PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between mario houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stefan Struve (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). houston's entrance music is lil wayne (a milli). A fine choice. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

houston
vs
Struve

200 cm
20
255 lbs
2 - 6 - 0

211 cm
24
243 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, mario houston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Stefan Struve!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Joseph Jones and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Struve shoots for a double leg takedown but houston sprawls well. He's pushed Struve's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A jab from Struve misses.
Struve throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around houston's waist but houston gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Struve off to one side.
Struve fails with a takedown attempt.
mario houston has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Stefan Struve.
Struve throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
houston with a poor takedown

and Struve counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in houston's guard now.

Struve drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Struve jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Struve tries to free his leg and advance position but houston is retaining full guard.
Struve looking to sit in guard and control but houston gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's one minute gone in the round.
houston wants to control from the top but Struve keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Struve looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Struve has his foot on houston's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. houston works his way back into a safe position though.
Struve looks gassed!
houston wants to control from the top but Struve keeps moving.
Struve looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Struve had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. houston defends it easily.
houston trying to control but Struve is working from the bottom.
houston is stalling in the full guard.
houston has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
houston wants to control from the top but Struve keeps moving.
houston controls from within his opponent's guard.

The referee stands the fighters back up. mario houston just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Struve misses with a head kick.
houston with a lazy takedown attempt
and Struve counters with a big head kick but houston shrugs it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Struve shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and houston counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by houston.
houston not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
houston trying to control but Struve is working from the bottom.

Struve has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but houston can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
houston trying to control but Struve is working from the bottom.

Struve is looking for a triangle but houston pushes his legs off easily.
houston slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Struve looking to control.
Struve lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for houston!
Struve thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Struve controlling his opponent.
houston might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Struve in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stefan Struve dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Struve closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
houston is working to avoid the ground and pound but Struve connects with a decent elbow.
Struve controls the position from side control.
Struve wants to control but houston is keeping him busy.
houston on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Struve has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for houston!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Struve fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Struve landing punches.
Struve looking to finish houston with some ground and pound. This is bad for houston!
Struve controlling from mount.
Struve has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
The referee warns houston that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Struve unloading with bombs!
houston is in a horrible position here. Struve smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Struve lands a big elbow.
Struve controlling his opponent.
Struve pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
houston tries to hold on but Struve pushes him away.
Stefan Struve has got the better of the ground game so far.
Struve looking to finish houston with some ground and pound. This is bad for houston!
houston on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if houston tries to get out of the position.
Struve cracks houston with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Struve with a couple of short strikes.
Struve controlling from the full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Struve has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of houston's face.
Struve takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Struve putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stefan Struve showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Struve shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. houston is trying to defend but Struve finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Struve missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Struve is looking for a kimura but houston is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Struve to get the leverage.
Struve throwing shots but houston is blocking nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Struve is looking to advance position but houston won't allow it.
Struve with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Struve is looking for a kimura here.
Struve is stalling here. houston is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Struve seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and houston has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
houston trying to control the action but Struve is working from the bottom.
Struve gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Struve trying to control here.
houston wants to take a breather but Struve is having none of it.
mario houston has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Struve trying to control from the bottom.
Struve keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Struve is pressing down on houston's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Struve is trying to control the position but houston postures up.
houston trying to control the position from guard on top but Struve is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Struve is on top in guard.
houston keeping moving, preventing Struve from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
houston being controlled here, momentarily.
Stefan Struve is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stefan Struve comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Struve winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 26:30
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 26:30
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stefan Struve!