PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Hornink St Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rex Bannion (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

St Pierre
vs
Bannion

178 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
24
170 lbs
3 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Hornink St Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rex Bannion!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Hugh Johnson and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bannion tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
St Pierre fails to land the takedown.
Bannion tries a head kick but it misses.
A nice inside leg kick there by Bannion. That's going to slow St Pierre down.
St Pierre fails to land the takedown.
St Pierre shoots in but Bannion avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hornink St Pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bannion throws a head kick that misses.
Bannion throws a sloppy head kick and St Pierre moves out of range easily.
Rex Bannion seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bannion throws a head kick that misses.
Bannion keeps the fight on the outside.
Bannion tries a head kick but it misses.
Bannion throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Bannion throws a sloppy head kick and St Pierre moves out of range easily.
Bannion misses with a low kick as St Pierre jumps back.
Bannion misses with a head kick.
Bannion tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and St Pierre is able to avoid easily.
Bannion tries to clinch there but St Pierre circles away.
St Pierre shoots for a takedown but Bannion saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St Pierre avoids the head kick by Bannion.
St Pierre lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

Bannion clinches up with St Pierre and pushes him back against the cage.
St Pierre tries to score a body lock takedown but Bannion shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Bannion misses with a knee to the head.
Bannion looks gassed!

St Pierre pulls guard.
St Pierre is trying to keep Bannion in close.
Bannion won't allow St Pierre to sweep him here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre pulls Bannion in close to his closed guard and prevents Bannion from doing any damage or advancing position.
St Pierre manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Bannion manages to get himself to full guard.
St Pierre postures up in Bannion's guard and throws a big left but Bannion blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
St Pierre is working Bannion over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

St Pierre stands and steps away. Bannion gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
St Pierre lands a nice looking body shot.
Bannion is on the wrong end of a nice combination from St Pierre.
St Pierre blocks a head kick by Bannion.
St Pierre will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
St Pierre scores with a one two! Bannion had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
St Pierre shoots for a double leg takedown but Bannion sprawls well. He's pushed St Pierre's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Bannion with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
St Pierre blocks a head kick by Bannion.

Bannion tries to keep at a distance but St Pierre has taken the fight into the clinch.
Bannion misses with a knee strike.
St Pierre tries to pull guard but Bannion won't allow it.
St Pierre jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Bannion walks away with a smile on his face. St Pierre gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Bannion closes the distance and clinches.
Bannion gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from St Pierre.
Bannion connects with a nasty looking knee right to St Pierre's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hornink St Pierre dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

A thudding body kick lands there by Bannion!
Bannion connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Bannion throws a sloppy head kick and St Pierre moves out of range easily.
Bannion pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bannion misses with a low kick.

St Pierre closes the distance and clinches.
Bannion misses with a knee to the head.

St Pierre successfully pulls guard.
Bannion is fighting to break St Pierre's control of his arms but St Pierre is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

St Pierre manages to escape and get back to his feet.

St Pierre clinches up against the cage.
St Pierre is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Bannion avoiding damage as St Pierre throws knees to the body.
Bannion prevents St Pierre from breaking the clinch.

St Pierre breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
St Pierre will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bannion tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Bannion lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and St Pierre has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from St Pierre and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Bannion throws a head kick but St Pierre moves out of range.
Bannion misses with a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre blocks a head kick by Bannion.
Bannion pulls out of a head kick attempt.
St Pierre tries to clinch there but Bannion circles away.
St Pierre blocks a head kick by Bannion.
Bannion throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Bannion misses with a head kick.
St Pierre closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Bannion tries to clinch there but St Pierre circles away.
Bannion misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - St Pierre looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Bannion pushes St Pierre up against the cage in a clinch.
St Pierre tries to stall but Bannion uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
St Pierre takes a knee right on the jaw!
Bannion throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but St Pierre blocks it with crossed arms.
Bannion landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St Pierre wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Bannion misses with a knee strike.
St Pierre taking a breather.
Bannion trying to land knees to the body.
St Pierre is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Bannion pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hornink St Pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.
St Pierre takes a knee right on the jaw!
Bannion throws a knee to the head but misses.

