PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Stephen Hill (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and john paul (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stephen Hill had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Hill
vs
paul

189 cm
19
162 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
23
155 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Stephen Hill!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, john paul!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Cecil Peabody and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
paul looks for a takedown but Hill sprawls well.
Hill will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hill tries to bum rush paul with a series of wild strikes but paul uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Left hook, right uppercut from Hill.

Hill shoots in and bounces paul off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if paul can do anything to dispel that myth.
Hill working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Hill missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Hill pushes down on paul's leg and manages to get into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hill working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
paul looks gassed!
Hill thows a huge punch but paul dodges it nicely.
Hill drops an elbow to the side of paul's head.
Hill really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
paul on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hill seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Hill slips a nice elbow through paul's hands, connecting with paul's forehead.
Hill is nestled in close to paul, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Hill landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Hill thows a huge punch but paul dodges it nicely.
Hill wants to pass the guard but paul is defending well.
Hill working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Hill not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Hill working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
paul keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Hill wants to lay and pray for a moment but paul keeps working.
Hill lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

paul feints and as Hill raises his hands in defense, paul changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
paul slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Hill.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Hill trying to hold on to paul's head to control him but paul postures up.
Hill strikes from the bottom but paul passes into mount!
Hill wants to control but paul is having none of it.
The referee warns Hill that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hill bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Hill will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Hill is looking to work some ground and pound but paul has wrist control.
Hill throws a strike but paul rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
paul postures up in Hill's guard and throws a big left but Hill blocks it.
Hill bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in paul's guard.
Hill lands a couple of elbows.
paul is trying to keep Hill in close.
Hill throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as paul works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
paul preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
paul is trying to keep Hill in close.
paul utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
paul looking to control.
Hill with a flurry of punches that miss.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
paul misses with a series of wild punches.
Hill misses with a two punch combination.

paul closes the distance and clinches.
paul wants to break free but Hill has control.
Hill can't break the clinch.

paul pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A punch combination from Hill misses.
Hill wants to clinch but paul slips to the side

and paul counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Hill dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Hill lands a jab-cross combination.
Hill misses with a double jab.
paul shoots in and drives through. Hill sprawls well.

paul rushes Hill and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Hill can't break the clinch.
Hill is trying to break free.
paul is trying to maintain a safe position but Hill gets an underhook and turns paul into the cage.
Hill is looking to break free of the clinch but paul has double underhooks.
paul keeps control of Hill as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Hill wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Hill is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

paul pulls guard successfully.

Hill thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
paul wants to sweep here but Hill controlling him for the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hill advances to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hill connects with a nice short shot to paul's temple.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hill takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
paul on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
paul makes his way to full guard. A much better position for paul.
Hill throwing strikes but missing.
Hill throws a big right hand that misses.

paul has his foot on Hill's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Hill works his way back into a safe position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
paul tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hill throws a big right hand that misses.
Hill scoring with some ground and pound.

paul has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Hill can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
paul keeping moving, preventing Hill from controlling successfully.
Stephen Hill overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Hill goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Hill misses with a jab, cross combination.
Hill shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts paul as he jumps to the side.
Hill looks to land a combination but paul avoids it well.

Hill tries to keep at a distance but paul has taken the fight into the clinch.
Hill is looking to break free of the clinch but paul has double underhooks.
Hill wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
paul can't get the takedown.
Hill wants to break free but paul has control.
Hill prevents the takedown attempt.
Stephen Hill has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of john paul.
paul blocking some punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hill tries for a takedown but paul manages to get underhooks.
paul scores a nice knee to the body.

paul breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Hill looks to land a combination but paul avoids it well.
Hill throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Hill misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from paul.
Hill throws a combination but it was largely blocked by paul.
paul slips a jab and a cross from Hill.
Hill throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and paul counters with a single leg into guard. Hill didn't expect that.
paul trying to control the position from guard on top but Hill is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hill not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Hill punching to the body, from the bottom.
Hill tries to strike from the bottom.
paul's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hill wants to sweep here but paul controlling him for the moment.
Hill striking from the bottom here.

Hill throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Hill has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but paul can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Hill manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Hill postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. paul looks a forlorn figure.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

john paul showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

A right-left combo lands from Hill.
Hill looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Hill misses with a double jab

and paul holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Hill is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
paul is working for takedown but Hill is calmly controlling the position for now.

paul's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
paul takes one to the chin there.
Stephen Hill is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hill lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Hill catches paul with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Hill falls off balance throwing a combination

and paul moves into the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

paul manages to pull guard.
Hill is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Hill is working paul over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Hill throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hill accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
paul tries to land a sweep but no joy.
paul utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
paul working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Hill.
Hill is fighting to break paul's control of his arms but paul is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Hill throws a left and a right that both miss

and paul counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
paul trying to control the position from guard on top but Hill is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
paul is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Hill throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
paul scoring with punches to the head and body.
paul slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Hill.
Hill throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hill moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Hill 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.
Hill has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but paul has passed into side control.
Hill throwing some weak shots from the bottom that do no damage.
Hill struggling a bit here.
Hill tries to strike but it doesn't land.
Hill throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.
Hill misses with an elbow from the bottom.
Hill tries to buck paul off but paul is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
paul cracks Hill with an elbow. That is naaassty.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Hill is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by paul.
Hill swinging wilding here.
Hill ducks down and throws a hook to the body but paul moves away.
Hill tries to clinch there but paul circles away.
Hill throws a combination but it was largely blocked by paul.
Hill misses with a shot to the body

and paul moves into the clinch.
paul throws a knee to the head but misses.
A knee to the head by paul.

Hill is fighting off a takedown attempt but paul is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Hill to the mat. Hill regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

paul stands up and waves to Hill to follow him.
Hill looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Hill fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

paul has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hill wants to break free but paul has control.
Hill tries to break the clinch but paul is controlling the position.
Stalling in the clinch from paul.

paul breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hill throws a combination but it was largely blocked by paul.
paul shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Hill as he jumps to the side.
Hill falls off balance throwing a combination

and paul holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Hill tries to break the clinch but paul is controlling the position.
paul tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hill just stands there and leans against the cage.
Stephen Hill has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of john paul.
paul is pushing Hill up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
paul keeps control of Hill as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
paul keeps control of Hill as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

paul jumps guard and drags Hill to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
paul wants to sweep here but Hill controlling him for the moment.
Hill missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
john paul comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think paul has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Cecil Peabody scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... john paul!