PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight kickboxing rules bout between Hunter Francis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Steiner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Francis comes to the ring accompanied by I'm singing in the rain. Alex Steiner is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Francis
vs
Steiner

192 cm
23
189 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

190 cm
28
202 lbs
10 - 9 - 0

World class boxer
Granite chin

World class MT
Good gas tank

Sully's Bar & Grill
Zenith Nutrition (160q/225$)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Hunter Francis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Alex Steiner!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Steiner slips a jab from Francis.
Steiner 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.
Steiner misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Francis is looking to counter punch.
Francis throws a looping overhand right but Steiner ducks down to avoid it.
Francis throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Francis swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Francis takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Steiner throws a big shot that misses.
Francis connects with a crisp jab.
Good exchange - Steiner coming out on top.
Francis has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Steiner.
Steiner misses with a wild body shot.
Steiner tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Francis jabs at Steiner's body.
Steiner throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Francis stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Steiner walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Francis checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Francis lands a leg kick that knocks Steiner off balance momentarily.

Francis closes the distance and pushes Steiner back into the ropes.
Steiner is leaning against Francis and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Steiner scores with a shot to the side of Francis's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Francis tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Steiner's elbow.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Francis.
Francis misses with the head strike.
Francis doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Francis definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Francis lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Steiner backwards.
Steiner tries to throw a body punch but Francis avoids it by throwing Steiner back against the ropes.
Steiner scores with a nice hook to the head.
Francis working aggressively here.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Francis.
Steiner prevents a body shot from Francis.
Francis blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Steiner misses with a hook to the ribs.
A short right from Steiner.
Francis swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Steiner can't find room to land a body shot as Francis controls the action.
A head punch on the inside from Steiner fails to land.
Steiner lands a nice uppercut.
Francis lands a shoulder strike.
Francis's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Steiner lands a body shot in the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Francis.
Francis lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Steiner misses with a body punch.
Steiner lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Francis or not.
Steiner lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Steiner goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Francis as Steiner tries to tie him up.
Francis works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Francis.
Francis misses with a punch on the inside.
A short body shot lands from Francis as the two fighters clinch.
Steiner can't find room to land a body shot as Francis controls the action.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Steiner misses with a short punch on the inside.
Francis is looking to control Steiner's arms but Steiner gets an underhook and turns him. Now Francis has his back to the ropes.
Steiner swings wildly with an uppercut but Francis uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch on the inside from Steiner fails to land.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Alex Steiner will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Francis doesn't manage to clinch there - Steiner circles away.
Steiner throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Francis counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Steiner misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Francis.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Francis checks a leg kick.
Francis blocks a head kick by Steiner.
Francis throws a good cross that connects.
Alex Steiner seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Steiner uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Francis.
Steiner throws a solid leg kick but Francis takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Steiner.
Francis slips a straight right by Steiner.
Francis avoids the body shot from Steiner.
Francis looks to throw the jab but Steiner is out of range.
Francis throws a hook but Steiner avoids it easily.
Alex Steiner seems to be getting the better of the standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Steiner tries a head kick but it misses.
Steiner keeps the fight on the outside.
Francis dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Steiner takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Steiner scores with a shot to the body.
Steiner moves out of range of the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A swing and a miss from Francis.
Francis misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Francis moves out of range of the leg kick from Steiner.
Steiner scores with a jab to the body.
Steiner throws a leg kick but Francis sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Steiner fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Francis manages to avoid it.
Steiner with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Francis to score with a decent uppercut.
Steiner looks to score with a jab to the body but Francis is just out of range.
Steiner misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Francis.
Francis throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Steiner will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Francis blocks the body kick.
Francis throws a lazy right hand but Steiner sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Steiner! But no joy.
Steiner takes a swing at Francis's ribcage but misses.
Francis misses with a wild body shot.
Francis tries to clinch there but Steiner circles away.
Francis checks a leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francis looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Steiner wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Francis throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Steiner.
Francis uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Steiner.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Francis tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Steiner was well out of range. Poor timing from Francis.
Francis lands a jab to the head.
Francis misses with a looping right.

Francis moves into the clinch.
Steiner looking to slow down the pace here.
Francis working aggressively here.
Francis tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Steiner misses with a punch on the inside.
Francis throws a head punch that misses.
A short uppercut from Steiner.
Francis lands with a light punch inside.
Steiner tries to stall but Francis uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Francis doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hunter Francis dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Steiner keeps the fight on the outside.
A jab from Steiner misses.
Francis is looking to counter punch.
Steiner goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Francis tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Steiner manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Steiner throws a hook but Francis blocks it.
Francis feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Steiner throws a body kick that misses.
Francis seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Steiner walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Steiner lands with a nice body kick.
Steiner walks into a left hand.
Steiner slips a jab from Francis.
Francis scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A slow jab from Steiner misses its intended target.
Steiner is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Francis rather than just go for the knockout.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Francis moves out of range of the body kick.
Steiner takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Steiner bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Francis, as that shot connected.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Francis on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Francis gets in close and instigates a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Steiner presses Francis against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Hunter Francis has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Steiner misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Francis lands a shoulder strike.
Steiner blocking some punches.
Steiner goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Steiner works on Francis's body with a couple of short punches.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Francis.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Francis.
Steiner tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Steiner makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Steiner blocking some punches.
Francis misses with a body punch.
Francis tries to throw a body punch but Steiner avoids it by throwing Francis back against the ropes.
Steiner misses with a body punch.
Francis fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Francis tries to work over Steiner's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Francis is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Francis lands a nice uppercut.
Francis throws a head punch that misses.
Steiner tries to throw a body punch but Francis avoids it by throwing Steiner back against the ropes.
Francis tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Steiner's elbow.
Steiner prevents a body shot from Francis.
A shot in the inside from Francis.
Francis misses with a punch on the inside.
Francis swings wildly with an uppercut but Steiner uses good head movement to avoid it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Steiner misses with a punch to the body.
Steiner blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Francis misses with a hook to the ribs.
Francis can't find room to land a body shot as Steiner controls the action.
Steiner trying to stall but Francis improves his position.
Francis lands a nice uppercut.
Steiner fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Steiner misses with a punch to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hunter Francis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Francis has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yuuki Gou scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hunter Francis!
A very excited looking Hunter Francis made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.