PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Joel Conner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jim Hollis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Conner kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is M.O.P. Ante Up. Joel Conner has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Conner
vs
Hollis

186 cm
18
185 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

195 cm
21
183 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Rush Supplements 160Q

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Joel Conner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jim Hollis!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, John Kavanagh and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Conner fails with an attempt to clinch.
Conner with a poor takedown

and Hollis counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Conner wants a takedown but no success here.
Hollis lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Conner or not.
Conner is breathing heavily.
Conner is pressed up against the cage. Hollis has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Conner down to the mat. Conner avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Conner is looking to clinch but Hollis is avoiding it.
Conner darts in looking for a takedown but Hollis gets double underhooks and turns Conner into the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joel Conner. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Hollis breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Conner stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Conner wants it to stay on the feet.
Horrible takedown by Conner or perhaps it was just good defense by Hollis which made him look bad.
Conner shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Hollis as he avoids it easily.
Conner wants to clinch.
Hollis lands a head kick!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Hollis gets a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hollis has hold of one of Conner's legs. Conner is fighting the takedown attempt but Hollis gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Hollis is looking to work some ground and pound but Conner has wrist control.
Hollis must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Hollis wanted to stand there but Conner had control of the position.
Hollis engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Conner looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Hollis wants to control from the top but Conner keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hollis showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Hollis is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Jim Hollis.

Hollis gets caught flat footed, as Conner shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Conner definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Conner stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hollis swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Hollis wants to sweep but no luck.
Hollis is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hollis manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Conner tries to hold on but Hollis postures up.
Hollis throws a strike there. Conner manages to avoid it well and slips a leg under to get to half guard.
Conner wants to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hollis throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Conner wants to control but Hollis is keeping busy.

Hollis is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Hollis is keen to just control but Conner is a slippery customer.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Conner moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jim Hollis dominated that round.
That's time! Conner's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

No luck with that takedown attempt from Hollis.
Hollis has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Conner is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Hollis slaps away a takedown attempt from Conner, before circling back to the center of the mat.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Hollis is defended easily by Conner.
Hollis shoots for a double leg takedown but Conner sprawls well. He's pushed Hollis's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Joel Conner has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jim Hollis.
Conner shoots in but no luck this time.
Hollis wants to clinch.

Conner rushes Hollis and presses him up against the cage.
Conner wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Hollis has him pressed against the cage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A short left from Conner.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Conner fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Hollis pulls Conner into guard.
Hollis trying to keep a closed guard but Conner is proving a slippery customer.
Conner 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.
Conner is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Conner trying to control the position from guard on top but Hollis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hollis is trying to control the position but Conner postures up.
Hollis really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Conner. 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 two minutes gone in the round.
Hollis keeping moving, preventing Conner from controlling successfully.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Hollis darts in looking for a takedown but Conner gets double underhooks and turns Hollis into the cage.
Hollis stops a takedown attempt from Conner.
Hollis is trying to drag Conner to the mat but Conner just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

Conner breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Conner darts in and clinches Hollis up against the cage.

Conner is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Hollis can't fight it off and eventually Conner manages to take the fight to the floor. Hollis looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Conner stands up over Hollis, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Conner decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Hollis, up you get!
Joel Conner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Conner closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Conner is looking to take a break and control but Hollis is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Hollis wants to get back to full guard.
Conner is trying to control. Hollis wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Joel Conner overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Conner prevents Hollis from improving his position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Joel Conner wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Conner drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Hollis throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hollis is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Conner makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Hollis trying to control the position.
Conner trying to control the position from guard on top but Hollis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hollis can't keep his opponent in guard - Conner advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Conner controlling the action here.
Conner wants to take a breather but Hollis is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joel Conner dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Conner bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Conner working away.
Hollis controls the position for a moment.
Hollis is trying to improve his position.
Hollis manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

Conner is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Hollis doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Conner.

Conner stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Conner wants to clinch.
Conner fails with an attempt to clinch.
Joel Conner is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hollis shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Conner but Conner pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Conner clinches.
Hollis tries to pull guard but Conner holds him up against the cage and eventually Hollis drops back down to his feet.
Conner tries for a takedown. No joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Conner is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Joel Conner has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jim Hollis.

Conner successfully pulls guard.
Hollis throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hollis won't allow Conner to sweep him here.
Hollis advances to half guard.
Conner blocking the ground and pound attempt from Hollis.

Hollis is working for a kimura but Conner is defending it quite comfortably.
Conner wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hollis tries to stand and escape but Conner is controlling the position.

Conner looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Conner is defending against the submission attempts here by Hollis.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Conner is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Conner is working hard here to advance position.
Hollis stalling away here and it's allowed Conner to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.

Conner pushes Hollis off and gets back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joel Conner showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Conner has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Russell Pearce scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:28
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 29:28

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