PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Sonny Stevens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Max Meszaros (ranked 0 p4p, 0 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.

Stevens
vs
Meszaros

175 cm
19
165 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
21
161 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Enjoys gardening

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Sonny Stevens!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Max Meszaros!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Hugh Johnson and Bruno Hogan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stevens looks to land a combination but Meszaros avoids it well.
Meszaros throws a sloppy head kick
and Stevens counters with a two punch combo.
A punch combination from Stevens misses.
Meszaros throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Meszaros scores with a shot to the body.

Meszaros clinches.
Meszaros landing knees to the body.
Stevens blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Meszaros stalling the fight.
Stevens wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Meszaros manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Stevens wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens is trying to break the clinch but Meszaros has him pressed against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Stevens's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Meszaros has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Stevens uses from the top position.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Stevens in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Stevens wants to control from the top but Meszaros keeps moving.
Meszaros looking for a sweep. Not yet Meszaros, not yet.
Stevens wants to control from the top but Meszaros keeps moving.
Stevens in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Stevens prevents Meszaros from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevens wants to get up but he can't break Meszaros's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Stevens landing with the ground and pound.
Stevens trying to control the position from guard on top but Meszaros is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Stevens with a flurry of punches that miss.
Meszaros has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Stevens trying to control but Meszaros is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Stevens keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Some wild striking there from Stevens.
Stevens swinging wildly here.

Meszaros moves into range and clinches up with Stevens.
Meszaros is pushing Stevens up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Meszaros tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Stevens smiles and moves away.
Stevens misses with a double jab.
Meszaros cracks Stevens with an open hand slap.
Stevens misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Meszaros avoids the head kick by Stevens.
Meszaros throws a front kick that sends Stevens stumbling back into the cage.
Stevens is breathing heavily.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Meszaros, right into the meat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Max Meszaros dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Meszaros connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Stevens throws a series of punches but Meszaros moves out of range.
Meszaros shoots in looking for a takedown. Stevens tries to sprawl out of it but Meszaros keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Stevens manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Stevens tries to keep at a distance but Meszaros has taken the fight into the clinch.
Meszaros misses with a knee strike.
Meszaros tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Stevens just stands there and leans against the cage.
Meszaros tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Stevens just stands there and leans against the cage.
Sonny Stevens has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Max Meszaros.
Meszaros drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Stevens gets the underhooks and prevents it.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Meszaros jumps guard but Stevens stands there with Meszaros around his waist. Meszaros gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Meszaros changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Stevens fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Meszaros shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Stevens throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Meszaros.
Meszaros dodges the punch combination from Stevens.
A combination from Stevens does no damage.

Meszaros moves into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Meszaros breaks the clinch.
Meszaros shoots in for a double leg but Stevens sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Meszaros is breathing heavily.
Some wild striking there from Stevens.
Stevens moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Stevens misses with a double jab.
Stevens misses with a two punch combination.
Meszaros takes a swing at Stevens's ribcage but misses.
Meszaros misses with a body shot.
Stevens fails to land with a series of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Meszaros tries to close the distance and clinch up but Stevens swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Stevens stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Meszaros.
Stevens misses with a jab, cross combination.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Meszaros is defended easily by Stevens.

Meszaros closes the distance and pushes Stevens back into the cage.
Stevens is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Meszaros.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Meszaros pulls guard effortlessly.
Stevens wanted to stand there but Meszaros had control of the position.
Meszaros preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Meszaros wants to stand but Stevens is controlling the position.
Stevens working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Meszaros keeping full guard, as Stevens tries to pass.
Stevens has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Meszaros throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Max Meszaros will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Stevens tries to clinch up but Meszaros circles away and keeps his distance.
Stevens throws a nice looking combination but Meszaros bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Stevens lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Meszaros circles away quickly and effectively.
Stevens tries to clinch but Meszaros is having none of it.
Meszaros shoots in looking for a takedown but Stevens manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Meszaros's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Meszaros has closed the distance and engaged Stevens in a clinch.
Meszaros avoiding damage.
Meszaros tries to pull guard but Stevens forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Stevens.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Meszaros drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Stevens gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Sonny Stevens has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Max Meszaros.
Meszaros takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Meszaros is trying to pull guard but Stevens turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Stevens wants a takedown but no success here.
Meszaros taking a breather.
Meszaros is looking to take this one to the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevens wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

Meszaros breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Danga de danga de dang - Stevens scores with a four punch combination!
Sonny Stevens is winning the standup battle so far.
Stevens moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Meszaros is looking to score with low kicks.
Meszaros throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Stevens's waist but Stevens gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Meszaros off to one side.
Stevens fails to land with a series of punches.
Stevens tries to clinch up.
Meszaros connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Stevens shoots in for a double leg but Meszaros sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Stevens throws a series of punches but Meszaros avoids them all with ease.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Meszaros moves into range and clinches up with Stevens.
Meszaros fails to pull guard.
Meszaros is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Max Meszaros seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Stevens wants to stall.
Meszaros lands an elbow inside that Stevens shrugs off.
Stevens is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Meszaros missing with knees to the body.
Stevens tries to break free but Meszaros pushes him back against the cage.
Max Meszaros is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Meszaros breaks the clinch.
Stevens stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Stevens wants it to stay on the feet.
Stevens misses with a two punch combination.
Meszaros showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Stevens.
Stevens moves in looking to clinch but Meszaros pushes him off.
Stevens misses with a wild combination.
Meszaros tries to close the distance and clinch up but Stevens swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Sonny Stevens has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Meszaros throws a nice head kick!

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Sonny Stevens.
I think Meszaros has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 28:29
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Max Meszaros!