PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Dan Hazlehurst (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stephan Anton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hazlehurst comes into the arena with Queen - The Show Must Go On blaring out of the sound system. Dan Hazlehurst has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Hazlehurst
vs
Anton

183 cm
25
180 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

174 cm
26
181 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good knees
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Dan Hazlehurst!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Stephan Anton!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Bishop, James Glass and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hazlehurst gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Anton to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hazlehurst working a defensive guard but Anton manages to pass into side control anyway.
Anton prevents Hazlehurst from escaping the position.
Hazlehurst is trying to control Anton's posture but Anton avoids it.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
You can see the frustration on Hazlehurst's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sloppy strikes there by Anton.
Hazlehurst wants to control but Anton postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A lull in the action here.
Hazlehurst is trying to control Anton's posture but Anton avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hazlehurst is looking to reverse the position.
Anton creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Hazlehurst sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Anton has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
You can see the frustration on Hazlehurst's face as Anton controls the position.
Anton working away.
Hazlehurst tries to bench press Anton off him but Anton keeps the position.
The strikes coming from Anton are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

Anton tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Hazlehurst wants to control but Anton postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Anton prevents Hazlehurst from escaping the position.

Anton tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
You can see the frustration on Hazlehurst's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Anton looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Anton working away.
Hazlehurst is trying to escape the position but Anton is controlling the position.

Anton wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Hazlehurst, who protects the arm well.
Hazlehurst is looking for a sweep.
Hazlehurst is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Hazlehurst is trying to control Anton's posture but Anton avoids it.

Anton tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Anton has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Hazlehurst is being controlled here.
Hazlehurst is looking to reverse the position.
Hazlehurst avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Anton.
Hazlehurst prevents Anton from moving into mount.
Hazlehurst struggling a bit here.

That's four 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.
Anton scoring with punches from side control.
Hazlehurst is trying to get back to half guard.
Anton is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Hazlehurst will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Anton working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
You can see the frustration on Hazlehurst's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Anton tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Anton is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Hazlehurst knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Anton tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Anton has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephan Anton dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Anton doesn't succeed with the takedown
enabling Hazlehurst to counter with a crisp jab.

Anton scores with a takedown into Hazlehurst's guard.
Anton stays in close to Hazlehurst's body and controls the position.
Hazlehurst is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Hazlehurst looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Anton puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Anton stalling.
Anton prevents Hazlehurst from standing back up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anton is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

Anton is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Hazlehurst doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Anton.
Hazlehurst is trying to control but can't.

Anton is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Hazlehurst has managed to free his arm - good work.
Anton uses his free foot to push down on Hazlehurst's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Hazlehurst.
Hazlehurst can't escape the position.

That's two 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.

Anton looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Anton controlling from the full mount.
Hazlehurst can't escape the position.
Anton takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Let's hope that Anton has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Anton working the ground and pound effectively.
Anton working the ground and pound effectively.

It looks like Dan Hazlehurst has been cut.
Anton controlling from mount.
Anton with a couple of short strikes.
Anton is landing with some decent strikes but Hazlehurst is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Hazlehurst is trying desperately to improve position.
Anton in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Anton with a couple of short strikes.
Anton controlling the position easily from mount.
Hazlehurst is desperately trying to improve his position but Anton has a good base and remains in mount.
Anton lands a big elbow.
Stephan Anton has got the better of the ground game so far.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Anton scoring with strikes but Hazlehurst is staying in there.
Anton takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Anton's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephan Anton showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Dan Hazlehurst'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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Anton throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Hazlehurst was covering up waiting for the punch and Anton finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Hazlehurst wants to control the position but Anton says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.

Anton is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Hazlehurst is trying to control but can't.

Anton looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hazlehurst is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Anton with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Anton landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Hazlehurst is trying to control but can't.
Hazlehurst taking some punishment here, with Anton in his half guard.
Anton with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hazlehurst won't allow Anton to pass to mount.
Hazlehurst wants to control but Anton is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Anton shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Hazlehurst manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Hazlehurst is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Anton 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.
Hazlehurst wants to sweep here but Anton controlling him for the moment.
Anton content to stall in guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hazlehurst keeping full guard, as Anton tries to pass.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Hazlehurst gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Anton to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hazlehurst trying to control the position.
Anton content to stall in guard here.
Hazlehurst looking to control.
Stephan Anton is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Anton not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Anton trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

We're going to have a standup here because Dan Hazlehurst wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Hazlehurst closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Anton to the mat! Anton manages to get full guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Anton holds on and takes a little breather.
Hazlehurst takes a decent strike to the side of the head.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Anton is on top in guard.
Anton stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hazlehurst swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Anton is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stephan Anton comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Anton 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 Daniel Bishop scores the fight 26:30
Judge James Glass scores the fight 26:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stephan Anton!