PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Steve Holt (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aengus O Donnell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). O Donnell has chosen Dropkick Murphys - Worker's Song as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Holt
vs
O Donnell

178 cm
21
209 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

184 cm
21
203 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Steve Holt!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Aengus O Donnell!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Donnell defending well as Holt loads up on a big left hand.
Holt has a takedown stuffed.
Nice cross by Holt.
A telegraphed right hand from Holt misses the target.
A combination from Holt does no damage.
Steve Holt seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Holt lands a really nice looking cross but O Donnell seems unphased.
Holt lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but O Donnell circles away quickly and effectively.
Holt looks to throw the jab but O Donnell is out of range.
Holt tries to land a leg kick but O Donnell saw it coming and moves away.
Holt slaps away a takedown attempt from O Donnell, before circling back to the center of the mat.
O Donnell misses with a takedown attempt
and Holt cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
O Donnell blocks a leg kick.
O Donnell blocks a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Holt. O Donnell does a little dance to reset his feet.
Holt misses with a double jab.
Holt misses with a jab, cross combination.
O Donnell fails with a takedown attempt.
Steve Holt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aengus O Donnell.
Holt connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
O Donnell misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Holt pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Holt looks to throw the jab but O Donnell is out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Donnell shoots and misses
and Holt connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Some wild striking there from Holt.
Holt misses with a jab, cross combination.
O Donnell with a lazy takedown attempt
and Holt counters with a two punch combo.
O Donnell uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Holt.
Holt swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Holt goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
O Donnell blocks a jab.
O Donnell ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Donnell keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
O Donnell fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
O Donnell slips a jab and a cross from Holt.
Holt is breathing heavily.

O Donnell drives through and clinches with Holt against the cage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Holt.
Holt misses with a shot to the kidneys.

O Donnell jumps guard.
Holt postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Holt in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
O Donnell not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Holt being controlled here momentarily.
Holt trying to control the position from guard on top but O Donnell is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Holt postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holt working some strikes from top position.
O Donnell keeping moving, preventing Holt from controlling successfully.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Holt throws a hook to the side of O Donnell's head but O Donnell sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Holt displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from O Donnell.
O Donnell shoots and misses
and Holt counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Holt throws a right hand that O Donnell ducks under and follows up with a left that O Donnell also avoids with ease.
Holt fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
O Donnell moves in looking to clinch but Holt pushes him off.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Holt dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

O Donnell looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Holt is fending him off so far but O Donnell persists. Nope, Holt circles away and we're back to standing.
Nice defenses there by O Donnell.
Holt's corner calls for a 1-2. Holt obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Holt misses with a takedown attempt - O Donnell sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Holt throws a hook to the side of O Donnell's head but O Donnell sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
O Donnell moves in looking to clinch but Holt pushes him off.
O Donnell moves out of range as Holt strikes.
Holt wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
A big left from Holt misses.
Holt pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holt loads up on a big right hand but O Donnell slips the punch.

O Donnell shoots in and bounces Holt off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Holt looking to hit a scissor sweep but O Donnell is one step ahead there.
O Donnell pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Holt is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holt looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
O Donnell trying to control the position from guard on top but Holt is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Holt throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
O Donnell slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
O Donnell wants to lay and pray for a moment but Holt keeps working.
Holt is trying to work for a sweep but O Donnell has mounted him!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
O Donnell manages to capitalize on a mistake by Holt to take his back!
O Donnell is hanging on to Holt's back as he tries to escape.
Holt is trying to get back to his feet but O Donnell has full control of the position and if anything, Holt has just worked his way into a worse spot.

O Donnell working for a choke but Holt is defending well.
Will O Donnell go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

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.
O Donnell slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Holt looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Holt trying to control but not successfully.
Holt rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
O Donnell performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Aengus O Donnell will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Holt shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has O Donnell pinned against the cage. O Donnell gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Steve Holt is winning the standup battle so far.
Holt throws an overhand right that lands on O Donnell's shoulder, as O Donnell tries to avoid the shot.
O Donnell moves out of range of the strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Holt throws a combination but it was largely blocked by O Donnell.
O Donnell takes one to the chin there.
The fighters circling - Holt throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
O Donnell bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Donnell closes the distance looking to clinch
and Holt counters with a nice uppercut.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
O Donnell fails with a takedown attempt.
O Donnell uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Holt.
Holt uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from O Donnell.
O Donnell slips under a jab from Holt.
Holt throws a nice looking combination but O Donnell bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
O Donnell fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
O Donnell gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Holt counters with a shoot takedown. O Donnell fights it but they end up in guard.
Steve Holt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aengus O Donnell.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

O Donnell has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Holt can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Holt throwing strikes from guard but O Donnell blocks nicely.
Holt wants to control from the top but O Donnell keeps moving.
O Donnell controlling Holt's posture.

O Donnell is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Holt defends well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
O Donnell controls Holt momentarily but Holt frees himself.
Holt throwing strikes from guard but O Donnell blocks nicely.
O Donnell not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Holt misses with a double jab.
O Donnell defending well as Holt loads up on a big left hand.
Holt looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

O Donnell shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Holt is squirming around, avoiding O Donnell's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holt is looking to get to half guard.
O Donnell tries to control but Holt wriggling away.
Holt tries to improve his position but instead O Donnell has taken his back!
O Donnell controls the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Holt showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Holt has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:28
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Holt!