PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Connor MacManus (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hale Storm (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hale Storm has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Connor MacManus's chin.

MacManus
vs
Storm

178 cm
20
156 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

177 cm
20
150 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

MayheM sportswear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Connor MacManus!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Hale Storm!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Storm lands a head kick. MacManus smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

MacManus drops Storm with a beautiful combination! Storm stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - MacManus is looking for the KO!

Storm is rocked!

It looks like Hale Storm has been cut.

MacManus gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Storm is still on wobbly legs! Can MacManus finish him?
MacManus tries to pull guard but Storm forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Storm seems to have recovered his senses.
Storm can't break the clinch.
MacManus drops down looking for an ankle pick but Storm pulls his leg out and moves away.

MacManus fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Storm to the ground. MacManus is now in Storm's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
MacManus postures up and lands a big shot to Storm's brow.
MacManus is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Storm really doesn't want to stay on the ground with MacManus. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
MacManus forces his way into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
MacManus is nestled in close to Storm, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
MacManus not doing much here.
MacManus has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
MacManus frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
MacManus cracks Storm with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
MacManus is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Storm can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Storm takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
MacManus controlling from mount.
MacManus has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Storm's face.
Storm taking shots to the head.
Storm's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
MacManus landing strikes from the mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
MacManus looking to finish Storm with some ground and pound. This is bad for Storm!
Storm told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
MacManus controlling from the full mount.
Storm wants to try and get back to his feet.
MacManus landing strikes from the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
MacManus controlling his opponent.
Storm tries to get back to half guard but can't.
MacManus looking to control and managing it successfully.
Storm in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Storm is bucking up trying to escape but MacManus cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
MacManus controlling from mount.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
MacManus lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
MacManus definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
MacManus raining down hammerfists from mount.

MacManus looking for a guillotine from mount but Storm is having none of it.
MacManus scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Storm?
MacManus controlling from the full mount.
MacManus lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
MacManus tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Storm taking shots to the head.
MacManus controlling his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Connor MacManus dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hale Storm's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A head kick misses from Storm.
MacManus lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

MacManus clinches with his opponent.
Storm wants to break the clinch but can't.

MacManus works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
MacManus is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
MacManus advances to half guard.
MacManus looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
MacManus stalling.
MacManus's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ground and pound from MacManus.
MacManus is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Storm taking some punishment here, with MacManus in his half guard.
MacManus is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Storm on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
MacManus works his way into side control.
Connor MacManus overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
MacManus cracks Storm with a big elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Storm is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

MacManus tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no MacManus has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
MacManus working the ground and pound.
MacManus controlling from side mount.

MacManus working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The referee asks MacManus politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. MacManus prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
MacManus has knee on belly and moves into mount.
MacManus lands with some strikes.
MacManus lands a nice shot to the head.
MacManus looking to control and managing it successfully.
Storm taking shots to the head.
Storm is bucking up trying to escape but MacManus cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
MacManus controlling from the full mount.
MacManus seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Storm for as long as he can get away with.
MacManus putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
MacManus postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Storm badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of MacManus around the waist but MacManus pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! MacManus is the winner by TKO! MacManus jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Connor MacManus!