PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bear Stevenson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Simon Phoenix (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Phoenix comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Phoenix kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Stevenson
vs
Phoenix

178 cm
26
168 lbs
12 - 1 - 1

178 cm
23
180 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Fury Nutrition Inc.

Fury Nutrition Inc.
Sex Panther!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Bear Stevenson!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Simon Phoenix!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Gregory Folan and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Phoenix avoids a punch combination nicely.
Phoenix misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Stevenson misses with a jab to the body
and Phoenix cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Phoenix staying out of range there.
Phoenix fakes the leg kick and cracks Stevenson in the body.
Stevenson swings for the body but Phoenix moves out of range.
Stevenson has a takedown stuffed.
Stevenson stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Phoenix.
Stevenson tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Phoenix defends well and Stevenson ends up having to push Phoenix into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Phoenix scores a nice knee to the body.
Phoenix struggles to land a body shot inside as Stevenson controls his hands.
Phoenix throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Phoenix taking a breather.
Stevenson tries to score a body lock takedown but Phoenix shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bear Stevenson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevenson avoiding damage as Phoenix throws knees to the body.
A short body shot lands from Phoenix as the two fighters clinch.
Phoenix lands a nice knee to the body.
Stevenson is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Phoenix gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Phoenix manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Phoenix lands on the inside with an uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stevenson avoids the elbow strike from Phoenix, against the cage.
Stevenson tries to work over Phoenix's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Phoenix's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
We've been hearing reports that Stevenson has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Stevenson misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Stevenson throws a nice looking combination but Phoenix bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Phoenix shoots in and bounces Stevenson off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevenson has a closed guard, preventing Phoenix from standing up.
Phoenix throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Stevenson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Phoenix is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson has a closed guard, preventing Phoenix from standing up.
Phoenix trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Phoenix wants to stand but Stevenson is controlling his posture from full guard.
Phoenix stopping the sweep attempt from Stevenson.
Phoenix trying to stand up but can't free himself from Stevenson's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix advances position into side control!
Phoenix wants to stand but Stevenson has his arm trapped.
Stevenson sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Phoenix is trying to control. Stevenson wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Stevenson wants to improve his position but Phoenix is controlling well.
Stevenson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Phoenix 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.
Stevenson slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Phoenix dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Phoenix thuds a left hand into Stevenson's body.
Stevenson swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Phoenix counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Stevenson throws a head kick that misses.
Phoenix cracks Stevenson with a good jab.
Phoenix thuds a left hand into Stevenson's body.
Phoenix throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Phoenix feints and then cracks Stevenson's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Stevenson down.
A slapping leg kick lands for Phoenix.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Stevenson tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Phoenix was well out of range. Poor timing from Stevenson.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Phoenix pushes Stevenson away with a front kick.
Phoenix connects with a body shot that sends Stevenson's belly button to the back.
Stevenson connects with the punch.
Phoenix throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Phoenix slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Stevenson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Phoenix throws a nice outside leg kick.
Simon Phoenix is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Stevenson throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Phoenix counters with a head kick that drops Stevenson to the mat! Stevenson scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!

Stevenson is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Phoenix moves out of range as Stevenson throws a body kick.
Phoenix wants to clinch.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Phoenix moves in looking to clinch but Stevenson pushes him off.
Simon Phoenix is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Stevenson on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
A nice leg kick lands there from Phoenix.
Phoenix is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Stevenson rather than just go for the knockout.
Phoenix takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Stevenson swings away with a body shot that misses

and Phoenix counters with a head kick that drops Stevenson to the mat! Stevenson scrambles across the canvas and gets back to his feet, still wobbly!
Oh Stevenson is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix scores with a sloppy right hand. Stevenson should have avoided that one.
Nice defenses there by Phoenix.
Stevenson has a takedown stuffed.
Stevenson takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Phoenix pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Stevenson back to the cage. Phoenix follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Phoenix connects with a solid leg kick.
Phoenix explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Stevenson seems to have got his legs back now.
Phoenix lands the left hand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Stevenson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A punch combination from Phoenix misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Phoenix throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Stevenson throws a left and a right that both miss
and Phoenix counters with a stiff right hand.
Stevenson throws an off balance right hand
and Phoenix counters with a straight right hand.
Stevenson swinging wildly here.
Stevenson slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Phoenix scoring well with a low kick there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Phoenix showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Phoenix clinches up against the cage.
Phoenix with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Phoenix stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Phoenix tries a knee to the head but Stevenson blocks it.
Phoenix is trying to stall.
Phoenix lands a good knee to the midsection. Stevenson won't want to take too many of those.
Phoenix tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Stevenson avoiding damage as Phoenix throws knees to the body.
Phoenix connects with a knee to the head.
Stevenson managing to block the knees to the body from Phoenix.
Phoenix missing with knees to the body.
Stevenson pushes Phoenix back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Stevenson is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson goes for a takedown in the clinch but Phoenix prevents it.

Phoenix breaks from the clinch.
Phoenix throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Stevenson.
Phoenix takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
A punch lands to the side of Stevenson 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Phoenix slips a jab and a cross from Stevenson.
Stevenson defending well as Phoenix loads up on a big left hand.
Stevenson throws a right hand that Phoenix ducks under and follows up with a left that Phoenix also avoids with ease.
Bear Stevenson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Phoenix throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Stevenson scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

Phoenix has closed the distance and engaged Stevenson in a clinch.
Phoenix blocks an uppercut.
Stevenson looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Phoenix misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Stevenson.
Stevenson managing to block the knees to the body from Phoenix.

Phoenix manages to break the clinch.
Phoenix has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Phoenix scores with a head kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Phoenix fails to land with a series of punches.
Phoenix tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Stevenson paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Simon Phoenix seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson tries to land a front kick but Phoenix steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Stevenson moves out of range of the body kick.
Phoenix tests Stevenson's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Nice uppercut lands for Stevenson. That snapped Phoenix's head back.
Stevenson misses with a hook to the body
and Phoenix counters with a nice body kick.
Stevenson falls off balance throwing a combination
and Phoenix counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson misses the body punch
and Phoenix counters with a leg kick.
Phoenix thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Stevenson if he has to take too many more of those.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stevenson needs to keep his hands up - Phoenix had a free shot at his head there.
Phoenix moves away from the strike by Stevenson.
Simon Phoenix is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Stevenson gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Phoenix lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Phoenix fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Stevenson has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Stevenson walks into a stiff left hand from Phoenix.

And that's the end of the fight!
Simon Phoenix comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Phoenix has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Simon Phoenix!
Simon Phoenix is the new welterweight champion!
Simon Phoenix thanked the fans post fight for their support.
Bear Stevenson spoke after the fight, saying 'I can't believe I lost to that chump. Give me a rematch. '.