PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Riverson (ranked 1785 p4p, 2598 weight class) and Marcus St Stone (ranked 71 p4p, 98 weight class). Riverson comes to the cage accompanied by J.Ralph - Kansas City Shuffle. Marcus St Stone has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Riverson
vs
St Stone

225 cm
41
296
19 - 28 - 0

196 cm
25
282
7 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
Great elbows
Good gas tank

Glomco Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 28 - 0, fighting out of New York, John Riverson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Marcus St Stone!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

St Stone clinches up against the cage.
St Stone tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Riverson looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Riverson is trying to break the clinch but St Stone has him pressed against the cage.
Riverson tries to throw a body punch but St Stone avoids it by throwing Riverson back against the cage.
St Stone throws an elbow but it's blocked.
St Stone tries to land a knee to the head but Riverson blocks with his arms.
Riverson is looking to break free of the clinch but St Stone has double underhooks.
Riverson is trying to push St Stone away but St Stone has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
St Stone softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

Riverson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

St Stone closes the distance and clinches.
Riverson wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Riverson blocks an elbow strike from St Stone.
St Stone misses with an elbow strike.
St Stone stalling the fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

St Stone drops Riverson with a big knee straight up the middle! Riverson is covering up against the cage but manages to escape and gets back to his feet!

It looks like John Riverson has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Riverson circles away from the clinch attempt.
St Stone tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Riverson manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
St Stone fails in his attempt to clinch.

Riverson scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Riverson is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but St Stone is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
St Stone is looking for a sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Stone is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Riverson working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
St Stone is trying to improve his position.

Riverson looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Riverson is trying to get an arm triangle but St Stone is defending well.

Riverson tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Riverson has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
St Stone is trying to control Riverson's posture but Riverson avoids it.
Riverson 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.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Riverson is trying to get an arm triangle but St Stone is defending well.
St Stone is looking to reverse the position.
Riverson tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.

Riverson working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

Riverson tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
St Stone struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Stone tries to improve position but can't.

Riverson wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by St Stone, who protects the arm well.

Riverson wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by St Stone, who protects the arm well.
St Stone manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Riverson regains full guard. Nicely done.
St Stone trying to control the position from guard on top but Riverson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Riverson lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

St Stone lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
St Stone slips nicely into half guard.
St Stone prevents Riverson from improving his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St Stone passes to full mount!
Riverson is trying to escape the mount.

St Stone looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Riverson working to try and regain half guard.
Riverson is working hard here to advance position.

St Stone looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

St Stone working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Riverson is trying desperately to improve position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus St Stone dominated that round.
The cut man is working on John Riverson's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Riverson bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Riverson is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but St Stone is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Riverson tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Riverson tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Riverson has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
St Stone wants to control but Riverson postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
St Stone is trying to get back to half guard.
St Stone keeps trying to improve his position.
St Stone is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Riverson is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

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

St Stone is defending against the submission attempts here by Riverson.
St Stone is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
St Stone is trying to maintain the position but Riverson is very close to passing his half guard.

Riverson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and St Stone defends it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
St Stone is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Riverson is sneakily working for an arm triangle but St Stone sees it coming and defends easily.
St Stone makes his way to full guard. A much better position for St Stone.
John Riverson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Riverson advances position into side control!
St Stone wants to control but Riverson postures up.

Riverson looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Riverson tries for a kimura but St Stone is defending well.
St Stone is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Riverson is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. St Stone knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
St Stone manages to get back to half guard.
Riverson prevents St Stone from improving his position.

Riverson is working for a kimura but St Stone is defending it quite comfortably.
St Stone is looking for a sweep. Riverson is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Riverson is working for a kimura but St Stone is defending it quite comfortably.
The fighters are battling for position here. St Stone manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Riverson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Riverson got a little sloppy there for a moment and St Stone has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Riverson has managed to get both his arms back between St Stone's legs - danger averted.
St Stone tries to land a sweep but no joy.
St Stone is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

St Stone looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Riverson passes St Stone's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Riverson is working for a kimura but St Stone is defending it quite comfortably.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
St Stone is trying to maintain the position but Riverson is very close to passing his half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Riverson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on John Riverson's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Riverson keeps the fight on the outside.

Riverson changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. St Stone looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
St Stone manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

St Stone is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Riverson has managed to free his arm - good work.

St Stone is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The fighters are battling for position here. Riverson manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
St Stone slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Riverson tries to get back to half guard but can't.

St Stone tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no St Stone has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

St Stone thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riverson is looking to reverse the position.

St Stone tries for a kimura but Riverson is defending well.

St Stone tries for a kimura but Riverson is defending well.
Riverson sneaks back into half guard.

Riverson actively working from the bottom here.
St Stone wants to lay and pray for a moment but Riverson keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

St Stone is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Riverson actively working from the bottom here.

St Stone is working for a submission of some sort.
Riverson wants to get back to full guard.
Riverson is staying active underneath St Stone, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Riverson wants to get back to full guard.

St Stone seems to be working for a kimura but Riverson defends the submission attempt.

St Stone wants to work for an arm triangle but Riverson is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
St Stone takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Riverson manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Riverson keeping moving, preventing St Stone from controlling successfully.

St Stone drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and St Stone jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Riverson is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Riverson manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. St Stone manages to get himself to full guard.

Riverson passes easily into side control. Nice work.

Riverson is trying to get an arm triangle but St Stone is defending well.
St Stone is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Riverson has an Americana. St Stone didn't react quickly enough there and he's in big trouble now! He tries to squirm out but is forced to tap! Riverson is delighted and gyrates in front of the ring girls. They seem to like the attention - it'll be interesting to see if Riverson hooks up with any of them at the after show party.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). John Riverson!
John Riverson made sure to mention his sponsor, Kore Fight Nutrition in his post fight interview.