PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joels Van Wijnbergen (ranked 5390 p4p, 619 weight class) and Steven Tauer (ranked 5338 p4p, 618 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Van Wijnbergen
vs
Tauer

185 cm
30
210 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

200 cm
28
219 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joels Van Wijnbergen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Steven Tauer!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Wagner Zegers and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tauer throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Van Wijnbergen avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Van Wijnbergen throws a quick inside leg kick.
Tauer throws a jab but it's blocked by Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen tried to counter with a leg kick but Tauer avoided it.
Tauer works Van Wijnbergen's body with a nice hook.
Tauer throws a hook but Van Wijnbergen avoids it easily.
Tauer misses with a right hand
and Van Wijnbergen connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Tauer bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Van Wijnbergen's head.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a wild body shot.
Tauer takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Van Wijnbergen throws a body kick that misses.
Van Wijnbergen connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Tauer misses with a series of wild punches.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tauer takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Van Wijnbergen scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Van Wijnbergen uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Tauer.
The fighters circling - Tauer throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tauer lands a jab to the head.
Tauer misses with a double jab
and Van Wijnbergen counters with a nice uppercut.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Van Wijnbergen blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Tauer swings wildly with an uppercut but Van Wijnbergen uses good head movement to avoid it.
Van Wijnbergen swings wildly with an uppercut but Tauer uses good head movement to avoid it.
Tauer is trying to maintain a safe position but Van Wijnbergen gets an underhook and turns Tauer into the cage.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a short punch on the inside.
A short uppercut from Tauer.
Tauer misses with a short punch on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen tries to work over Tauer's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Van Wijnbergen blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Van Wijnbergen throws a head punch that misses.
Tauer blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Tauer stalling in the clinch but Van Wijnbergen improves position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tauer blocking some punches.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Tauer scores with a shot to the side of Van Wijnbergen's head.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen lands a right hand.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Tauer lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Van Wijnbergen backwards.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Tauer blocks a body shot from Van Wijnbergen.
Tauer misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen throws a punch but it's blocked by Tauer.
Tauer blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Tauer has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Van Wijnbergen seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Tauer can turn it around.
Tauer misses with some punches.
Tauer tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Tauer softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Tauer is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
A right hand to the body from Van Wijnbergen.
Tauer throws a head punch that misses.
Tauer swings wildly with an uppercut but Van Wijnbergen uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tauer cracks Van Wijnbergen with a nice body shot.
Tauer blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Tauer is struggling to control the position.
Tauer throws a head punch that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Wijnbergen.
Tauer fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Tauer has a couple of punches blocked by Van Wijnbergen.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Tauer.
Tauer swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Tauer lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Van Wijnbergen lands a shoulder strike.
Van Wijnbergen struggles to land a body shot inside as Tauer controls his hands.
Tauer misses with a punch on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch to the body.
Van Wijnbergen tries to throw a body punch but Tauer avoids it by throwing Van Wijnbergen back against the cage.
Tauer misses with the head strike.
Van Wijnbergen lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Tauer backwards.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice left hand lands by Van Wijnbergen.
Tauer lands with a short shot to the head.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Van Wijnbergen creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Van Wijnbergen swings wildly with an uppercut but Tauer uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Tauer.
Van Wijnbergen misses with some punches.
Van Wijnbergen misses with some punches.
A short left from Tauer.
Tauer makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Van Wijnbergen lands a right hand.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch to the body.
Van Wijnbergen swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Van Wijnbergen fails to land.
Van Wijnbergen blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Tauer is trying to maintain a safe position but Van Wijnbergen gets an underhook and turns Tauer into the cage.
Tauer tries to throw a body punch but Van Wijnbergen avoids it by throwing Tauer back against the cage.
Tauer misses with a punch to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Steven Tauer will probably get the nod.
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.

Tauer has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Van Wijnbergen.

Tauer closes the distance and clinches.
Tauer misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tauer lands a right hand that snaps the head of Van Wijnbergen backwards.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tauer lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Tauer misses with some punches.
Van Wijnbergen throws a head punch that misses.
Van Wijnbergen lands an uppercut.
Steven Tauer seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Tauer prevents a body shot from Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen lands with a left to the head.
Tauer fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
I was talking to Van Wijnbergen's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Tauer takes a shot to the head.
Tauer misses with the head strike.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Van Wijnbergen lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Tauer lands with a light punch inside.
Tauer taking a breather.
Tauer lands on the inside with an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tauer blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen throws a head punch that misses.
Van Wijnbergen scores with a hook to the body.
Tauer stalls.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch on the inside.
Tauer is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Van Wijnbergen misses with the head strike.
Van Wijnbergen gets through Tauer's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Tauer misses with a short punch on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen has a couple of punches blocked by Tauer.
Tauer blocking some punches.
Van Wijnbergen scores with an uppercut up the middle.

Tauer is rocked!
Van Wijnbergen misses with a hook from the clinch.
Tauer is still on wobbly legs! Can Van Wijnbergen finish him?
Tauer blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Van Wijnbergen swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Tauer.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Wijnbergen throws a punch but it's blocked by Tauer.
Van Wijnbergen throws a head punch that misses.
Van Wijnbergen throws a punch but it's blocked by Tauer.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Wijnbergen fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Tauer seems to have recovered his senses.
Tauer jumps guard but Van Wijnbergen turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Tauer throws a head punch that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Van Wijnbergen fails to land.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen misses with the head strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen throws a head punch that misses.
Van Wijnbergen has a couple of punches blocked by Tauer.
Van Wijnbergen blocking some punches.
Van Wijnbergen lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Van Wijnbergen misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tauer lands on the inside with an uppercut.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Van Wijnbergen.
Van Wijnbergen lands a big right hand that drops Tauer! The killer instinct kicks in and Van Wijnbergen finishes his opponent with a series of strikes from mount. A dominating finish by Van Wijnbergen!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Joels Van Wijnbergen!
During a confident post fight interview, Joels Van Wijnbergen thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.