PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between AW Stevens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juhamatti Pesso (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stevens kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is The Root Beer Song by Joeshmauer. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Stevens
vs
Pesso

185 cm
23
185 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

195 cm
20
190 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

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 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, AW Stevens!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Juhamatti Pesso!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Hirohito Nitta and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pesso moves into the clinch.
Stevens tries for a takedown. No joy.
Pesso misses with a knee to the head.
Stevens is working for takedown but Pesso is calmly controlling the position for now.
Pesso with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Pesso manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Pesso kicks Stevens off and gets to his feet.
Stevens shoots in for a double leg but Pesso sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for AW Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevens tries for a takedown but Pesso sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Pesso lands a head kick!

Pesso bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Pesso tries to score with some ground and pound. Stevens controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Pesso really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Stevens. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Stevens tries to improve position but can't.
Pesso working the head and body with strikes.
Stevens tries to buck Pesso off but Pesso is having none of it.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Stevens manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Pesso is trying to stand.
Pesso is looking to control Stevens's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Pesso avoid being mounted?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Ground and pound from Stevens.

Pesso pushes Stevens off and gets back to his feet.
Stevens shoots and misses

and Pesso counters by moving into the clinch.

Pesso has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Stevens regains guard immediately.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pesso preventing the sweep.
Pesso postures up.
Stevens is breathing heavily.
Pesso trying to control but Stevens is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Stevens has his foot on Pesso's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Pesso works his way back into a safe position though.
Stevens 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pesso preventing the sweep.
Pesso trying to control but Stevens is working from the bottom.
Pesso wants to get up but he can't break Stevens's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Pesso passes Stevens's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Stevens gets full guard.
Stevens looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Stevens not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Pesso wants to control from the top but Stevens keeps moving.
Stevens bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Pesso's guard.
Stevens in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Stevens wants to control from the top but Pesso keeps moving.
Stevens stands up over Pesso, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Pesso works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Pesso preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pesso keeping moving, preventing Stevens from controlling successfully.
Pesso is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Pesso shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Stevens pinned against the cage. Stevens gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Stevens keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Pesso fails with an attempt to clinch.
Stevens looks for the body kick but Pesso saw that one coming.
Stevens misses with a takedown attempt

and Pesso counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Stevens wants to sweep but no luck.
Stevens lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Pesso!
Stevens scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Pesso?
Pesso really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Stevens can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Pesso is looking to escape.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Pesso working to try and regain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juhamatti Pesso dominated that round.
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.

Stevens tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Pesso paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Stevens misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Pesso.
Pesso tries to close the distance and clinch but Stevens swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Stevens fails with the takedown.

Pesso closes the distance and clinches.

Pesso manages to break the clinch.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Pesso.
Pesso working away.
Stevens seems a little lost for a moment, as Pesso dominates the positioning.
Stevens is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Stevens is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Pesso.
Stevens regains half guard.
Pesso looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Pesso missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Pesso thows a huge punch but Stevens dodges it nicely.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
A head kick misses from Stevens.
Stevens closes the distance but Pesso moves to the side

and Pesso decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Stevens's guard.
Stevens looking to control.
Pesso wants to stand but Stevens has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevens trying to control the position.
Pesso must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Stevens is really struggling to control Pesso but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Pesso wants to pass the guard but Stevens is keeping the position.
Stevens is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Pesso trying to control the position from guard on top but Stevens is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Stevens is trying to control the position but Pesso postures up.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Stevens displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pesso misses with a head kick.
Stevens moves into range and connects with a jab.
Stevens tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Pesso counters with a nice double leg into side control. Stevens won't be happy with that.
Pesso wants to stand but Stevens has his arm trapped.
Stevens manages to get back to half guard.
Pesso tries to pass the half guard into mount. Stevens knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Pesso is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
It looks like Pesso is going to stand back up.
Stevens wants to control but Pesso is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pesso seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Stevens does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Stevens is trying to break free.
Pesso avoiding damage as Stevens throws knees to the body.
Stevens blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Stevens wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Pesso has him pressed against the cage.
Pesso has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Stevens avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Stevens drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Stevens can't break the clinch.
Stevens is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juhamatti Pesso showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Stevens fails to land the takedown.
AW Stevens has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Stevens throws a nice looking combination but Pesso bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Pesso checks a leg kick nicely.
Stevens uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Pesso.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Pesso lands an elbow inside that Stevens shrugs off.
Pesso lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Pesso breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Stevens changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Pesso tries to avoid it but Stevens manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Pesso to the ground. Pesso escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stevens fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for AW Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pesso tries to close the distance and clinch but Stevens swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
No luck for Stevens with that takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Pesso clinches with his opponent.

Pesso has hold of one of Stevens's legs. Stevens is fighting the takedown attempt but Pesso gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Pesso trying to control but Stevens is working from the bottom.
Pesso won't allow Stevens to sweep him here.
Pesso wants to stand but Stevens has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Stevens trying to strike off his back.
Stevens wants to hit a switch here but Pesso passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Stevens there!
Juhamatti Pesso has got the better of the ground game so far.
Pesso throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Pesso looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Stevens sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Stevens trying to control here.
Stevens is refusing to be controlled, as Pesso sits in half guard.
Pesso is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Pesso wants to stand up but Stevens has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Pesso throwing shots but Stevens is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens is trying to control but can't.
Pesso wants to control but Stevens is keeping him busy.
Stevens is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Stevens shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Pesso as he avoids it easily.

Pesso closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Sloppy strikes there by Pesso.

Pesso is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Stevens has escaped the position, nice work there.
Stevens throws a couple of strikes even though he's not really in a good position to do so.
Stevens gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pesso missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Pesso wants to stand up but Stevens has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Stevens moves into full guard.
Pesso works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Pesso wants to take a breather but Stevens is having none of it.
Stevens is striking from the bottom but he's now found himself mounted! Oh dear - not enough focus on defense there.
Stevens throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Stevens is in all sorts of trouble here.
Juhamatti Pesso is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Pesso tries to control but Stevens wriggling away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Juhamatti Pesso comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Pesso winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Juhamatti Pesso!