PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alfred Hammarskjold (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Staal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hammarskjold comes to the cage accompanied by Rasmus på luffen - Luffarvisan. Staal has chosen We built this city as his entrance music. John Staal will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Hammarskjold
vs
Staal

183 cm
32
290 lbs
23 - 11 - 0

195 cm
35
230 lbs
37 - 14 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Affordable Quality + Reliable Laundry

Affordable Quality + Reliable Laundry
KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 11 - 0, fighting out of London, Alfred Hammarskjold!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 37 - 14 - 0, fighting out of New York, John Staal!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, James Ackerman and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hammarskjold throws a poor cross that misses

and Staal moves into the clinch.
Staal trying to control the position but instead, Hammarskjold has worked for underhooks and has pushed Staal into the cage.
Hammarskjold changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Staal fights it off and pushes away nicely.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hammarskjold. Staal does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hammarskjold swats away the attempt to clinch by Staal.
Staal misses with the combination.
Staal lands a slapping body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammarskjold takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.

It looks like Alfred Hammarskjold has been cut.
Hammarskjold shoots for a takedown but Staal saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Staal has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.

Hammarskjold moves into the clinch.
Staal's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Staal blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Staal lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Staal is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Hammarskjold avoiding damage as Staal throws knees to the body.
Hammarskjold cracks Staal with a nice body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Staal tries to land knees in the clinch but Hammarskjold avoids the damage to the body.
Staal is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hammarskjold is defending well for now.
Staal prevents a body shot from Hammarskjold.
Staal misses with a knee to the head.
Hammarskjold doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Staal is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Staal misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A nice left hand lands by Hammarskjold.
Staal gets underhooks to prevent Hammarskjold's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alfred Hammarskjold. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Staal lands a shoulder strike.
Staal misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Hammarskjold misses with the head strike.
Staal tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staal blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Hammarskjold struggles to land a body shot inside as Staal controls his hands.
Staal using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hammarskjold has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Staal tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hammarskjold avoids it.
Staal is looking to control Hammarskjold's arms but Hammarskjold gets an underhook and turns him. Now Staal has his back to the cage.
Staal tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Staal lands a good knee to the midsection. Hammarskjold won't want to take too many of those.
Hammarskjold misses with a punch on the inside.
Staal is trying to maintain a safe position but Hammarskjold gets an underhook and turns Staal into the cage.
Staal lands a nice knee to the body.
Hammarskjold blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Hammarskjold avoids a wild elbow strike from Staal.
Staal tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hammarskjold working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Staal is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Hammarskjold is keeping busy.
Hammarskjold digs a right hand into Staal's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Staal's gas tank.

Hammarskjold breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Staal wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Staal tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Hammarskjold counters with a left hand that sends Staal to the canvas!

It looks like John Staal has been cut.
Hammarskjold looking to pass the guard.
Staal keeping moving, preventing Hammarskjold from controlling successfully.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Staal is adopting a defensive guard.
Hammarskjold lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Alfred Hammarskjold will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Staal chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Hammarskjold swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Staal throws a low kick, looking for Hammarskjold's leg but Hammarskjold calmly moves out of range.
Staal lands with a cross.
Staal ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Staal throws a quick inside leg kick.
Staal punishes Hammarskjold's body with a nice straight punch.

Hammarskjold gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hammarskjold looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Staal trying to control but Hammarskjold is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammarskjold has control of Staal's left arm, preventing Staal from doing any damage.
Staal looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Staal trying to control but Hammarskjold is working from the bottom.

OK we're going to have a standup here. John Staal hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
A slow jab from Hammarskjold misses its intended target.
John Staal seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Staal ducks under a wild hook from Hammarskjold.
Staal with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staal swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Staal darts in trying to clinch

and Hammarskjold counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Staal's guard now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Staal trying to control the position here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hammarskjold throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Hammarskjold stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Staal swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Hammarskjold throwing strikes from guard but Staal blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammarskjold content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Hammarskjold trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Staal preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hammarskjold looking to pass the guard.
Staal looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hammarskjold is one step ahead there.
Hammarskjold stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Staal swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hammarskjold trying to control the position from guard on top but Staal is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hammarskjold with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hammarskjold preventing the sweep.
Hammarskjold trying to control but Staal is working from the bottom.
Staal utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hammarskjold missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Staal 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.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Staal looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Hammarskjold puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
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 Alfred Hammarskjold will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Some wild striking there from Staal.

Staal has closed the distance and engaged Hammarskjold in a clinch.
Staal doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Hammarskjold lands a right hand that snaps the head of Staal backwards.
Hammarskjold has a couple of punches blocked by Staal.
Staal is trying to maintain a safe position but Hammarskjold gets an underhook and turns Staal into the cage.
Hammarskjold looking for a takedown.
Hammarskjold misses with some punches.
Staal just leaning against Hammarskjold, taking a breather.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Hammarskjold.
Hammarskjold tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Hammarskjold misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Staal has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Hammarskjold is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammarskjold misses with a body punch.
Staal trying to land knees to the body.
Hammarskjold misses with a short punch on the inside.
Staal blocks an uppercut.
The referee calls for Staal to work.
Hammarskjold throws a punch but it's blocked by Staal.
Hammarskjold is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Staal pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
A hook to the body from Hammarskjold.
Staal takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Staal fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Alfred Hammarskjold has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Hammarskjold throws a punch but it's blocked by Staal.
Hammarskjold lands an uppercut.
Alfred Hammarskjold is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hammarskjold managing to block the knees to the body from Staal.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Staal swings wildly with an uppercut but Hammarskjold uses good head movement to avoid it.
Staal is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Hammarskjold is keeping busy.
John Staal has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Staal is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hammarskjold is defending well for now.
Staal swings wildly with an uppercut but Hammarskjold uses good head movement to avoid it.
Staal tries to throw a body punch but Hammarskjold avoids it by throwing Staal back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammarskjold is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Staal is defending well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alfred Hammarskjold. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hammarskjold misses with a short punch on the inside.
Staal is trying to maintain a safe position but Hammarskjold gets an underhook and turns Staal into the cage.
Staal trying to land knees to the body.
Staal misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staal misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hammarskjold.
Staal misses with the head strike.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Staal.
Staal tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hammarskjold avoids it.
Staal lands an uppercut.
Hammarskjold lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Still in the clinch, Staal scores with a nice short uppercut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hammarskjold prevents a body shot from Staal.
Staal misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Staal tries to land knees in the clinch but Hammarskjold avoids the damage to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Alfred Hammarskjold.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Hammarskjold, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 29:29
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 30:28
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Alfred Hammarskjold!
Alfred Hammarskjold decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.