PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Chris Staehlin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Staale Dal (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.

Staehlin
vs
Dal

188 cm
21
257 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
18
266 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Chris Staehlin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Staale Dal!
The judges for this bout are Josh West, Chris Saunders and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dal sizes up Staehlin with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Dal scores with a nice strike.
Dal throws a right and a left that Staehlin avoids nicely.
Staehlin slips a jab and a cross from Dal.
Dal misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Dal swinging wildly here.
The fighters circling - Dal throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dal is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Staehlin swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Staehlin swings for the body but Dal moves out of range.
Dal is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Staehlin on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Dal swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Staehlin decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Dal's guard.
Staehlin slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Staehlin throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dal utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Staehlin wants to control from the top but Dal keeps moving.
Staehlin 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.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Chris Staehlin wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Staehlin gets a double leg takedown into Dal's guard.
Staehlin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Dal works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Chris Staehlin.
Staehlin throws a leg kick which misses Dal's front leg but catches the back leg as Dal tries to avoid it.
Dal looks gassed!
Staehlin cracks Dal with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Dal rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Staehlin moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A punch combination from Staehlin misses.

Staehlin clinches up with Dal and pushes him back against the cage.
Staehlin lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Staehlin with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Staehlin comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Staehlin lands an elbow inside that Dal shrugs off.

Staehlin breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Staale Dal seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Staehlin feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Dal is working an open guard so Staehlin takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Staehlin throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Dal takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Staehlin dodges the punch combination from Dal.
Staehlin throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Staehlin thumps Dal with a low kick.
Staehlin scores with a decent looking hook.

Staehlin clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Staehlin turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Staehlin working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Staehlin throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Dal really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Staehlin. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Staehlin in side control, just content to control the action for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Staehlin displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Dal will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Chris Staehlin is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The crowd cheers as Staehlin lands an impressive looking overhand right. Dal doesn't seem phased though.
Staehlin looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Staehlin could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Dal scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Dal is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Staehlin.

Staehlin shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Staehlin thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Dal is breathing heavily.
Staehlin throwing shots but Dal is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Staehlin trying to mount his opponent but Dal defends it.
Staehlin keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Chris Staehlin just wasn't active enough.
Staehlin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Dal.

Staehlin gets a double leg takedown into Dal's guard.
Staehlin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Staehlin slips nicely into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin is figuring out what he wants to do next.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Chris Staehlin wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Staehlin scores with a push kick.
Staehlin's corner calls for a 1-2. Staehlin obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dal misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Staehlin.
Staehlin swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A head kick misses from Staehlin.

Staehlin has Dal up against the cage in a clinch.

Staehlin wants the takedown. Dal is fighting it off but Staehlin persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Dal's guard against the cage.
Staehlin is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Chris Staehlin has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Staehlin closes the distance and pushes Dal back into the cage.

Staehlin escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Dal doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Staehlin is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Dal can do to turn this around?

Dal gets caught napping as Staehlin dives in and scores a takedown. Dal manages to retain guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Staehlin forces his way into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin is figuring out what he wants to do next.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Chris Staehlin wasn't doing enough on the ground.
A head kick misses from Staehlin.
Some wild striking there from Dal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Staehlin dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Dal showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Staehlin.
Dal misses with a two punch combination.
Dal fails to land with a series of punches.
Dal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Staehlin circles away quickly and effectively.

Staehlin clinches up against the cage.
Dal takes an elbow to the forehead.
Staehlin with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Staehlin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Dal lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Staehlin lands a knee to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Staehlin.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Staehlin lands a nice knee to the body.
Staehlin crunches a lovely knee into Dal's ribcage.
Staehlin creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Dal's defenses.

Staehlin lands a takedown into guard.
Chris Staehlin overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Staehlin is stalling in the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Chris Staehlin wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Dal displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Staehlin throws out the jab.
Staehlin misses with a head kick.
Staehlin throws a nice outside leg kick.
Dal swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Staehlin swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Dal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Staehlin circles away quickly and effectively.
Staehlin delivers a nice body kick.
Staehlin swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Dal throws a series of punches but Staehlin moves out of range.
A head kick misses from Staehlin.
Nice body kick from Staehlin.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Dal. Those never looked like landing.
Staehlin pushes Dal away with a front kick.
Dal blocks a head kick by Staehlin.
Some wild striking there from Staehlin.
Staehlin avoids a punch combination nicely.

Staehlin looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Dal!
Staehlin controlling his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Dal?
Staehlin controlling the pace for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staehlin looking to ground and pound but Dal is blocking nicely.
Staehlin lands with some strikes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Staehlin throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Staale Dal has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Chris Staehlin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Staehlin takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chris Staehlin showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Staehlin 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 Josh West scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chris Staehlin!