PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Tony Stephens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Oliver Hedman Karlsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tony Stephens has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Stephens
vs
Hedman Karlsson

185 cm
24
174 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

178 cm
21
173 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

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 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tony Stephens!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Oliver Hedman Karlsson!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Chris Edwards and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hedman Karlsson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Stephens.
Hedman Karlsson wants to counter the offense by Stephens and move into the clinch position.
Hedman Karlsson avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Hedman Karlsson throws an overhand right that lands on Stephens's shoulder, as Stephens tries to avoid the shot.
Stephens connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Stephens with a jab.
Stephens misses with a hook to the body
and Hedman Karlsson counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Stephens misses with an uppercut.
Hedman Karlsson looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Stephens uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Hedman Karlsson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Stephens manages to avoid it.
Hedman Karlsson darts in trying to clinch
and Stephens counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Stephens throws a hook but Hedman Karlsson blocks it.
Hedman Karlsson shoots in but no luck this time.
Hedman Karlsson tries to clinch but Stephens moves out of range.
Hedman Karlsson fails to land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hedman Karlsson drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Stephens scores with a nice head shot.
Stephens is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Hedman Karlsson looks to score with a jab to the body but Stephens is just out of range.
Hedman Karlsson takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Tony Stephens seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Stephens tests Hedman Karlsson's chin there with a solid looking shot.

Stephens cracks Hedman Karlsson with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Stephens has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Hedman Karlsson to stand back up!

Hedman Karlsson is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Stephens misses with a jab, cross combination.
Stephens throws a body punch but Hedman Karlsson moves out of range.

Hedman Karlsson closes the distance and pushes Stephens back into the cage.
Hedman Karlsson lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Stephens backwards.
Stephens swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Hedman Karlsson's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Stephens loads up on a big right hand but Hedman Karlsson slips the punch.
Nice uppercut there from Stephens.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Stephens misses the target.
Hedman Karlsson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Stephens.
Hedman Karlsson misses with a combination
and Stephens makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Stephens fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hedman Karlsson manages to avoid it.
Stephens is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Stephens uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Hedman Karlsson.
Hedman Karlsson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Stephens.
Hedman Karlsson looks to throw the jab but Stephens is out of range.
Hedman Karlsson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Stephens throws an overhand right that lands on Hedman Karlsson's shoulder, as Hedman Karlsson tries to avoid the shot.
A jab from Hedman Karlsson does it's job there.
Hedman Karlsson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hedman Karlsson throws out a counter right but Stephens avoids it with no problem.
Stephens throws a hook but Hedman Karlsson avoids it easily.
Stephens throws a combination. Hedman Karlsson tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stephens throws an overhand right that lands on Hedman Karlsson's shoulder, as Hedman Karlsson tries to avoid the shot.
Stephens thuds a left hand into Hedman Karlsson's body.
Stephens swings widly with a right hand
and Hedman Karlsson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Stephens misses with a hook. Hedman Karlsson ducked under it nicely.
Hedman Karlsson jabs at Stephens's body.
Stephens throws a jab but it's blocked by Hedman Karlsson.
Hedman Karlsson ducks under a wild hook from Stephens.
Hedman Karlsson misses with the combination.
Hedman Karlsson takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Stephens feints a jab promting Hedman Karlsson to slip. Stephens then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Hedman Karlsson slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Hedman Karlsson has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Hedman Karlsson there as he acknowledges the shot.
Hedman Karlsson is still on wobbly legs! Can Stephens finish him?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Decent striking displayed by Stephens there.
A telegraphed right hand from Stephens misses the target.
Hedman Karlsson misses with a looping right.
Hedman Karlsson seems to have recovered his senses.
Hedman Karlsson misses with a double jab.
Stephens was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Hedman Karlsson throws a series of strikes that have Stephens backpedaling.
Stephens bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Hedman Karlsson's head.
Stephens throws a hook but Hedman Karlsson blocks it.
We've been informed that Hedman Karlsson has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Stephens swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Hedman Karlsson gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Stephens misses with a short punch on the inside.
Hedman Karlsson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Hedman Karlsson manages to break the clinch.
Stephens swings widly with a right hand
and Hedman Karlsson counters with a stiff right hand.
Stephens throws a lazy right hand but Hedman Karlsson sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tony Stephens dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Hedman Karlsson closes the distance and clinches.
Stephens throws a head punch that misses.
Stephens working aggressively here.
Hedman Karlsson looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Hedman Karlsson throws a knee to the head but misses.
Stephens blocks a body shot from Hedman Karlsson.
Hedman Karlsson misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Hedman Karlsson lands a takedown into guard.
Stephens looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Stephens pulls Hedman Karlsson in close to his closed guard and prevents Hedman Karlsson from doing any damage or advancing position.
Hedman Karlsson throws a big right hand that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stephens controlling the position.
Stephens keeping moving, preventing Hedman Karlsson from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stephens is adopting a defensive guard.
Hedman Karlsson trying to control the position from guard on top but Stephens is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hedman Karlsson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Stephens throws a poor cross that misses
and Hedman Karlsson counters with a straight right hand.
Hedman Karlsson scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Hedman Karlsson throws a combination. Stephens tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Stephens stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
A jab from Stephens misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hedman Karlsson tries to score a power double leg takedown but Stephens sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Hedman Karlsson somewhat.
Stephens is looking to counter punch.
Hedman Karlsson throws a shot from downtown. Stephens moves away and avoids it.
Stephens throws an overhand right that lands on Hedman Karlsson's shoulder, as Hedman Karlsson tries to avoid the shot.
Hedman Karlsson swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Stephens is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Stephens throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Hedman Karlsson lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hedman Karlsson missing with knees to the body.

Hedman Karlsson gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Stephens kicks Hedman Karlsson off and gets back to his feet.
Stephens connects with the punch.
Stephens wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Hedman Karlsson swinging wildly here.
Tony Stephens is winning the standup battle so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hedman Karlsson throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Stephens counters with a crisp one two that drops Hedman Karlsson! Stephens thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Hedman Karlsson to his feet! Hedman Karlsson is in big trouble!
BAM! Stephens delivers a spinning backfist that drops Hedman Karlsson like a ragdoll! This is all oooooveeeer! He was out before he hit the ground!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:19 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Spinning Backfist). Tony Stephens!
A victorious Tony Stephens thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.