PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Valentin Stokes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Christian Jr Anhoej (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Anhoej is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: A Worrior's call . The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Stokes
vs
Jr Anhoej

202 cm
18
177 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

175 cm
19
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Very confident

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Valentin Stokes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Christian Jr Anhoej!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Steven Brown and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Stokes gets the takedown into side control.
Anhoej struggling a bit here.
Stokes working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Anhoej is being controlled here.
Stokes working the ground and pound but Anhoej is defending the strikes.
You can see the frustration on Anhoej's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Stokes staying calm.
Anhoej can't do much from the bottom here.
Stokes tries to stand but Anhoej is controlling his head.
Anhoej wants to get back to his feet but Stokes drags him back down.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Stokes stalls from top position.

Stokes is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Anhoej is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Stokes is looking to take a break and control but Anhoej is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Anhoej taking punishment in the form of punches.
Stokes landing a few strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stokes advances to mount.
Anhoej tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Anhoej'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.
Anhoej is bucking up trying to escape but Stokes cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Anhoej wants to control but Stokes is having none of it.
Stokes looking to control and managing it successfully.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Stokes is landing with some decent strikes but Anhoej is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Anhoej is in a horrible position here. Stokes smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Stokes jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Anhoej manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Anhoej is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Anhoej is not content to let Stokes control the position.
Stokes working away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Anhoej tries to buck Stokes off but Stokes is having none of it.
Anhoej wants to control but Stokes postures up.
Anhoej gets back to half guard.
Anhoej wants to get back to full guard.
Stokes sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Stokes wants to pass to mount but Anhoej is defending the position.
Stokes wants to take a breather but Anhoej is having none of it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Valentin Stokes just wasn't active enough.

Stokes fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Anhoej to the ground. Stokes is now in Anhoej's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Stokes showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Valentin Stokes dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A big right from Stokes misses.
Stokes tries for a takedown but Anhoej sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Anhoej fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Stokes closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Anhoej can't do much from the bottom here.
Valentin Stokes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Stokes tries to stand but Anhoej is controlling his head.
Anhoej is trying to control Stokes's posture but Stokes avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stokes wants to stand but Anhoej has his arm trapped.
Stokes scores with punches from side control.
Stokes remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Anhoej can't do much from the bottom here.
Anhoej is trying to buck Stokes off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Anhoej struggling a bit here.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Stokes wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Anhoej, who protects the arm well.
Anhoej struggling a bit here.
Stokes tries to stand but Anhoej controls the position and pulls Stokes into his guard.
Stokes is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Anhoej had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Stokes defends it easily.
Stokes postures up.
Anhoej is breathing heavily.
Stokes's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Anhoej working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Stokes has passed into half guard!
Stokes perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Anhoej is trying to control but Stokes passes into side control!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Anhoej gets back to half guard.
Stokes wants to stand up but Anhoej is controlling the position.
Stokes keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Stokes wants to stand but Anhoej has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Stokes controlling the pace.
Stokes passes the guard and advances to mount!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Anhoej can't escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Valentin Stokes dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Anhoej feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Stokes's calf.
No luck for Stokes with that takedown attempt.
Stokes fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Anhoej avoids it really well and circles away.
Stokes shoots in but Anhoej avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Valentin Stokes. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Anhoej looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Stokes is fending him off so far but Anhoej persists. Nope, Stokes circles away and we're back to standing.
Stokes tries to clinch up
and Anhoej counters with a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anhoej will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Anhoej closes the distance and clinches up with Stokes, looking for a takedown. Anhoej pushes Stokes against the cage but Stokes circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Anhoej takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Stokes 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.
Stokes trying to control but Anhoej is working from the bottom.

Anhoej throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Anhoej trying to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stokes slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Anhoej looks to move to half guard but instead Stokes has passed into mount! Damn!
Stokes postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Anhoej looks a forlorn figure.
Anhoej keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Stokes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Stokes looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stokes avoids the attempt from Anhoej to control.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Stokes cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Stokes lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Stokes controlling his opponent.
Stokes is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Anhoej can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Anhoej is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Anhoej really wants to buck Stokes off and get back to his feet.
Stokes lands with some strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stokes looking to control and managing it successfully.
Stokes lands with some strikes.
Stokes tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Anhoej tries to control Stokes's body but Stokes pushes him off. Anhoej squirms to his side and now Stokes has his back!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Good control from Stokes.
Stokes will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Christian Jr Anhoej has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Valentin Stokes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Stokes has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Valentin Stokes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Stokes 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27
Judge William Gold scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Valentin Stokes!