PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stephan Lee (ranked 5443 p4p, 0 weight class) and Will Darnold (ranked 7223 p4p, 0 weight class). Stephan Lee has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Lee
vs
Darnold

220 cm
26
194 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

188 cm
21
184 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

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 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Stephan Lee!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Will Darnold!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Alyssa Summers and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Darnold scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Darnold decides to stand up, so the ref orders Lee to his feet.

Lee darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Darnold wants to control but Lee is keeping busy.
Darnold wants to improve his position but Lee is controlling well.

Darnold is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Lee pulls his head out easily.
Darnold moves into full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Lee drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Lee jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Lee is in close to Darnold's body, working some short punches and elbows.

Darnold throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Lee landing with the ground and pound.
Darnold looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lee is one step ahead there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Darnold working for a triangle but Lee defends it easily.
Lee missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Darnold looking to control but Lee passes into half guard.
Darnold tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Lee manages to move to mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lee with shots to the head and body - Darnold looks very uncomfortable down there.
Lee really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Lee is landing with some decent strikes but Darnold is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Lee is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Darnold to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Darnold shrugs it off.

Lee working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

Lee has control of Darnold's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Darnold regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Lee landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Darnold tries to hold on but Lee postures up.
Lee has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Darnold's face.
Darnold tries to lock up and control but Lee gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Lee is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Darnold is surviving well by controlling Lee's body position as best he can.

Lee is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Darnold to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Darnold shrugs it off.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephan Lee dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Lee looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Darnold is looking for a triangle but Lee pushes his legs off easily.
Darnold is trying to keep Lee in close.
Lee 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.
Lee keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Darnold's head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Darnold throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Lee postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Darnold looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lee is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lee lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Darnold is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Lee tries to kick Darnold off but Darnold keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Lee preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Darnold wants to lay and pray for a moment but Lee keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Darnold trying to pass the guard but Lee defending well.
Darnold trying to control the action but Lee is working from the bottom.
Darnold trying to control from Lee's half guard. Lee has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Lee is controlling Darnold's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lee wants to stand and escape but Darnold is having none of it.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Lee avoids the body shot from Darnold.

Darnold feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Lee looking for a sweep. Not yet Lee, not yet.
Darnold prevents Lee from getting back to his feet.
Darnold throws a big right hand that misses.

Darnold gets to his feet - Lee follows without any prompting.
Lee shoots in looking for a takedown but Darnold manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Lee's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Darnold is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lee shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Darnold sprawls well. Darnold wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Lee gets slowly back to his feet.
Will Darnold seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Darnold misses with a wild combination.

Darnold drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Darnold is breathing heavily.
Lee is trying to improve his position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Will Darnold will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Darnold.
Lee is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Darnold can do to turn this around?
Lee wants to control but Darnold postures up.
Lee is trying to get back to half guard.
Lee controls the position for a moment.
Darnold throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lee is not content to let Darnold control the position.
You can see the frustration on Lee's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee is pushing Darnold's head away, looking to escape. Darnold manages to hold on to the position though.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Stephan Lee overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Who's going to make the next move?
Lee is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Darnold tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Lee counters with a shoot takedown. Darnold fights it but they end up in guard.
Darnold is looking to stand back up but Lee counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Darnold.
Lee will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Darnold looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Lee is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Darnold doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Lee.

Lee is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Darnold is defending against the submission attempts here by Lee.
Darnold manages to get to full guard.

Lee is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Darnold working a defensive guard but Lee passes into half guard.
Darnold is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Lee jumps into side control!
Darnold is looking to reverse the position.
Darnold is looking to get back to his feet here but Lee is keeping cool and he's managed to take Darnold's back.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Lee is cranking Darnold's head sideways - that looks painful. He's managed to get his other arm under the chin and this looks bad for Darnold! He's tightened the choke and Darnold is tapping out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Stephan Lee!