PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Eric Staal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rip Snorten (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Snorten's choice of entrance music: Learn to fly. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Staal
vs
Snorten

180 cm
27
192 lbs
8 - 3 - 1

180 cm
27
190 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

KAISER Nutrition - Q160/$250

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 8 - 3 - 1, fighting out of New York, Eric Staal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Rip Snorten!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Lombardi, John Kavanagh and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Snorten moves out of range of the leg kick from Staal.
Snorten takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
A telegraphed right hand from Staal misses the target.
Snorten waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Staal.
A looping hook to the body misses from Snorten. Staal does a little dance to reset his feet.
Snorten misses with an uppercut. Staal saw that one coming.
The fighters circling - Staal throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Staal keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Eric Staal seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Staal connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Snorten momentarily.
Snorten throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Staal on the side of the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Snorten walks forward, straight into a front kick from Staal.
A big right from Snorten misses.
Staal looks to land a right hand but Snorten moved out of range.
Staal throws a hook to the side of Snorten's head but Snorten sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Staal misses with an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Staal ducks under a wild hook from Snorten.
Snorten lands a really nice looking cross but Staal seems unphased.
Staal takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Snorten takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Staal throws out a loose jab but Snorten uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sloppy strikes from Staal. Those never looked like landing.
Staal throws a poor cross that misses
and Snorten counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Staal thinking.
Snorten on the wrong end of a nice jab.
A slow jab from Staal misses its intended target.
Snorten takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Snorten misses with a right hand

and Staal counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Staal.
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!
Staal with a flurry of punches that miss.
Staal makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Snorten has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Snorten avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Snorten wants to sweep here but Staal controlling him for the moment.
Snorten is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Staal content to stall in guard here.
Snorten has his hands on Staal's head, controlling the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Snorten is continuing to stall.
Staal working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staal preventing the sweep.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Snorten holds on and takes a little breather.
Staal postures up in Snorten's guard and throws a big left but Snorten blocks it.
Snorten avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Staal throws a big elbow that misses.
Our spies down at at Scotty's Yard inform us that Snorten has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Staal being controlled here momentarily.
Staal 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.
Snorten wants to sweep here but Staal controlling him for the moment.
Snorten utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Snorten wants to sweep here but Staal controlling him for the moment.
Staal is working Snorten over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Snorten pulls Staal in to control the position.
Snorten lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Staal is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Snorten is trying to control but Staal manages to pass to mount!
Snorten really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Staal landing strikes from the mount.
Snorten is looking to improve his position but Staal isn't that keen on the idea.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Staal is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Snorten can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Snorten is trying to escape the mount.
We've been hearing good reports from Staal's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Snorten is in a horrible position here. Staal smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Snorten is rocked!

It looks like Rip Snorten has been cut.
Staal cracks Snorten with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Snorten is still in real trouble! Can Staal finish him?
Staal unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Snorten wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Staal celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Eric Staal!