PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mitchell Stehling (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Esposito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stehling comes into the arena with Turmion Kätilöt - Minä MÄÄRÄÄN! blaring out of the sound system. Esposito has chosen Sukh Knight as his entrance music. John Esposito has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Stehling
vs
Esposito

191 cm
31
261 lbs
39 - 16 - 0

195 cm
35
285 lbs
25 - 12 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Conviction
Perkele!

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 39 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mitchell Stehling!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, John Esposito!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stehling throws a leg kick but Esposito sees it coming and moves out of range.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Stehling.
Esposito uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Stehling.
Stehling is looking to land body kicks.
Esposito swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Esposito misses with an attempted mid kick.
Esposito connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Stehling momentarily.
Stehling throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Esposito sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A telegraphed right hand from Esposito misses the target.
Stehling throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Esposito misses the jab.
Esposito throws a body punch but Stehling moves out of range.
Esposito scores with a body shot.
Stehling doesn't manage to clinch there - Esposito circles away.
Esposito will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Esposito throws a shot from downtown. Stehling moves away and avoids it.
Stehling fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Esposito manages to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stehling keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Esposito.
Esposito thows a left - swing and a miss!
Esposito throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Stehling misses with a straight left.
A looping hook to the body misses from Stehling. Esposito does a little dance to reset his feet.
Esposito looks to score with a jab to the body but Stehling is just out of range.
Stehling looks to score with a jab to the body but Esposito is just out of range.
Stehling fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

Stehling moves into the clinch successfully.
Esposito tries to break the clinch but Stehling is controlling the position.
Esposito is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Esposito misses with some punches.
Stehling is leaning against Esposito and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Stehling tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Esposito lands with a short punch from the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stehling misses with the head strike.
Esposito has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Esposito throws a head punch that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Esposito tries to stall but Stehling uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Esposito misses with a punch to the body.
Esposito misses with the head strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Stehling.
A head punch on the inside from Esposito fails to land.
Esposito stalling in the clinch but Stehling improves position.
Esposito throws a head punch that misses.
Stehling misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Esposito looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Stehling cracks Esposito with a nice body shot.

Esposito's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Stehling getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Esposito misses the shot to the body.
Esposito throws a body kick that misses.
Esposito avoids a low kick by using good footwork.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Esposito paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Esposito, right into the meat.
Stehling misses with a head kick.
Stehling is trying hard to land a takedown here. Esposito sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Stehling defending well as Esposito loads up on a big left hand.
Stehling misses the shot to the body.
Stehling gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Esposito.
Stehling connects with a body shot.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Stehling clinches up with Esposito and pushes him back against the cage.
Stehling's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Nice body punch from Stehling - that landed with a thud.
Stehling cracks Esposito with a nice body shot.
Stehling lands a left hand.
Stehling misses with a body punch.
Esposito stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stehling doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Esposito working aggressively here.
Stehling scores with a nice hook to the head.
Stehling cracks Esposito with a nice body shot.
Esposito looks winded!
A head punch blocked on the inside by Stehling.
Esposito blocks a body shot from Stehling.
Stehling lands a left hand that snaps the head of Esposito backwards.
Esposito prevents a body shot from Stehling.
Stehling scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A hook to the body from Stehling.
Stehling misses with a punch to the body.
Stehling presses Esposito against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Esposito working aggressively here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Stehling lands a left hand.
Stehling lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Nice body punch from Stehling - that landed with a thud.
Stehling lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Stehling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Stehling scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

It looks like John Esposito has been cut.
Esposito connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Stehling's hands.
A shot to the liver by Stehling. Beautiful body shot.
Esposito throws a leg kick but Stehling checks it.
Esposito uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Stehling.
Stehling tries to clinch up but Esposito circles away and keeps his distance.
Esposito misses with a body shot.
Stehling uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Esposito.
Stehling scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stehling pivots, looking for a leg kick but Esposito is out of range and Stehling settles back down.
Esposito displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Stehling throws out the jab.
Mitchell Stehling is winning the standup battle so far.
Esposito loads up on a big right hand but Stehling slips the punch.
Stehling misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Esposito.
Stehling connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Stehling with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Esposito is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Esposito fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Stehling connects with a good right hand that stumbles Esposito. Esposito circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Stehling, as that shot connected.
Stehling scores with a hook to the body. Esposito takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Esposito 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.
Stehling throws a nice inside leg kick.
Stehling punishes Esposito's body with a nice straight punch.
Esposito misses with a hook
and Stehling counters with a nice leg kick.
Esposito doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Stehling changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Stehling closes this distance looking for a takedown but Esposito circles away.

Stehling clinches with his opponent.
Esposito's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Stehling is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Esposito can do to turn this around?
Stehling scores with a shot to the side of Esposito's head.
Mitchell Stehling has scored more points in the clinch so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Stehling gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Stehling controlling the pace.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Stehling moves nicely into side control.
The referee asks Stehling politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Stehling prefers to stall for the moment though.
Stehling lands a nice forearm strike.
Esposito gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Esposito is in trouble now - Stehling has advanced to mount!
Stehling fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stehling wants to control the pace but Esposito is squirming around nicely.
Stehling 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.
Stehling with a couple of short strikes.
Stehling controlling the position easily from mount.
Stehling postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Esposito looks a forlorn figure.
Stehling controlling from the full mount.
Stehling's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Stehling lands a heavy elbow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stehling content just to control the position here.
Stehling scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Stehling connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
A nice elbow there by Stehling.

That has opened up John Esposito's cut even more.
A nice elbow there by Stehling.

Esposito is rocked!

The cut above John Esposito's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Stehling lands a heavy shot. That's hurt Esposito! Stehling sees the opportunity and turns up the heat - strike after strike land to the defenseless Esposito and the ref dives in to save him! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Mitchell Stehling!
During a confident post fight interview, Mitchell Stehling thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.