PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mehdi Kanaani (ranked 1062 p4p, 2611 weight class) and Stefan De Vries (ranked 124 p4p, 258 weight class). Kanaani comes to the cage accompanied by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1BNcSBApOU. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Kanaani
vs
De Vries

170 cm
21
159
7 - 3 - 0

168 cm
28
143
10 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

CHURCH OF ZOIDBERG - FEEBLE FIGHTWEAR

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mehdi Kanaani!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Stefan De Vries!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and Percy O'Donnell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De Vries throws a lazy right hand but Kanaani sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Kanaani tries to counter with a takedown but De Vries is quick to defend against it.
De Vries lands a slapping body shot.
Kanaani scores with a shot to the body.
Kanaani stuns De Vries with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
De Vries 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.

Kanaani changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. De Vries looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Kanaani landing strikes.
Kanaani controlling the position.
De Vries prevents Kanaani from improving position.
De Vries seems a little lost for a moment, as Kanaani dominates the positioning.

Kanaani decides to stand up, so the ref orders De Vries to his feet.
We've been hearing reports that Kanaani has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
De Vries looks winded!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kanaani misses with a body shot.
De Vries walks into a stiff left hand from Kanaani.

Kanaani fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging De Vries to the ground. Kanaani is now in De Vries's guard.
Kanaani not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Kanaani seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down De Vries for as long as he can get away with.
Kanaani throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Kanaani's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Kanaani gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Kanaani looking to score a takedown here. De Vries is defending well but Kanaani drives through and ends up in De Vries's guard.
Kanaani seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kanaani continues to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Vries utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Kanaani is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kanaani rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but De Vries moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Kanaani digs a good hook to De Vries's body.
Kanaani misses with a wild body shot.
De Vries takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Kanaani.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Vries takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
A lull in the action here.

Kanaani stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Kanaani shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Kanaani looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks De Vries with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mehdi Kanaani dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Kanaani fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Kanaani works De Vries's body with a nice hook.

De Vries gets caught napping as Kanaani dives in and scores a takedown. De Vries manages to retain guard.
Kanaani is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Kanaani stands up from guard. Let's bang!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kanaani throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. De Vries was covering up waiting for the punch and Kanaani finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Kanaani is stalling in the full guard.
De Vries is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Kanaani postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Kanaani's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Kanaani stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Kanaani.
Kanaani is working De Vries over with some ground and pound from side control.
De Vries really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kanaani. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kanaani is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kanaani working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Kanaani controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kanaani has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Kanaani is looking to slow De Vries down with leg kicks.
Kanaani lands a nice hook to De Vries's body. De Vries takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
De Vries shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Mehdi Kanaani seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kanaani jabs at De Vries's body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kanaani bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps De Vries's head backwards.

Kanaani throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. De Vries tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Kanaani is in De Vries's guard.
Kanaani 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.

Kanaani stands and steps away. De Vries gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Kanaani comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kanaani throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. De Vries tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Kanaani is in De Vries's guard.
Kanaani with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kanaani in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Kanaani loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Kanaani's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Kanaani content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Kanaani slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kanaani is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kanaani landing some decent shots from guard.
Kanaani is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Kanaani stands up over De Vries, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
De Vries can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kanaani controls the pace.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mehdi Kanaani dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kanaani changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Kanaani lands with a nice body punch.
Kanaani lands a nice looking body shot.
De Vries misses with a looping left.
De Vries misses with a right hand
and Kanaani counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Kanaani lands with a cross.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kanaani lands with a good body shot.

Kanaani closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Kanaani lands in his opponent's guard.
Kanaani is stalling in the full guard.
De Vries takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kanaani stands up and waves to De Vries to follow him.
De Vries takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Stefan De Vries has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two 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.
Kanaani scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

Kanaani decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Kanaani content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Kanaani scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Kanaani lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Kanaani takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Kanaani lands with a punch from half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kanaani lands a nice short elbow.
Mehdi Kanaani overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kanaani takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Kanaani looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Kanaani seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
De Vries taking some punishment here, with Kanaani in his half guard.
Kanaani is taking a breather. De Vries says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if De Vries can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kanaani has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Kanaani is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that De Vries can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Kanaani decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Kanaani looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Kanaani looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Kanaani looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks De Vries with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Kanaani working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kanaani landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Kanaani controlling the action here.

Kanaani stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows De Vries to get to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mehdi Kanaani showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Kanaani 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:26
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:26
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mehdi Kanaani!
Our winner, Mehdi Kanaani, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.