St Pierre breaks from the clinch.
Bannion clinches but St Pierre breaks the clinch

and St Pierre counters with a shoot takedown. Bannion fights it but they end up in guard.
St Pierre trying to control but Bannion is working from the bottom.

St Pierre gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bannion tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Bannion avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Hornink St Pierre is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
St Pierre fails with an attempt to clinch.
A head kick by Bannion misses

and St Pierre counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

St Pierre breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

St Pierre drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
St Pierre misses with the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hornink St Pierre dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

St Pierre forces Bannion back against the cage and clinches.
Bannion throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but St Pierre blocks it with crossed arms.
Bannion missing with knees to the body.
Bannion tries to land a knee to the head but St Pierre blocks with his arms.
St Pierre looking for a takedown.
Bannion misses with a knee strike.
St Pierre tries to land knees in the clinch but Bannion avoids the damage to the body.

St Pierre drags the fight down to the ground.

St Pierre pushes Bannion off and scrambles back to his feet.
Bannion stuffs the takedown attempt from St Pierre. St Pierre gets slowly back to his feet.
Bannion scoring well with a low kick there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

St Pierre closes the distance and pushes Bannion back into the cage.
St Pierre drops down looking for an ankle pick but Bannion pulls his leg out and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hornink St Pierre. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bannion takes one on the chin but seems OK.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bannion throws a head kick that misses

and St Pierre counters by moving into the clinch.
Bannion with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Bannion unloads a knee to the mid-section. St Pierre lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Bannion tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
St Pierre tries to pull guard but Bannion holds him up against the cage and eventually St Pierre drops back down to his feet.
Bannion looking to throw knees to the head but St Pierre is blocking nicely.
Bannion landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Bannion keeps control of St Pierre as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but St Pierre blocks it.
St Pierre wants to break the clinch but can't.
Good body shot from St Pierre.
Bannion unloads a knee to the mid-section. St Pierre lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Bannion throws a knee to the head but misses.
St Pierre trying to control the position but instead, Bannion has worked for underhooks and has pushed St Pierre into the cage.

St Pierre manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Bannion clinches up against the cage.
St Pierre lands a body punch.
Bannion using the Thai plumb to throw knees but St Pierre has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
St Pierre tries to pull guard but Bannion holds him up against the cage and eventually St Pierre drops back down to his feet.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but St Pierre blocks it.
St Pierre looking for a takedown.
Bannion using the Thai plumb to throw knees but St Pierre has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Bannion with an attempt at a knee that misses.
St Pierre can't break the clinch.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but St Pierre blocks it.
Bannion tries to land knees in the clinch but St Pierre avoids the damage to the body.
Bannion tries to land knees in the clinch but St Pierre avoids the damage to the body.
St Pierre drops down looking for an ankle pick but Bannion pulls his leg out and moves away.
Bannion is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bannion wants to clinch.

St Pierre gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
St Pierre is trying to break free.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Bannion unloads a knee to the mid-section. St Pierre lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Bannion landing knees to the head.
Bannion tries to land knees in the clinch but St Pierre avoids the damage to the body.
Bannion misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from St Pierre.
Bannion trying to land knees to the body.
Bannion scores a nice knee to the body.
Bannion tries to land knees in the clinch but St Pierre avoids the damage to the body.
Bannion misses with a knee strike.
Bannion connects with a knee to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bannion connects with a nasty looking knee right to St Pierre's face.
St Pierre on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Bannion looking to throw knees to the head but St Pierre is blocking nicely.
St Pierre is working for takedown but Bannion is calmly controlling the position for now.
Bannion tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Bannion tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
St Pierre goes for a takedown in the clinch but Bannion prevents it.
Bannion landing knees to the body.
Bannion throws a knee to the head but misses.
St Pierre tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Bannion just stands there and leans against the cage.
Bannion tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Bannion misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from St Pierre.

St Pierre breaks the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bannion pulls out of a head kick attempt.
St Pierre shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Bannion pinned against the cage. Bannion gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Bannion keeps the fight on the outside.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Hornink St Pierre.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for St Pierre, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hornink St Pierre!