PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mark Hughes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Georges StPierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Hughes
vs
StPierre

175 cm
22
180 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

178 cm
26
170 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Mark Hughes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Georges StPierre!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Ian Loll and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hughes drives through and clinches with StPierre against the cage.

Hughes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Hughes closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Hughes takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
StPierre wants to get back to full guard.
StPierre is trying to escape back to his feet but Hughes uses the scramble to pass into side control.

Hughes is trying to get an arm triangle but StPierre is defending well.
Hughes connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused StPierre some visible discomfort.
Hughes lands a few punches from side control.
The referee asks Hughes politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Hughes prefers to stall for the moment though.
Hughes in side control lands a decent elbow.

Hughes decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice combination there by Hughes.

It looks like Georges StPierre has been cut.

Hughes shoots in and bounces StPierre off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

StPierre had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Hughes defends it easily.
Hughes is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Hughes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as StPierre works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
StPierre has momentary wrist control but Hughes slips an elbow through the middle.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hughes is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

StPierre is working an open guard so Hughes takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Hughes connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Hughes gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
StPierre misses with the head strike.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Hughes.
StPierre tries to throw a body punch but Hughes avoids it by throwing StPierre back against the cage.

StPierre pulls guard successfully.
StPierre not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Hughes decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on StPierre, up you get!
StPierre looks gassed!
Hughes looks to land a combination. StPierre sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
StPierre tries to close the distance and clinch but Hughes swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Hughes clinches with his opponent.

Hughes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

StPierre gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Hughes to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hughes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Hughes working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
StPierre keeping moving, preventing Hughes from controlling successfully.
Hughes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
StPierre manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
StPierre prevents Hughes from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes is trying to stand.
Hughes manages to work a leg through to get back to half guard here. Good work there by Hughes, under a barage of strikes from StPierre.
Hughes keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
StPierre trying to control the action but Hughes is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Hughes dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Georges StPierre's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Hughes closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. StPierre quickly recovers to half guard.
Hughes working the head and body with strikes.
StPierre won't allow Hughes to pass to mount.
Hughes is nestled in close to StPierre, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Hughes has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Hughes landing punches.
Hughes content just to control the position here.
StPierre taking shots to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
StPierre tries to hold on but Hughes pushes him away.
Mark Hughes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
StPierre is breathing heavily.
Hughes controlling from mount.

Hughes is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But StPierre has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from StPierre!
Hughes pulls StPierre in close to prevent any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
StPierre trying to control the position from guard on top but Hughes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
StPierre must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Mark Hughes wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Hughes throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and StPierre counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by StPierre.

Hughes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hughes throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Hughes scores with a three punch combo!
Hughes tries a head kick but it misses.
StPierre will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hughes misses with a double jab

and StPierre counters with a shoot takedown. Hughes fights it but they end up in guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Hughes wants to get back to his feet but StPierre is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
StPierre being controlled here momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Hughes is on top in guard.
StPierre keeping moving, preventing Hughes from controlling successfully.
StPierre avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hughes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hughes trying to control the position from guard on top but StPierre is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
StPierre keeping full guard, as Hughes tries to pass.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hughes stopping the sweep attempt from StPierre.

Hughes gets to his feet - StPierre follows without any prompting.
Some wild striking there from Hughes.
Hughes swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
StPierre is looking to clinch but Hughes is avoiding it.

StPierre gets caught flat footed, as Hughes shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
StPierre not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Hughes wants to control from the top but StPierre keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Hughes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Georges StPierre's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Hughes circles away from the clinch attempt.

Hughes drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Hughes sitting in guard here, content to control.
Hughes pushing down on StPierre's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
StPierre is trying to stand.
Hughes seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Hughes stands up and beckons StPierre to join him on the feet.
Hughes misses with the combination.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hughes works over StPierre's head and body with a nice combination.
Hughes scores with a three punch combo!
Mark Hughes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hughes tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hughes instigates a clinch.

Hughes gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
StPierre is holding on to half guard well.
StPierre is looking to control Hughes's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can StPierre avoid being mounted?
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hughes connects with a nice short shot to StPierre's temple.
StPierre wants to control but Hughes is keeping busy.
Hughes 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.

Hughes escapes and gets back to his feet.

Hughes throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. StPierre was covering up waiting for the punch and Hughes finishes the takedown easily into guard.
StPierre working a defensive guard but Hughes passes into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hughes winds up and cracks StPierre with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Hughes throwing shots but StPierre is blocking nicely.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Hughes connects with a nice short shot to StPierre's temple.

Hughes is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Hughes slows the pace down in half guard.
Hughes winds up and cracks StPierre with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hughes is trying to control. StPierre wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Hughes is figuring out what he wants to do next.
StPierre is trying to control but can't.
StPierre has hold of Hughes's hands but Hughes slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Hughes has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
StPierre takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
StPierre wants to hold on but Hughes pushes him away.
Hughes lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Hughes breaks from StPierre's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Hughes has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of StPierre's face.
Hughes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Hughes punishing his opponent with strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hughes breaks from StPierre's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Georges StPierre has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mark Hughes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Hughes is in the full mount, landing strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Hughes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hughes 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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:25
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 30:26
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Hughes!