PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Stampe Eklund (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hugo Valderena (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Eklund's entrance music is Troll - Trollberg. A fine choice. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Eklund
vs
Valderena

168 cm
31
167 lbs
15 - 10 - 1

185 cm
36
171 lbs
29 - 16 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

GREEN!160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 10 - 1, fighting out of New York, Stampe Eklund!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hugo Valderena!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Aafke Stam and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Valderena shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Eklund defends it nicely.
Eklund throws a head kick that misses.
Eklund throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Valderena counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Valderena has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Eklund finds it's way round the side to connect with Valderena's head.

Eklund takes the fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Eklund misses with a knee strike.

Valderena escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Eklund misses with a combination
and Valderena counters with a nice low kick that buckles Eklund's knee momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eklund keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Eklund takes the fight into the clinch.
Eklund throws a knee to the head but misses.
Eklund is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Valderena is defending well for now.
Eklund misses with a short punch on the inside.
Valderena gets through Eklund's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Valderena stalling the fight.
Valderena lands with a short shot to the head.
Valderena is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Stampe Eklund has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hugo Valderena.
Eklund blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Eklund lands a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Eklund.
Eklund tries to land a knee to the head but Valderena blocks with his arms.
Eklund tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Eklund misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Valderena.
Eklund tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Valderena lands a hook to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Eklund connects with a knee to the head.
Valderena on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Eklund misses with a body punch.
Valderena tries for a takedown but Eklund manages to get underhooks.
Valderena misses with the head strike.
Eklund tries to land a knee to the head but Valderena blocks with his arms.
Eklund looking to throw knees to the head but Valderena is blocking nicely.
Eklund misses with a punch to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Valderena creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Valderena looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valderena tries for a takedown. No joy.
Eklund with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Valderena managing to block the knees to the body from Eklund.
Valderena fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A nice left hand lands by Valderena.
Eklund using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Eklund missing with knees to the body.
Eklund lands a knee to the body.
Eklund lands an elbow inside that Valderena shrugs off.
Valderena'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.
Eklund looking to throw knees to the head but Valderena is blocking nicely.
Eklund looking to throw knees to the head but Valderena is blocking nicely.
Valderena scores with a shoulder strike.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Eklund misses with a knee strike.
Eklund landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Eklund tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Valderena avoids it.
A head punch on the inside from Valderena fails to land.
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!
Eklund misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Valderena.
Eklund tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Valderena wants a takedown.

Valderena has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Eklund regains guard immediately.
We've been informed that Valderena has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Valderena passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Valderena trying to control the action but Eklund is working from the bottom.
Valderena creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Eklund sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Eklund closes the distance and pushes Valderena back into the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Valderena.
Eklund misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Valderena.
A short uppercut from Valderena.
Valderena lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Eklund backwards.
Eklund tries a knee to the head but Valderena blocks it.

Valderena pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Valderena looks to land a left hand but Eklund moved out of range nicely.
Valderena swats away the attempt to clinch by Eklund.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Eklund misses with a double jab.
Eklund throws a series of punches but Valderena avoids them all with ease.
Eklund looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Eklund wants to clinch but Valderena slips to the side
and Valderena counters with a good, hard body kick but Eklund shrugs it off.
Valderena swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Valderena throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Valderena misses the jab.
Eklund lands with a good body shot.
Eklund tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Eklund on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Jab by Valderena.
Eklund throws a head kick that misses

and Valderena counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Eklund is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Valderena dives into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Valderena lands a few punches from side control.
Valderena has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Valderena trying to control the position but Eklund is working away.
Eklund might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Valderena swings around for an armbar but Eklund sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Valderena's guard.
Eklund in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Eklund wants to control from the top but Valderena keeps moving.
Valderena preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Eklund scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Valderena has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Eklund can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Valderena looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Valderena working a defensive guard but Eklund passes into half guard.
Valderena wants to improve his position but Eklund is controlling well.
Eklund is looking to advance position but Valderena won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Valderena wants to get back to full guard but Eklund has passed into side control.
Eklund slows the pace down.
Eklund is looking to take a break and control but Valderena is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Valderena tries to improve position but can't.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Valderena is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Eklund is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Hugo Valderena will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Valderena tries to clinch up.
Eklund looks to score with a jab to the body but Valderena is just out of range.
Valderena has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Valderena there as he acknowledges the shot.
Valderena tries to clinch but Eklund is having none of it.
Valderena has a takedown stuffed.
Valderena misses with a looping left.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Eklund tries to clinch up but Valderena circles away and keeps his distance.
Valderena circles away from the clinch attempt
and Valderena counters with a nice body kick.
Stampe Eklund is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Valderena ducks right into an uppercut from Eklund.
Eklund throws a right hand that Valderena ducks under and follows up with a left that Valderena also avoids with ease.

Eklund has Valderena up against the cage in a clinch.
Eklund scores a nice knee to the body.
Eklund is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Valderena is defending well for now.
Eklund is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Valderena is defending well for now.
Eklund throws a punch but it's blocked by Valderena.
Eklund misses with a knee strike.
Valderena looking to slow down the pace here.
Valderena drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Eklund gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Eklund misses with a knee to the head.
Valderena prevents a body shot from Eklund.
Eklund tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Valderena struggles to land a body shot inside as Eklund controls his hands.
Valderena managing to block the knees to the body from Eklund.
Eklund looking to throw knees to the head but Valderena is blocking nicely.
Valderena goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Valderena managing to block the knees to the body from Eklund.
Valderena working aggressively here.
Eklund can't find room to land a body shot as Valderena controls the action.
Eklund tries a knee to the head but Valderena blocks it.

Valderena gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Eklund regains guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Valderena trying to control the position from guard on top but Eklund is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Valderena is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Eklund keeping moving, preventing Valderena from controlling successfully.
Valderena pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Eklund is keeping the position for now.
Eklund working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Valderena.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Valderena passes Eklund's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ground and pound from Valderena.
Valderena is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Valderena is trying to control. Eklund wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stampe Eklund showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Eklund 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stampe Eklund!
Stampe Eklund took to the mic in his post fight interview and said 'Eat my shorts!'.