PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Steffan Bonnar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Swoop McCarthy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Steffan Bonnar has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Bonnar
vs
McCarthy

190 cm
25
217 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

190 cm
23
205 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Steffan Bonnar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Swoop McCarthy!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

McCarthy instigates a clinch.
McCarthy lands a knee to the head.
Bonnar is looking for a takedown up against the cage. McCarthy gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Bonnar is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but McCarthy is defending well.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Bonnar tries to land knees in the clinch but McCarthy avoids the damage to the body.
McCarthy wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bonnar has him pressed against the cage.
Bonnar wants a takedown but no success here.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Steffan Bonnar. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCarthy is trying to break the clinch but Bonnar is controlling him.

McCarthy breaks the clinch.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Bonnar.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Bonnar working the head and body with strikes.
McCarthy can't do much from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Bonnar stalls from top position.
Bonnar seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down McCarthy for as long as he can get away with.
Bonnar wants to control but McCarthy is keeping him busy.
Bonnar working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bonnar decides to stand back up. Bonnar steps back and let's McCarthy get back to his feet.
McCarthy is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Bonnar moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
McCarthy connects with a nice looking jab.
McCarthy tries to clinch up but Bonnar circles away and keeps his distance.
Donk. McCarthy catches Bonnar right on the button with a cross.
McCarthy stuffs the takedown.
Bonnar takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bonnar fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bonnar is breathing heavily.

McCarthy takes the fight into the clinch.

McCarthy breaks the clinch.
McCarthy tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Bonnar manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
McCarthy cracks Bonnar with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Bonnar. Those never looked like landing.
McCarthy is looking to clinch but Bonnar is avoiding it.
McCarthy clobbers Bonnar with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
McCarthy sizes up Bonnar with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Bonnar throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Nice straight punches there by McCarthy. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of McCarthy.
McCarthy cracks Bonnar with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
A cross from McCarthy lands.

McCarthy fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Bonnar, pushing him back against the cage.
Bonnar looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

McCarthy breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
McCarthy is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Bonnar had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
McCarthy thuds his right hand into Bonnar's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
McCarthy scores with a jab.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bonnar fails with the takedown.
Swoop McCarthy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McCarthy tries to clinch but Bonnar moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

McCarthy clinches up against the cage.
McCarthy landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

McCarthy breaks from the clinch.

McCarthy closes the distance and clinches.

McCarthy's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Swoop McCarthy is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Bonnar drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Bonnar avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bonnar changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. McCarthy tries to avoid it but Bonnar manages to keep hold of a leg and drag McCarthy to the ground. McCarthy escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
McCarthy lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Bonnar drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Bonnar throws a combination but it was largely blocked by McCarthy.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by McCarthy.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

McCarthy clinches.

McCarthy manages to break the clinch.
McCarthy scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
The crowd cheers as McCarthy lands an impressive looking overhand right. Bonnar doesn't seem phased though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

McCarthy has closed the distance and engaged Bonnar in a clinch.

McCarthy escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Swoop McCarthy seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A decent looking cross lands there for McCarthy.
McCarthy feints a jab promting Bonnar to slip. McCarthy then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Bonnar slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
McCarthy wants to clinch.
McCarthy is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
The fight stays on the outside here - McCarthy looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
McCarthy moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.

Bonnar gets the takedown into side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
McCarthy looks to move to half guard but instead Bonnar has passed into mount! Damn!
Bonnar lands a big shot there that rocks McCarthy but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McCarthy is trying to stand up.
Bonnar is landing with some decent strikes but McCarthy is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
McCarthy tries to lock up and control but Bonnar gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
McCarthy is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Bonnar is staying active.
Bonnar 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.
Bonnar misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Bonnar with the ground and pound from mount.

Bonnar has control of McCarthy's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and McCarthy regains control of the situation pretty easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Bonnar connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Bonnar scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish McCarthy?
McCarthy is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Bonnar thowing shots but they're missing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bonnar controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bonnar has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bonnar scoring with strikes but McCarthy is staying in there.
Bonnar sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Bonnar throwing strikes here but McCarthy is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bonnar punching from mount but McCarthy doing a good job of avoiding damage.
McCarthy regains half guard.
Bonnar working the head and body with strikes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bonnar is keen to just control but McCarthy is a slippery customer.
McCarthy is looking to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steffan Bonnar dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

A cross from McCarthy lands.
Steffan Bonnar is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Jab, jab by McCarthy - just one landing.
Bonnar takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
McCarthy tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bonnar swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Bonnar takes one on the button.
McCarthy is looking to clinch.
Bonnar throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Bonnar shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Bonnar was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
McCarthy wants to hold on but Bonnar pushes him away.
Bonnar is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. McCarthy can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
McCarthy keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bonnar sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
McCarthy is squirming around, avoiding Bonnar's attempts to control the action.
McCarthy is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Bonnar controlling from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McCarthy wants to hold on but Bonnar pushes him away.
Bonnar landing strikes from the mount.
Bonnar avoids the attempt from McCarthy to control.
Bonnar sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Bonnar thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bonnar sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Bonnar tries to control but McCarthy wriggling away.
Bonnar dominating with strikes here.
BOOM! Bonnar connects with a massive shot to the dome!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McCarthy is squirming around, avoiding Bonnar's attempts to control the action.
Bonnar tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
McCarthy is looking to get to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bonnar sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

And that's the end of the fight!
Steffan Bonnar showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Bonnar has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steffan Bonnar!