PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Steven Donald (ranked 3101 p4p, 4582 weight class) and Talon Cannonier (ranked 414 p4p, 527 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Donald
vs
Cannonier

183 cm
24
183
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
25
197
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very strong

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Heavy handed

Nutritional Shaved Ice

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Steven Donald!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Talon Cannonier!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cannonier moves into the clinch successfully.
Donald wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Cannonier has him pressed against the cage.
Cannonier works on Donald's body with a couple of short punches.
Donald tries to throw a body punch but Cannonier avoids it by throwing Donald back against the cage.
Donald tries to pull guard but Cannonier forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Cannonier tries to work over Donald's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cannonier stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Donald fails to pull guard.
Cannonier dodges an elbow strike from Donald.
Cannonier slows down the pace here.
Donald fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Steven Donald. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cannonier softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Donald tries to pull guard but Cannonier holds him up against the cage and eventually Donald drops back down to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donald jumps guard but Cannonier stands there with Donald around his waist. Donald gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Cannonier lands a nice shot to the body.
Donald tries to pull guard but Cannonier holds him up against the cage and eventually Donald drops back down to his feet.
Donald is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Cannonier stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Cannonier pushes Donald back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Cannonier doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Cannonier's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Cannonier working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cannonier tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cannonier gets through Donald's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Cannonier works on Donald's body with a couple of short punches.
Cannonier lands a left hand.
Donald tries to pull guard but Cannonier holds him up against the cage and eventually Donald drops back down to his feet.
Cannonier scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Donald misses with a hook from the clinch.
Cannonier has Donald pressed against the cage.
A shot in the inside from Cannonier.
Cannonier lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Donald or not.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cannonier can't find room to land a body shot as Donald controls the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cannonier can't find room to land a body shot as Donald controls the action.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Cannonier takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Cannonier lands a body punch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Cannonier.
Cannonier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Donald's elbow.
Cannonier misses with a body punch.
Cannonier lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Donald backwards.
Donald tries to pull guard but Cannonier holds him up against the cage and eventually Donald drops back down to his feet.
Cannonier lands a hook that snaps the head of Donald backwards.
Cannonier has Donald pressed against the cage, preventing Donald from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Donald prevents a body shot from Cannonier.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Donald is trying to pull guard but Cannonier turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Donald misses with a body punch.
Donald wants to take the fight to the mat but Cannonier manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Donald letting Cannonier take a breather here.
A hook to the body from Cannonier.
Cannonier struggles to land a body shot inside as Donald controls his hands.
Cannonier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Donald's elbow.
Cannonier misses with a body punch.
Cannonier is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Cannonier lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Donald looking to slow down the pace here.
Cannonier keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Donald's efforts to push away.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Talon Cannonier dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Cannonier moves into the clinch successfully.
Nice body punch from Cannonier - that landed with a thud.
Donald tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Cannonier smiles and moves away.

Donald gets tackled into the cage by Cannonier. Cannonier maintains the clinch.
Cannonier has Donald pressed against the cage.
Cannonier lands a nice uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cannonier working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Cannonier lands a shoulder strike.
Cannonier stalls.
Cannonier just leaning against Donald, taking a breather.
The crowd are getting on Cannonier's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donald is trying to break the clinch but Cannonier has him pressed against the cage.
Cannonier lands a body punch in the clinch.
Cannonier lands a body punch.
Cannonier has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Cannonier gets underhooks to prevent Donald's takedown attempt.
Donald misses with a hook from the clinch.
Cannonier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Donald's elbow.
Cannonier tries to work over Donald's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cannonier stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Cannonier blocks a body shot from Donald.
Cannonier lands a shot to the body.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Cannonier throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A body shot lands from Cannonier.
Cannonier stops a takedown attempt from Donald.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Steven Donald. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cannonier pushes Donald back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Donald prevents a body shot from Cannonier.
Cannonier tries a body shot but Donald blocks it.
Cannonier lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Talon Cannonier seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Cannonier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Donald's elbow.
Cannonier tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cannonier lands a body punch.
Cannonier lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Cannonier.
Cannonier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Donald's elbow.
Donald is trying to pull guard but Cannonier turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Cannonier taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Cannonier is leaning against Donald and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Cannonier controlling the action here for a moment.
Cannonier throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
A short body shot lands from Cannonier as the two fighters clinch.
Cannonier is pushing Donald up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Cannonier misses with a punch to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Donald fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Cannonier lands a left hand.
Cannonier lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Cannonier leaning against his opponent.
Cannonier lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Donald swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Cannonier stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Cannonier is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stalling in the clinch from Cannonier.
Cannonier lands a hook to the side of the head.
Cannonier is working Donald over against the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Talon Cannonier showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Donald tries to keep at a distance but Cannonier has taken the fight into the clinch.
Cannonier pushes Donald back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Good body shot from Cannonier.
Cannonier has Donald pressed against the cage, preventing Donald from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Donald wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Cannonier lands a nice uppercut.
Donald blocks a body shot from Cannonier.
Cannonier lands a left hand that snaps the head of Donald backwards.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cannonier tries to work over Donald's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Good body shot from Cannonier.
Cannonier struggles to land a body shot inside as Donald controls his hands.
Cannonier stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cannonier lands a hook that snaps the head of Donald backwards.

Donald is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cannonier lands with a short shot to the head.
Oh Donald is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Cannonier stalling in the clinch.
Cannonier blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Cannonier lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Donald working aggressively here.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Cannonier.
Nice body punch from Cannonier.
A short body shot lands from Cannonier as the two fighters clinch.
Cannonier lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A body shot lands from Cannonier.
Cannonier scores with a hook to the body.
Cannonier lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Donald.
Cannonier scores with a hook to the body.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Cannonier.
Cannonier stalls.
Cannonier digs a right hand into Donald's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Donald's gas tank.
Donald seems to have got his legs back now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donald being controlled against the cage.
Cannonier is stalling here.
Donald wants to break the clinch but can't.
A short right from Cannonier.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A right hook to the body lands for Cannonier.
Cannonier is working Donald over against the cage.
Donald is trying to maintain a safe position but Cannonier gets an underhook and turns Donald into the cage.
Cannonier misses with a body punch.
Cannonier has Donald pressed against the cage.
A hook to the body from Cannonier.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cannonier blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Cannonier lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
The referee is keeping an eye on Cannonier - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Donald is looking to take this one to the mat.
Cannonier tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cannonier lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Donald or not.
Donald wants a takedown.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Cannonier takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Cannonier working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Cannonier misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Come on Cannonier - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Donald is trying to pull guard but Cannonier has him pressed against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Steven Donald. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cannonier gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Donald.
Donald tries to land knees in the clinch but Cannonier avoids the damage to the body.
Cannonier works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A nice right hand lands inside from Cannonier.
Steven Donald has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Talon Cannonier is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
A hook to the body from Cannonier.
Donald tries a body shot but Cannonier blocks it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Talon Cannonier comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Cannonier has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 24:30
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 24:30
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 24:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Talon Cannonier!
A victorious Talon Cannonier thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.