PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Stelios Xenos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Holden Hallister (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Xenos
vs
Hallister

187 cm
24
194 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

200 cm
24
202 lbs
11 - 5 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Vandal Fight Boutique (prices $8 - $30)

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 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Stelios Xenos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Holden Hallister!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Ivan Kurochkin and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Xenos takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Hallister scores with a head kick.
Hallister keeps the fight on the outside.
Xenos misses with a kick to the body.
A shot to the liver by Hallister. Beautiful body shot.
Xenos keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Hallister.
Hallister pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Xenos fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hallister manages to avoid it.
A nice leg kick lands there from Hallister.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hallister connects with a solid leg kick.
Xenos takes a swing at Hallister's ribcage but misses.
Hallister looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Hallister keeps the fight on the outside.
Hallister does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Xenos misses with a low kick.
Xenos just misses with a punch to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hallister. Xenos does a little dance to reset his feet.
Xenos misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hallister.
Xenos thows a body shot but no joy.
Hallister moves away from the strike by Xenos.
Hallister jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Xenos keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Xenos tries to clinch but Hallister is having none of it.
Xenos throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Hallister thows a body shot but no joy.
Hallister swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Xenos bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Xenos turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Hallister paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

Xenos has Hallister up against the cage in a clinch.
Xenos tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hallister avoids it.
Xenos looking to slow down the pace here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Xenos tries to work over Hallister's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Xenos lands with a light punch inside.
Hallister looking to throw knees to the head but Xenos is blocking nicely.
Hallister avoids the elbow strike from Xenos, against the cage.
Xenos has Hallister pressed against the cage, preventing Hallister from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Xenos tries to work over Hallister's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Hallister looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Xenos manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Xenos takes a knee right on the jaw!
Hallister blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Xenos effectively controlling the action here.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Xenos lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Hallister tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Xenos blocks the elbow strike.
Xenos tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Xenos has a couple of punches blocked by Hallister.
Xenos lands with a right to the head.
Hallister tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hallister on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Xenos takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hallister misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Xenos.
Xenos lands an uppercut.
Xenos scores with a hook to the body.
Hallister misses with a knee strike.
A short left from Xenos.
Xenos misses with a hook to the ribs.
Hallister has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Xenos scores with a nice hook to the head.
A nice left hand lands by Xenos.
A nice left hand lands by Xenos.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Xenos digs a right hand into Hallister's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Hallister's gas tank.
Hallister looks gassed!
Xenos on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Xenos lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Xenos managing to block the knees to the body from Hallister.
Hallister is trying to push Xenos away but Xenos has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Xenos stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Stelios Xenos will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Xenos blocks a jab.
Xenos wants to land a leg kick but Hallister is out of range.
A nice leg kick lands there from Hallister.
Holden Hallister seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Hallister looks to land a combination but Xenos avoids it well.
Xenos buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Hallister moves out of range of the body kick.
Hallister avoids the head kick by Xenos.
Xenos scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Xenos throws a push kick but Hallister slaps the foot to one side.
Hallister is breathing heavily.
Xenos dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hallister. That did some damage!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hallister tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Xenos throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Xenos closes the distance and clinches.
Xenos lands a right hand.
Xenos blocks an elbow strike from Hallister.

Xenos breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
That kick from Xenos tenderised Hallister's leg. Hallister is trying to keep his angry face on.
Xenos fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Xenos tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Hallister swats away the attempt to clinch by Xenos.
Xenos is looking to wear down Hallister with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Xenos tries to close the distance and clinch but Hallister swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Xenos misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Xenos throws a leg kick but Hallister sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Xenos chopping away at his opponent's legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hallister swats away the attempt to clinch by Xenos.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Xenos.
Xenos tries to clinch up but Hallister circles away and keeps his distance.

Hallister tries to keep at a distance but Xenos has taken the fight into the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hallister tries to land knees in the clinch but Xenos avoids the damage to the body.
A shot in the inside from Xenos.
Xenos has Hallister pressed against the cage.
Xenos tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Hallister blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nice elbow from Hallister.

Hallister manages to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hallister throws a series of punches but Xenos avoids them all with ease.
Hallister circles away from the clinch attempt.
Xenos wants to clinch.
Xenos looks to land a combination but Hallister avoids it well.
Xenos lands a nice looking kick to the body. Hallister takes a step back to recover.
Xenos throws a push kick but Hallister slaps the foot to one side.
Hallister staying out of range there.

Hallister tries to keep at a distance but Xenos has taken the fight into the clinch.
Hallister throws an elbow but it's blocked.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hallister is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Xenos is defending well for now.
Hallister throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Xenos blocks it with crossed arms.
Hallister is trying to break the clinch but Xenos is controlling him.
Hallister tries to land a knee to the head but Xenos blocks with his arms.
Xenos is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Xenos obliges.
Xenos avoiding damage.
Xenos blocks an elbow strike from Hallister.
A right handed body shot lands from Xenos.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hallister tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Xenos scores with a nice hook to the head.
Xenos lands an elbow that stopped Hallister in his tracks for a moment.
Xenos scores with a shot to the side of Hallister's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stelios Xenos dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Xenos ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Xenos feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Hallister's calf.
Hallister's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Xenos connects with a leg kick. Hallister looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Hallister looks to throw a body kick
and Xenos counters with a leg kick.
Xenos fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Hallister has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Xenos clinches.
Xenos throws a knee to the head but misses.
Xenos managing to block the knees to the body from Hallister.
Xenos lands with a right to the head.
Hallister's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Hallister looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Xenos lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Good body shot from Xenos.
Hallister takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A short right from Xenos.
Hallister is trying to break the clinch but Xenos has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hallister throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Xenos blocks it with crossed arms.
Xenos lands a damaging elbow.
Xenos working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Xenos lands with a short head shot on the inside.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Xenos.
Xenos is trying to stall.
Xenos stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Xenos.
Stelios Xenos has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Hallister as Xenos tries to tie him up.

Xenos breaks from the clinch.
Good shot there by Xenos.
Xenos throws a leg kick but Hallister sees it coming and checks it nicely.

Xenos moves into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Xenos just leaning against Hallister, taking a breather.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Xenos blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hallister creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Xenos lands a shoulder strike.
Xenos unloads a knee to the mid-section. Hallister lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Xenos displaying some good clinch control by pressing Hallister up against the cage.
Nice body punch from Xenos.
Xenos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hallister has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Xenos lands a damaging elbow.
Xenos lands with a light punch inside.
Xenos comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Xenos pushes Hallister back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hallister throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Xenos blocks it with crossed arms.
Xenos is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hallister wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Xenos is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hallister can do to turn this around?
Hallister dodges an elbow strike from Xenos.
Xenos lands with a light punch inside.
Xenos works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Xenos throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Xenos stalls.
Xenos is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Hallister just misses with a elbow thrown towards Xenos's brow.
Xenos tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hallister's elbow.
Xenos trying to control the position but instead, Hallister has worked for underhooks and has pushed Xenos into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Xenos is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Holden Hallister has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Stelios Xenos.
A head kick from Xenos lands but Hallister takes it in his stride.
Hallister throws a hook but Xenos blocks it.
Stelios Xenos is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Xenos crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Hallister - the referee stops the clock and Xenos gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Hallister. Xenos manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Xenos shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Xenos looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Xenos throws a head kick but Hallister moves out of range.
Hallister lands a nice shot that snaps Xenos's head back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Stelios Xenos showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Xenos 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:28
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stelios Xenos!