PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Axel Stevens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Derek Richards (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Derek Richards is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Stevens
vs
Richards

180 cm
19
160 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

150 cm
25
168 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Axel Stevens!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Derek Richards!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Hugh Johnson and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Richards keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Stevens clinches up against the cage.
Richards gets through Stevens's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Richards is leaning against Stevens and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Richards working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
A shot in the inside from Richards.
Stevens drops down looking for an ankle pick but Richards pulls his leg out and moves away.
Stevens ducks under a wild hook from Richards.
Richards lands a glancing blow to the side of Stevens's head.
Derek Richards seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Stevens dodges the punch combination from Richards.
Good work by Richards as he checks the leg kick.
Richards throws a big shot that misses.
Stevens uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Richards.
Richards rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Stevens counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Richards sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Richards looks to land a combination. Stevens sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Stevens uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Richards.
Stevens wants to land a leg kick but Richards is out of range.
Richards misses with a shot to the body
and Stevens counters with an outside leg kick.
Richards throws a body punch but Stevens moves out of range.
Derek Richards is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Richards throws a leg kick
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Richards misses with a left hand

and Stevens counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Stevens drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Richards gets the underhooks and prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Axel Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevens's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A right handed body shot lands from Richards.
Stevens with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Richards throws a punch but it's blocked by Stevens.
Stevens goes for a takedown in the clinch but Richards prevents it.
Stevens jumps guard but Richards stands there with Stevens around his waist. Stevens gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Nice body punch from Richards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Richards lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Richards lands with a short shot to the head.
Stevens has a couple of punches blocked by Richards.
Richards lands a body shot.
Richards presses Stevens against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Stevens is breathing heavily.
Richards digs a right hand underneath Stevens's ribcage. Stevens let out a lung full of air as it connected.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Stevens wants the takedown. Richards is fighting it off but Stevens persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Richards's guard against the cage.
Stevens will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Stevens pushes down on Richards's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Richards blocking the ground and pound attempt from Stevens.
Stevens throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Stevens throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Stevens 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.

Stevens is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Richards defends it well.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Richards can do anything to dispel that myth.
Stevens works his foot free and advances to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Richards really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Richards really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Stevens. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Stevens looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Richards wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Stevens.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevens throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Richards because Stevens loaded up on that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Stevens throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Richards because Stevens loaded up on that one.
Stevens 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.
Stevens punching from mount but Richards doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Stevens looking to land elbow strikes but Richards uses the position to regain half guard.

Stevens is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Stevens uses his free foot to push down on Richards's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Richards.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Stevens thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

Richards defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Stevens.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Derek Richards will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Richards throws a combination that misses
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Richards lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Richards swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Stevens counters with a right hand to the body.
Richards on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Richards gets a clinch.
Stevens swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Richards fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Stevens looks to throw an elbow but misses.
A hook to the body from Stevens.
A right handed body shot lands from Stevens.
Stevens tries to work over Richards's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Stevens jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Richards walks away with a smile on his face. Stevens gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Richards slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

Stevens fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Richards, pushing him back against the cage.
Stevens has a couple of punches blocked by Richards.
Stevens misses with a body punch.
Richards blocks a body shot from Stevens.
Richards stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Richards lands a body shot in the clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Richards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevens tries a body shot but Richards blocks it.
Stevens misses with a body punch.
Richards managing to block the knees to the body from Stevens.
Richards lands with a short shot to the head.
Richards is leaning against Stevens and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Stevens looking for a takedown.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Richards throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Stevens misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Richards.
Richards lands an uppercut.
Stevens misses with a hook from the clinch.
Richards lands a right hand that snaps the head of Stevens backwards.
A short uppercut from Richards.
Richards lands a body punch in the clinch.
Richards makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Richards lands a body shot.
Stevens jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Richards walks away with a smile on his face. Stevens gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Axel Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nice straight punches there by Richards. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Richards.
Richards throws a left and a right that both miss
and Stevens counters with a thumping low kick.
Richards throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.

Richards fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Stevens, pushing him back against the cage.
Richards pushes Stevens back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Richards works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Stevens lands a good knee to the midsection. Richards won't want to take too many of those.
Stevens tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Richards avoids it.
Still in the clinch, Richards scores with a nice short uppercut.
Stevens has a couple of punches blocked by Richards.
Stevens has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Richards avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Stevens jumps guard but Richards stands there with Stevens around his waist. Stevens gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Richards is working Stevens over against the cage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Richards lands a left hand that snaps the head of Stevens backwards.

Stevens is rocked!
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Richards.
Oh Stevens is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Richards.
Richards misses with a hook from the clinch.
Stevens blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Richards fails to land.
Stevens fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Stevens seems to have got his legs back now.
Richards dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Stevens tries to pull guard but Richards holds him up against the cage and eventually Stevens drops back down to his feet.
Stevens tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Stevens scores with a knee to the head.
Richards working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
A short left from Richards.
Stevens tries to land knees in the clinch but Richards avoids the damage to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Richards prevents the takedown attempt.
Richards digs a right hand into Stevens's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Stevens's gas tank.
Richards creates some distance for himselfand unleashes a massive uppercut that sends Stevens's eyes rolling into the back of his head! Stevens drops to his knees and Richards pours it on with more strikes until the referee steps in to end the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:18 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Derek Richards!