PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ben Hur (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Justin Craven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ben Hur had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 186.4lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Justin Craven is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Hur
vs
Craven

191 cm
22
203 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

187 cm
22
200 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
KO power

Excellent grappler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ben Hur!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Justin Craven!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Gregory Folan and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Craven wants to clinch up but Hur keeps it at a distance.

Craven has Hur up against the cage in a clinch.
I was talking to Hur's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Hur lands a nice elbow.

It looks like Justin Craven has been cut.
Hur throws an elbow but it's blocked.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Hur just misses with a elbow thrown towards Craven's brow.
Hur creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Craven's defenses.
Craven is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Hur to keep the fight standing.
Hur digs a right hand into Craven's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Craven's gas tank.
Craven tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Craven's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Hur effectively controlling the action here.
Hur tries a body shot but Craven blocks it.
Craven jumps guard but Hur turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Ben Hur has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Justin Craven.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hur throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Craven avoids a wild elbow strike from Hur.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hur holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Craven fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Craven tries to pull guard but Hur won't allow it.
Hur creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Craven's defenses.
Craven fails to pull guard.
Hur stalls.
Craven fails to pull guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Craven working aggressively here.
Craven is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
The referee is keeping an eye on Hur - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Craven jumps guard but Hur turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Hur throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Hur creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Hur lands a damaging elbow.
Craven fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Come on Hur - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Craven takes an elbow to the temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hur misses with a body punch.
Hur can't find room to land a body shot as Craven controls the action.
Hur lands a nice elbow.

That has opened up Justin Craven's cut even more.
Craven fails to pull the fight into his guard.
A head punch on the inside from Hur fails to land.
Craven tries to pull guard but Hur won't allow it.
Hur effectively controlling the action here.
Craven tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hur just stands there and leans against the cage.
Craven is trying to pull guard but Hur has him pressed against the cage.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Hur just misses with a elbow thrown towards Craven's brow.
Hur leaning his opponent against the cage.
Hur throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Hur lands a nice elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
With the fighters up against the cage, Hur throws an elbow but misses.
Hur misses with an elbow over the top.
Hur pushes off an throws an elbow but Craven leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Hur is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Craven tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hur just stands there and leans against the cage.
Hur throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Hur lands an elbow just above Craven 's eye.
Craven misses with a punch to the body.
Hur leaning against his opponent.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
With the fighters up against the cage, Hur throws an elbow but misses.
Craven has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Hur seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Craven can turn it around.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hur is struggling to control the position.
Craven fails to pull guard.
Hur will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Craven up against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Hur dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Justin Craven's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Hur connects with an inside leg kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hur looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Craven wants to clinch.

Craven moves into the clinch.
Hur lands a nice elbow.
Hur lands a damaging elbow.
Hur is leaning against Craven and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hur lands a damaging elbow.

The cut above Justin Craven's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
Craven is breathing heavily.
Craven letting Hur take a breather here.
Hur makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Craven takes an elbow to the temple.
Hur has Craven pushed against the cage.
Hur creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Craven's defenses.
Craven fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Hur stalling in the clinch but Craven improves position.
Hur misses with an elbow strike.
Craven tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Hur pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Hur leaning against his opponent.
Hur lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Craven backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Craven blocks an elbow strike from Hur.
Craven tries to pull guard but Hur holds him up against the cage and eventually Craven drops back down to his feet.
Ben Hur has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Justin Craven.
Craven lands a right hand.
Craven tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Hur smiles and moves away.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hur takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Hur tries to close the distance and clinch up but Craven swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Craven is looking to clinch but Hur is avoiding it.
Hur cracks the inside of Craven's front leg.
Hur tries to close the distance and clinch but Craven swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hur scores with a nice right hand.
Craven fails in his attempt to clinch.
Craven keeps the fight on the outside.
The fight stays on the outside here - Craven looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hur fails with an attempt to clinch.

Hur clinches up against the cage.
Craven jumps guard but Hur turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Craven is trying to pull guard but Hur turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Craven jumps guard but Hur turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Craven is trying to pull guard but Hur has him pressed against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Craven avoids the elbow strike from Hur, against the cage.
Hur taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Hur lands a left hand.
Hur lands a body shot in the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hur displaying some good clinch control by pressing Craven up against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Ben Hur.
Craven tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Hur manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Hur wants to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Hur dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Justin Craven's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Craven tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Hur moves in looking to clinch but Craven pushes him off.
Hur circles away from the clinch attempt.
Craven lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hur circles away quickly and effectively.
Hur tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Hur buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Craven tries to clinch but Hur moves out of range.

Hur clinches.
Craven blocks an elbow strike from Hur.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hur lands an elbow inside.

Craven pulls guard.
Hur content to stall in guard here.
Hur stands and throws Craven's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Craven takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Craven is trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hur just content to control the position.
Craven tries to buck Hur off but Hur is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hur advances to full mount.
Hur sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Hur avoids the attempt from Craven to control.
Ben Hur is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hur content just to control the position here.
Craven is wriggling around trying to escape.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ben Hur showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hur 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 William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ben Hur!
In his post fight interview, Ben Hur started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.