PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Joe Stevenson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ishida Kento (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Joe Stevenson could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ishida Kento's chin.

Stevenson
vs
Kento

168 cm
25
143 lbs
2 - 0 - 1

180 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Joe Stevenson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ishida Kento!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Ren Mimura and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kento fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Kento ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Stevenson turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Stevenson manages to end up in side control.
Stevenson misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Kento is trying to control Stevenson's posture but Stevenson avoids it.
Stevenson working the head and body with strikes.
Stevenson lands an elbow.
Stevenson tries to advance to mount but can't.
Kento takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Kento wants to control but Stevenson postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson lands an elbow.
Stevenson slows the pace down.
Stevenson throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Stevenson works to advance to full mount. Kento defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Kento is in all sorts of trouble here.
Stevenson lands a big elbow.
Stevenson raining down shots from the mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kento squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson trying to control but Kento is having none of it.
Kento tries to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
Stevenson controlling from mount.
Kento is working to get back to half guard.
Kento throwing hammer fists to the chest of Stevenson. What's that going to do exactly?
Stevenson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Kento's face.
Stevenson controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Stevenson cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

It looks like Ishida Kento has been cut.
Stevenson landing strikes from the mount and Kento is in trouble!

Kento is rocked!
Kento in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Kento is still in real trouble! Can Stevenson finish him?
Stevenson lands a heavy elbow.
Kento is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Stevenson is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That has opened up Ishida Kento's cut even more.
Stevenson wants to control the pace but Kento is squirming around nicely.
Kento seems to have recovered his senses.
Stevenson landing strikes from the mount.
Stevenson 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.
Stevenson wants to control the pace but Kento is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Kento's face.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stevenson breaks from Kento's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Kento is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Kento gets back to half guard.
Stevenson is breathing heavily.
Stevenson trying to mount his opponent but Kento defends it.
Stevenson lands with a punch from half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kento wants to control but Stevenson is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Stevenson working over Kento with some ground and pound. Kento looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Kento is trying to control but Stevenson passes into side control!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Stevenson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ishida Kento's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Stevenson stuffs the takedown attempt from Kento. Kento gets slowly back to his feet.

Stevenson closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Joe Stevenson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kento is trying to maintain the position but Stevenson is very close to passing his half guard.
Stevenson moves nicely into side control.
Kento takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Kento tries to control but Stevenson manages to take his back.
Kento takes a big shot to the side of the head.
Kento staying busy and making it hard for Stevenson to control.
Kento covers up after that shot from Stevenson.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kento trying to control but not successfully.
Can Kento hold on?! Stevenson is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
Stevenson lands with a nice looking elbow that stuns Kento.
Kento covers up after taking a massive shot to the side of the head.
Kento can't escape the position.
Stevenson is not going to allow Kento to sit and survive in this position.
Stevenson lands strikes to the head.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Stevenson softening up his opponent with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kento is taking damage to the body and head.
Kento staying busy and making it hard for Stevenson to control.
Kento trying to control but not successfully.
Kento can't escape the position.
Stevenson has Kento flattened out and is raining down punches.
Stevenson scores with punches and elbows.
Kento is covering up but some of the strikes from Stevenson are getting through and doing damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Stevenson's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kento is really stuck here.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Stevenson's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Stevenson controlling the positon.

We're going to have a standup here because Joe Stevenson wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Kento tries to clinch but Stevenson moves away

and Stevenson counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Stevenson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kento's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kento tries to get to full guard but Stevenson has control of the leg.
Stevenson working Kento over with strikes.
Stevenson prevents Kento from improving his position.
Kento is looking to control Stevenson's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Kento avoid being mounted?
Stevenson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Kento does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kento tries to get to full guard but Stevenson has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Stevenson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ishida Kento's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Stevenson shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Stevenson is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Kento wants to sweep here but Stevenson controlling him for the moment.
Stevenson thows a big elbow that misses.
Kento is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Kento tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Stevenson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kento is trying to control the position but Stevenson postures up.

Kento looking for subs off his back but Stevenson has passed one foot through into half guard.
Ground and pound from Stevenson.
Kento won't allow Stevenson to pass to mount.
Stevenson wants to take a breather but Kento is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kento is looking to escape.
Stevenson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Stevenson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Stevenson is trying to control the action in half guard but Kento is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Stevenson tries to pass the half guard into mount. Kento knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Kento wants to control but Stevenson is keeping busy.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Stevenson slips a jab and a cross from Kento.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kento looks to land a combination but Stevenson avoids it well.
Kento tries to clinch

and Stevenson counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Kento!
Kento tries to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
Stevenson wants to control the pace but Kento is squirming around nicely.
Stevenson avoids the attempt from Kento to control.
Stevenson landing strikes from the mount and Kento is in trouble!
Kento keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Stevenson misses with a head shot.
Kento is wriggling around trying to escape.
Stevenson thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Kento is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Stevenson controlling from the full mount.
Stevenson misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Stevenson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Stevenson has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:25
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:25
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Stevenson!