PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stan Van Gundy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Leandro Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alves has chosen Thin Lizzy - Angel of Death as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Van Gundy
vs
Alves

183 cm
27
194 lbs
16 - 3 - 1

195 cm
30
202 lbs
19 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 3 - 1, fighting out of New York, Stan Van Gundy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Leandro Alves!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Yves DeLean and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Alves lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Van Gundy throws a leg kick which misses Alves's front leg but catches the back leg as Alves tries to avoid it.

Alves tries to keep at a distance but Van Gundy has taken the fight into the clinch.
Alves working hard to break the clinch.
Van Gundy lands an uppercut.
Alves swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Alves controlling the action here for a moment.
Van Gundy lands a right hand that snaps the head of Alves backwards.
Van Gundy pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gundy stalling in the clinch.
Van Gundy tries a body shot but Alves blocks it.
A short uppercut from Alves.
Alves works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Alves swings wildly with an uppercut but Van Gundy uses good head movement to avoid it.
Alves goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Alves breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Van Gundy throws a low kick, looking for Alves's leg but Alves calmly moves out of range.
Van Gundy shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
A low kick from Van Gundy misses

and Alves decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Van Gundy's guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Alves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Van Gundy is keeping the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Alves is looking to advance position but Van Gundy has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Gundy prevents Alves from getting the reversal.
Alves gets back to half guard.
Still in half guard, Van Gundy seems content to control.
Alves tries to get to full guard but Van Gundy has control of the leg.
Van Gundy is taking a breather. Alves says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Stan Van Gundy has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Alves takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Alves misses with a body shot.
Alves avoids the body shot from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy fails in his attempt to clinch.
Alves has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Van Gundy.
Alves tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Van Gundy was well out of range. Poor timing from Alves.
Alves shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Van Gundy but Van Gundy pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Alves avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Alves steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Van Gundy.
Alves showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Van Gundy.
Alves lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Van Gundy at a distance.
Alves misses with a body shot.
Van Gundy throws out a leg kick but Alves moves out of range and Van Gundy only half commits.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Alves uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy connects with a leg kick. Alves looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Leandro Alves will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Van Gundy scores with a jab. Alves acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Van Gundy misses with a body kick.
Van Gundy tries to clinch up.
Alves comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Van Gundy connects with the punch.
Alves fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Alves walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Van Gundy lands a nice leg kick that just misses Alves's sensitive parts.
Stan Van Gundy is winning the standup battle so far.
Alves has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Van Gundy tries to close the distance and clinch but Alves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Alves uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Van Gundy.
Stan Van Gundy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
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!
Van Gundy cracks a nice hook into Alves's ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Gundy misses with a body kick.
Van Gundy keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Alves checks the leg kick nicely there.
Stan Van Gundy is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
The crowd cheers as Van Gundy lands an impressive looking overhand right. Alves doesn't seem phased though.
Van Gundy misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Alves counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Van Gundy's guard now.
Van Gundy keeping moving, preventing Alves from controlling successfully.
Alves is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Alves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Van Gundy is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Alves wants to control from the top but Van Gundy keeps moving.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Leandro Alves hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Alves moves out of range of the body kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Alves thuds a left hand into Van Gundy's body.
Alves checks a leg kick.
Van Gundy throws a quick inside leg kick.
Good work by Alves as he checks the leg kick.
Van Gundy lands the left hand.
Alves blocks the body kick.
Alves connects with an inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Gundy misses the shot to the body.
The fighters circling - Van Gundy throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Alves thows a body shot but no joy.
Van Gundy keeps Alves at a distance using the push kick.
Van Gundy tries to bum rush Alves with a series of wild strikes but Alves uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Van Gundy works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Alves misses with a body shot.
Van Gundy misses with a shot to the body

and Alves counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Alves engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Alves landing with the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Van Gundy keeping full guard, as Alves tries to pass.
Van Gundy lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Alves!
Van Gundy controlling the position easily from mount.
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 Stan Van Gundy will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Van Gundy chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Van Gundy.
Alves just misses with a punch to the body.
Alves misses the shot to the body.
Van Gundy tries to clinch up

and Alves counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Alves trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Van Gundy is adopting a defensive guard.
Alves working some strikes from top position.
Leandro Alves has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Alves drops back looking for a leg! Van Gundy is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Van Gundy manages to kick Alves off! Alves jumps back into Van Gundy's guard.
Van Gundy is controlling Alves's posture.
Van Gundy utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Alves trying to control the position from guard on top but Van Gundy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Van Gundy is keeping the position for now.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Leandro Alves hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Van Gundy throws a leg kick but Alves checks it.
Alves avoids a kick to the body.
Alves misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Van Gundy.
Van Gundy slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Van Gundy scores with a leg kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Van Gundy looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Alves closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Van Gundy to the mat! Van Gundy manages to get full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alves sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Van Gundy's guard.
Alves throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Alves is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Van Gundy sees it coming and defends easily.
Van Gundy might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Alves working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Van Gundy's thigh. Van Gundy counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Van Gundy pulls Alves in close to his closed guard and prevents Alves from doing any damage or advancing position.
Alves with a flurry of punches that miss.
Van Gundy trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Gundy being controlled here, momentarily.
Alves wants to pass the guard but Van Gundy is keeping the position.
Alves trying to control the position from guard on top but Van Gundy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Van Gundy tries to close the distance and clinch up but Alves swats him away and circles back towards the center.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Alves misses with a kick to the body
and Van Gundy counters with a right hand to the body.
Alves is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Van Gundy rather than just go for the knockout.
Alves throws a hook but Van Gundy blocks it.
Alves takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?

And that's the end of the fight!
Leandro Alves comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Alves 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 28:29
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Leandro Alves!
A very excited looking Leandro Alves 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.