PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Steve Hershey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Boris Britva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Hershey might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Rising to the Top. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Hershey
vs
Britva

169 cm
20
175 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

180 cm
21
169 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good in bed

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Steve Hershey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Boris Britva!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Britva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Britva tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Hershey pushes Britva up against the ropes in a clinch.

Hershey successfully pulls guard.
Hershey trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

Hershey uses the ropes to get back to his feet.
Hershey throws a sloppy body shot

and Britva counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Britva.
Britva avoiding damage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Hershey is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Britva pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Hershey takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Steve Hershey has been cut.
Knees to the body from Britva.

Britva manages to break the clinch.
Britva pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Britva wants to clinch
and Hershey counters with a thumping low kick.
Britva fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Hershey.
Britva avoids the body shot from Hershey.

Hershey scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Britva makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hershey avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Hershey lands with a straight right. Britva didn't see that one coming.
Britva tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Hershey counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Britva's guard now.
Hershey is breathing heavily.
Hershey prevents Britva from getting back to his feet.
Hershey tries to free his leg and advance position but Britva is retaining full guard.
Britva wants to stand but Hershey is controlling the position.
Britva is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Hershey slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Hershey sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Britva's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hershey keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Britva pushes Hershey off looking to stand but Hershey dives back in and keeps control.
Britva is not content to let Hershey control the position.
Hershey thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Britva's head.
Britva tries to kick Hershey off but Hershey keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Hershey slows the pace down in half guard.
Hershey sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Britva defending well though.
Hershey is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Hershey not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hershey trying to control from half guard but Britva is working away.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Hershey not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Britva pushes Hershey off and gets back to his feet.
Britva on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Britva wants to clinch up but Hershey keeps it at a distance.
Hershey swats away the attempt to clinch by Britva.
Hershey showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Britva.
Hershey misses with a few strikes there.
Hershey waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Britva.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hershey shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Britva sprawls well. Britva wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Hershey gets slowly back to his feet.
Britva tries to clinch there but Hershey circles away.

Hershey closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Britva wants to get back to his feet.
Hershey is keen to just control but Britva is a slippery customer.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Hershey is really struggling to control Britva but he's trying to hold on to the position.

Hershey is trying to work for a kimura but Britva is defending well.
Britva is looking to escape.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Hershey is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Hershey dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Steve Hershey's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Britva closes the distance and clinches.
Hershey wants to get back to striking at distance but Britva won't allow it.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Hershey is trying to break the clinch but Britva has him pressed against the ropes.
A frustrated look appears on Britva's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Hershey being controlled against the ropes.
Britva stops a takedown attempt from Hershey.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Britva just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hershey's brow.
Hershey tries to pull guard but Britva holds him up against the ropes and eventually Hershey drops back down to his feet.
Knees to the body from Hershey.

Hershey pulls Britva into guard.

Britva decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Hershey misses with a shot to the body

and Britva counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Britva lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Britva is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Britva prevents Hershey from breaking the clinch.

Hershey's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hershey throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Britva counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hershey is lucky that one didn't land flush.

Hershey shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Hershey was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Britva is trying to stand but he's not in a good position to be doing that! Hershey has taken his back!

Hershey looking for the choke but no joy.
Britva is trying to get back to his feet but Hershey has full control of the position and if anything, Britva has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Will Hershey go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Hershey is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Britva is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hershey really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Britva.

Hershey looking for the choke but no joy.
Britva is trying to stand back up.
Will Hershey go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Britva is trying to stand back up.
Hershey misses with punches from the back.
Hershey 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.
Hershey tries to keep control of the position but Britva is staying busy.
Britva holding both Hershey 's hands and preventing any damage.
Hershey is working the ground and pound. Can Britva escape?

Hershey working for a choke but Britva is defending well.

Hershey is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Britva knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Britva for a finish.
Steve Hershey overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Britva is trying to get back to his feet but Hershey has full control of the position and if anything, Britva has just worked his way into a worse spot.

Hershey is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Britva wriggles onto his back under a barage of strikes.
Britva holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Hershey tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Britva's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Hershey wants to control the pace but Britva is squirming around nicely.
Britva is trying to stand but he's just given Hershey his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Hershey dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Steve Hershey's cut.
That's time! Hershey's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Britva takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Hershey scores with the left hand. Britva knows he should have avoided that one.
Hershey tries to clinch but Britva is having none of it.

Hershey has taken the fight to the clinch.
Britva throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hershey blocks it with crossed arms.

Hershey manages to break the clinch.
Hershey misses with a double jab
and Britva counters with a big head kick but Hershey shrugs it off.
Hershey circles away from the clinch attempt
and Hershey counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Britva tries to clinch up but Hershey circles away and keeps his distance.
Britva keeps the fight on the outside.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hershey tries to close the distance and clinch but Britva swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Hershey has closed the distance and engaged Britva in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hershey has had enough of the clinch but Britva keeps him there for the moment.
Hershey is looking to break free of the clinch but Britva has double underhooks.
Britva can't break the clinch.
Britva taking a breather.
Knees to the body from Hershey.
Hershey putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Britva in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Hershey lands a nice knee to the body.

Hershey breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hershey throws a series of punches but Britva moves out of range.
Hershey fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Hershey wants to clinch
and Britva counters with a head kick. That will keep Hershey thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Hershey throws a right and a left that Britva avoids nicely.

Hershey gets tackled into the ropes by Britva. Britva maintains the clinch.

Britva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Boris Britva is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
No luck for Hershey with that takedown attempt.
Hershey circles away from the clinch attempt.

Hershey has closed the distance and engaged Britva in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Britva's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Britva tries to clinch up.
Hershey is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
The crowd cheers as Hershey lands an impressive looking overhand right. Britva doesn't seem phased though.
Hershey wants to clinch up but Britva keeps it at a distance.

Hershey drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Britva is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Hershey asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Hershey trying to control the action but Britva is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Britva is pushing Hershey's head away, looking to escape. Hershey manages to hold on to the position though.

Hershey tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Britva is trying to get back to his feet.
Britva is letting Hershey control him for a moment.
Boris Britva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Britva can do anything to dispel that myth.
Britva is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Hershey asserts his dominance and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Hershey is working Britva over with some ground and pound from side control.
Steve Hershey is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Hershey trying to control the position but Britva is working away.
Britva is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

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

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Hershey showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hershey 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 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Suge Night scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Hershey!