A nice left hand lands by O Neil.

O Neil pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
O Neil misses with a wild combination.
Mickey O Neil seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Sthowp dives in and grabs O Neil's left leg, looking for a takedown. O Neil pushes down on Sthowp's head and hops out.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Sthowp is defended easily by O Neil.

Sthowp throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. O Neil was covering up waiting for the punch and Sthowp finishes the takedown easily into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as O Neil holds on and takes a little breather.
O Neil avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sthowp postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Sthowp postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
O Neil utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sthowp trying to control but O Neil is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sthowp is really struggling to control O Neil but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Sthowp passes O Neil's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Sthowp looks to land a strike but O Neil avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
Sthowp trying to control the position from guard on top but O Neil is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sthowp looking to sit in guard and control but O Neil gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sthowp looking for a guillotine here but O Neil defends easily.
O Neil trying to control the position from guard on top but Sthowp is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sthowp keeping full guard, as O Neil tries to pass.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

O Neil stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Nice defenses there by Sthowp.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mickey O Neil showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Sthowp misses with a wild body shot.

O Neil drives through and clinches with Sthowp against the cage.
O Neil can't find room to land a body shot as Sthowp controls the action.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, O Neil creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Sthowp is trying to pull guard but O Neil turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
O Neil is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
O Neil lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Sthowp misses with some punches.
O Neil swings wildly with an uppercut but Sthowp uses good head movement to avoid it.
A shot in the inside from O Neil.
O Neil lands a right hand that snaps the head of Sthowp backwards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sthowp blocks an uppercut.

O Neil breaks the clinch.
Sthowp moves out of range of the strikes.
O Neil fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
O Neil misses with a right hand

and Sthowp counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
A short right from O Neil on the inside.
O Neil is struggling to control the position.
Sthowp's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
O Neil working aggressively here.
O Neil has a couple of punches blocked by Sthowp.
O Neil just leaning against Sthowp, taking a breather.
Sthowp misses with a body punch.
Mickey O Neil is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Neil softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
The referee calls for O Neil to work.
Sthowp tries to break the clinch but O Neil is controlling the position.
Sthowp wants to break the clinch but can't.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

O Neil pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sthowp shoots in and drives through. O Neil sprawls well.
O Neil connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
O Neil jabs Sthowp right on the nose. Sthowp blinks but takes it well.
O Neil getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
O Neil swings widly with a right hand

and Sthowp counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in O Neil's guard now.
Sthowp is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Sthowp throwing strikes from guard but O Neil blocks nicely.
Sthowp stopping the sweep attempt from O Neil.
Sthawy Sthowp has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sthowp throws an elbow that misses. O Neil uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sthowp's guard. Nice move by O Neil!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
O Neil trying to control the position from guard on top but Sthowp is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
O Neil wants to stand and escape but instead Sthowp has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sthowp looking to sit in guard and control but O Neil gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mickey O Neil comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got O Neil 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mickey O Neil!
An out of breath Mickey O Neil thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.