PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rick Stevenson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank Svatos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rick Stevenson could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Frank Svatos's chin.

Stevenson
vs
Svatos

180 cm
20
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
203 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good gas tank

Inner Fire Nutrition *Q140 Energy* $30
Inner Fire Nutrition *Q140 Energy* $30

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 Montreal, Rick Stevenson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Frank Svatos!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Gregory Folan and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Svatos misses with an attempted mid kick.
Stevenson wants to clinch.
Stevenson lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Svatos circles away quickly and effectively.
Svatos has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Stevenson shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Svatos as he avoids it easily.

Stevenson scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Svatos is trying to control but can't.

Stevenson is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Stevenson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Svatos on the ground.
Svatos trying to hold on to Stevenson's head to control him but Stevenson postures up.

Svatos is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Stevenson pulls his head out easily.
Stevenson trying to control from half guard but Svatos is working away.
Stevenson prevents Svatos from improving his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson wants to pass the guard but Svatos is defending well.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Stevenson swinging wilding here.
Svatos with a lazy takedown attempt

and Stevenson holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Svatos lands an uppercut.
Svatos is working Stevenson over against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Svatos fails to land.
Svatos tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Svatos pushes Stevenson back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Svatos lands a hook that snaps the head of Stevenson backwards.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Svatos takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Stevenson as Svatos tries to tie him up.
Svatos lands a right hand that snaps the head of Stevenson backwards.
Stevenson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Svatos smiles and moves away.
Svatos fails with the takedown.
Svatos looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Svatos throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Stevenson defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Svatos.
Rick Stevenson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Frank Svatos.
Stevenson with a poor takedown
and Svatos counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Svatos avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Stevenson closes this distance looking for a takedown but Svatos circles away.
Stevenson takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Stevenson tries to close the distance and clinch but Svatos swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Frank Svatos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Stevenson walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Svatos checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Nice jab there from Svatos.
Stevenson throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Stevenson is looking to clinch but Svatos is avoiding it.
A swing and a miss from Svatos.
Svatos avoids a punch combination nicely.
Svatos lands a nice shot that snaps Stevenson's head back.
Stevenson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Stevenson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Svatos shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Stevenson is trying to defend but Svatos finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Svatos is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Svatos trying to control the action but Stevenson is working from the bottom.
Stevenson keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Svatos looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Stevenson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Svatos landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Svatos blocks the strikes from Stevenson.
Svatos should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Svatos wants to pass to mount but Stevenson is defending the position.
Svatos lands with a punch from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Stevenson is defending against the submission attempts here by Svatos.
Svatos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Svatos not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Svatos sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Stevenson defending well though.
Svatos prevents Stevenson from standing back up.
Stevenson is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Svatos scores with a couple of nice shots.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Svatos seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Svatos scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Svatos has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Svatos wants to control but Stevenson is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Svatos dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Svatos dives in and grabs Stevenson's left leg, looking for a takedown. Stevenson pushes down on Svatos's head and hops out.
Rick Stevenson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Stevenson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Svatos thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Stevenson trying to control but Svatos is working from the bottom.

Stevenson got a little sloppy there for a moment and Svatos has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Stevenson has managed to get both his arms back between Svatos's legs - danger averted.
Svatos looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Stevenson sitting in guard here, content to control.

Svatos is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Svatos can't keep his opponent in guard - Stevenson advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Svatos manages to get to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Svatos working for a triangle but Stevenson defends it easily.
Stevenson not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Svatos is on top in guard.
Svatos throwing strikes but missing.

Svatos 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.
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.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Stevenson is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Stevenson wants to sweep but no luck.
Svatos content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Svatos sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Stevenson's guard.
Svatos working over Stevenson with some ground and pound. Stevenson looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Svatos scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Stevenson is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Svatos scores with a couple of nice shots.
Stevenson is looking to control Svatos's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Stevenson avoid being mounted?
Stevenson taking some punishment here, with Svatos in his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Svatos drops an elbow to the side of Stevenson's head.
Svatos scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Svatos working Stevenson over with strikes.
Svatos not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Stevenson is looking to control Svatos's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Stevenson avoid being mounted?
Stevenson is in trouble now - Svatos has advanced to mount!
Stevenson is trying to escape the mount.
Svatos lands with some strikes.
Svatos looking to finish Stevenson with some ground and pound. This is bad for Stevenson!
Stevenson wants to control but Svatos is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Svatos lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Svatos scoring with strikes but Stevenson is staying in there.
Svatos prevents Stevenson from getting the reversal.
The referee warns Stevenson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Svatos lands a nice shot to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Svatos looking to secure an arm triangle but Stevenson defends it well.
Stevenson is trying desperately to improve position.
Stevenson in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Stevenson tries to reverse the position but Svatos maintains control.
Svatos looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Svatos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Svatos is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Stevenson on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Crunch! Svatos slams his shin into Stevenson's torso.
Svatos scores with a jab. Stevenson acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Stevenson misses with a takedown
and Svatos counters with a left to the body.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Svatos.
Stevenson manages to get back to half guard.
Nice strikes from Svatos there.
Stevenson tries to get to full guard but Svatos has control of the leg.
Svatos lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Svatos working Stevenson over with strikes.

Svatos is looking for a kimura here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Svatos prevents Stevenson from standing back up.
Stevenson wants to control but Svatos is keeping busy.
Svatos 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.

Svatos is working for a kimura but Stevenson is defending it quite comfortably.
Stevenson has hold of Svatos's hands but Svatos slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Svatos working Stevenson over with strikes.

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.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Svatos connects with a nice short shot to Stevenson's temple.
Svatos not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Svatos is nestled in close to Stevenson, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Svatos trying to control the action but Stevenson is working from the bottom.
Svatos missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Svatos working the head and body with strikes.
Stevenson is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Svatos's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Svatos's back!
Svatos tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Svatos tries to lock up and control but Stevenson gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Svatos is looking to get to half guard.
Svatos regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Svatos regains full guard. Nicely done.
Svatos looking for a sweep. Not yet Svatos, not yet.

Svatos throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Svatos looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Stevenson slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Svatos.
Svatos moves into full guard.
Stevenson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Svatos swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Svatos will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Svatos is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Stevenson is aware though and is defending well.
Stevenson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Svatos is proving hard to escape from.
Stevenson looking to pass the guard.
Svatos trying to strike off his back.
Frank Svatos is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Frank Svatos has got the better of the ground game so far.
Svatos is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Stevenson wanted to stand there but Svatos had control of the position.
Svatos lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Stevenson!
Svatos scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Stevenson?

And that's the end of the fight!
Frank Svatos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Svatos 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Svatos!