PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Steve Joyce (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Howard has chosen My Block as his entrance music. Steve Joyce could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Mike Howard's chin.

Joyce
vs
Howard

170 cm
22
160 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

165 cm
36
163 lbs
12 - 20 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Steve Joyce!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 20 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Mike Howard!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Paul Gruel and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Joyce gets caught flat footed, as Howard shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Howard cracks Joyce with a solid left hand.
Howard stands up over Joyce, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Howard wants to control from the top but Joyce keeps moving.
Howard throwing strikes from guard but Joyce blocks nicely.
Howard throws a big right hand that misses.
Howard has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Howard landing with the ground and pound.
Joyce keeping moving, preventing Howard from controlling successfully.
Howard works over Joyce with some ground and pound from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard with a nice head shot there.
Howard won't allow Joyce to get back to his feet.
Joyce is breathing heavily.
Howard trying to control but Joyce is working from the bottom.
Howard lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Howard with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Howard scoring with punches to the head and body.
Howard scoring with some ground and pound.
Howard with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Howard trying to control the position from guard on top but Joyce is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Howard connects with a couple of short punches.
Howard postures up and lands a big shot to Joyce's brow.
Howard passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howard lands a few punches from side control.
Joyce's coaches at Cozad MMA Hilo have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Howard working the head with strikes.
Joyce takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Howard working the ground and pound.
Howard lands some shots froms side control.
Joyce on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Howard is putting a hurting on Joyce here, landing some big shots from side control.
Howard looks up at the clock and then as Joyce takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Howard smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Howard in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Joyce takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Howard lands a few punches from side control.
Howard working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard scoring with punches from side control.
Howard working the ground and pound.
Howard scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Joyce to see if he's OK.
Joyce takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Howard is putting a hurting on Joyce here, landing some big shots from side control.
Howard passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Joyce!
Howard tries to control but Joyce wriggling away.
Howard looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Howard fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Howard unloading with bombs!
Howard lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
BOOM! Howard connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Howard is landing with some decent strikes but Joyce is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Joyce really wants to buck Howard off and get back to his feet.
Howard lands a nice shot to the head.
Howard landing strikes from the mount and Joyce is in trouble!
Howard landing strikes from the mount and Joyce is in trouble!
Howard can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Joyce is looking to escape.
Joyce taking shots to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Joyce takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Howard with a couple of short strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Howard dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Howard shoots in for a double leg but Joyce sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Howard shoots for a takedown but Joyce saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Howard fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Steve Joyce has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mike Howard.

Howard shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Howard passes to side control.
Howard is looking to take a break and control but Joyce is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Joyce is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joyce taking a bit of punishment here - Howard scoring with strikes.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Howard working the body and head with strikes.
Joyce on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Howard has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Joyce!
Howard can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Joyce is looking to escape.
Howard lands a big elbow.
Howard is landing with some decent strikes but Joyce is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Howard landing punches.
Howard lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Howard scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howard scoring with strikes but Joyce is staying in there.
Howard is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Joyce taking shots to the head.
Howard in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Howard landing shots from mount.
Howard landing strikes from the mount.
Howard landing shots from mount.
Joyce taking shots to the head.
Howard connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Howard should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Joyce is in a horrible position here. Howard smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Joyce is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Howard has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard with good strikes from the mount here!
Howard has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Joyce's face.
Howard working the ground and pound effectively.
Joyce taking shots to the head.
Howard unloading with bombs!
Joyce is in a horrible position here. Howard smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Joyce taking shots to the head.
Howard controlling from mount.
Joyce is squirming around, avoiding Howard's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howard cracks Joyce with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Howard trying to control but Joyce is having none of it.
Howard postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Joyce looks a forlorn figure.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Howard connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Howard connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Howard connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Howard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Joyce's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Howard shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Nice strikes from Howard there.
Howard works his foot free and advances to mount.
Howard with shots to the head and body - Joyce looks very uncomfortable down there.
Howard controlling his opponent.
Howard scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Howard takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Joyce knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Howard on the ground.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard landing strikes from the mount.
Howard pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Howard scoring with strikes but Joyce is staying in there.
Howard lands a big shot there that rocks Joyce but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Howard lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Joyce hang on?
Howard landing strikes from the mount.
Joyce is bucking up trying to escape but Howard cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Howard lands a big elbow.
Howard postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Joyce looks a forlorn figure.
Howard looking to finish Joyce with some ground and pound. This is bad for Joyce!
Mike Howard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Howard has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Joyce's face.
Howard sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Howard has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

Mike Howard has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Howard manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Joyce on his heels. He'll look to pass Joyce's guard now, I'm sure.
Howard engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Mike Howard has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Joyce can't keep his opponent in guard - Howard advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Howard is taking a breather. Joyce 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.
Steve Joyce has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Howard working the head and body with strikes.
Howard works his way into side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Howard comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Howard 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 Colin Fray scores the fight for Mike Howard!
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight for Mike Howard!
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight for Mike Howard!

Mike Howard wins by unanimous decision!