PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stephen Neal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mikael Tronko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Neal comes to the ring accompanied by Lamb of God - Grace. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Neal
vs
Tronko

188 cm
21
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

186 cm
22
190 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

BLKOUT Clothing
BLKOUT Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Stephen Neal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Mikael Tronko!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Richard Clark and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Neal drives through with a takedown into Tronko's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Neal throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tronko working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Neal.
Tronko being controlled here, momentarily.
Neal looking to sit in guard and control but Tronko gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Tronko pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Neal is keeping the position for now.
Tronko won't allow Neal to sweep him here.
Neal pulls Tronko in to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Stephen Neal wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Tronko tries to clinch but Neal moves away

and Neal counters with a nice double leg into side control. Tronko won't be happy with that.
Neal is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Tronko's shoulder. That is not cool.
Neal wants to lay and pray for a moment but Tronko keeps working.
Tronko is trying to buck Neal off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Neal thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Tronko is trying to improve his position.
Neal landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Neal works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tronko sneaks back into half guard.
Still in half guard, Neal seems content to control.
Neal thows a huge punch but Tronko dodges it nicely.
Tronko trying to control but Neal postures up.
Neal tries to pass the half guard into mount. Tronko knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Tronko moves into full guard.
Tronko has momentary wrist control but Neal slips an elbow through the middle.
Neal stays in close to Tronko's body and controls the position.

Tronko working for a triangle but Neal defends it easily.
Neal with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Tronko darts in trying to clinch

and Neal counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Neal trying to control but Tronko is working from the bottom.
Neal is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Neal accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Neal looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Neal's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Tronko 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.
Neal 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.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Stephen Neal just wasn't active enough.

Neal fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Tronko sprawls well initially but Neal persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neal is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Neal lands a nice short elbow.

Neal is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Neal throwing shots but Tronko is blocking nicely.
Neal throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Neal stops Tronko from getting back to his feet.
Neal is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Neal wants to work for an arm triangle but Tronko is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Neal is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Neal with the ground and pound but Tronko uses the opportunity to regain guard.

Neal postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Tronko is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Neal, into his guard.
Neal pulls Tronko in close to prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Neal not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Tronko preventing the sweep.
Tronko wants to pass the guard but Neal is keeping the position.
Neal is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Tronko passes into half guard.
Tronko has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Neal dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Neal shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Neal lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Neal punishing his opponent with strikes.
Neal landing strikes from the mount.
Neal raining down hammerfists from mount.
The referee warns Tronko that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Neal lands a big shot there that rocks Tronko but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Neal scoring with strikes but Tronko is staying in there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neal controlling his opponent.
Neal looking to finish Tronko with some ground and pound. This is bad for Tronko!
Tronko is wriggling around trying to escape.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Neal postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Tronko looks a forlorn figure.
Neal fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Tronko is trying desperately to improve position.
Neal tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neal lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Tronko hang on?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Neal content just to control the position here.
Tronko is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal with a couple of short strikes.
Stephen Neal overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Neal scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Tronko is trying to escape the mount.
Neal tries to control but Tronko wriggling away.
Tronko is bucking up trying to escape but Neal cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neal landing strikes from the mount.
Tronko keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Tronko takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Tronko working to try and regain half guard.
Tronko takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Neal scores with a couple of good head shots there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stephen Neal showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Neal 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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:26
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:26
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stephen Neal!