PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mark Hughes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and George St pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). George St pierre has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Mark Hughes's chin.

Hughes
vs
St pierre

175 cm
23
180 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

196 cm
24
171 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

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 - 3 - 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 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, George St pierre!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Steve Smith and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
St pierre misses with a two punch combination.
St pierre misses with a wild combination.

A momentary lapse in concentration from St pierre enables Hughes to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. St pierre manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Hughes works over St pierre with some ground and pound from guard.
Hughes trying to control but St pierre is working from the bottom.
St pierre is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
St pierre manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hughes manages to get himself to full guard.

St pierre decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
George St pierre seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hughes shoots in for a takedown but St pierre shows good takedown defense.
Hughes shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with St pierre but St pierre pushes him off and we're back to square one.

St pierre manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Hughes on his heels. He'll look to pass Hughes's guard now, I'm sure.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hughes wants to stand and escape but St pierre is having none of it.
Hughes has his hands on St pierre's head, controlling the position.
St pierre would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hughes is pulling down on St pierre's head to control his posture.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
St pierre wanted to stand there but Hughes had control of the position.
Hughes is pulling down on St pierre's head. It's preventing any offense from St pierre, at least for the moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Mark Hughes just wasn't active enough.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Hughes lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
St pierre tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Hughes smiles and moves away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St pierre shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Hughes sprawls well. Hughes wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. St pierre gets slowly back to his feet.
Hughes scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Hughes fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Hughes. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hughes has his takedown stuffed
and St pierre counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Nice sprawl there from St pierre as Hughes shoots in.
St pierre fails to land with a series of punches.
Hughes misses with a few strikes there.

Hughes moves into the clinch successfully.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

St pierre lands a takedown into guard.
St pierre trying to control but Hughes is working from the bottom.
St pierre stopping the sweep attempt from Hughes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

St pierre gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Hughes displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from St pierre.
Sloppy strikes from St pierre. Those never looked like landing.
St pierre displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Hughes.
St pierre throws a series of punches but Hughes moves out of range.
St pierre lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hughes circles away quickly and effectively.
No luck for St pierre with that takedown attempt.

Hughes looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
St pierre wants to get back to his feet.
St pierre looks gassed!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes is controlling the pace.
Hughes wants to free his trapped foot but St pierre is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Ground and pound from Hughes.

St pierre looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Hughes seems to be working for a kimura but St pierre defends the submission attempt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nice strikes from Hughes there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Hughes dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Hughes looks for a takedown but St pierre sprawls well.

St pierre gets a takedown into half guard.
St pierre wants to stand up but Hughes is controlling the position.
St pierre tries to stand and escape but Hughes actually recovers to full guard.
Hughes tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hughes controlling the position.
St pierre stopping the sweep attempt from Hughes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St pierre pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hughes is keeping the position for now.
Hughes is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

St pierre kicks off Hughes and gets to his feet.
Hughes shoots in for a double leg but St pierre sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

St pierre dives in and scores a takedown into Hughes's guard.
Hughes pulls St pierre in close to prevent any damage.

Hughes has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes St pierre off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Hughes misses with a takedown attempt - St pierre sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Hughes. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St pierre slaps away a takedown attempt from Hughes, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
St pierre looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Hughes slips under a jab from St pierre.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hughes stuffs the takedown.

Hughes pushes St pierre up against the cage in a clinch.
A right handed body shot lands from Hughes.
St pierre wants a takedown but no success here.
Hughes just leaning against St pierre, taking a breather.
Hughes gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from St pierre.
Hughes has St pierre pressed against the cage, preventing St pierre from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St pierre drops down looking for an ankle pick but Hughes pulls his leg out and moves away.
Nice takedown defense from Hughes. No joy for St pierre on that attempt.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Hughes is defended easily by St pierre.
Mark Hughes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
St pierre shoots in and drives through. Hughes sprawls well.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Hughes.
St pierre scores with a three punch combo!
Hughes stuffs the takedown.
Hughes scores with a hook.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes slips a jab and a cross from St pierre.

Hughes moves into range and clinches up with St pierre.
St pierre tries to break free but Hughes pushes him back against the cage.
St pierre tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Hughes just stands there and leans against the cage.

Hughes lands a takedown into guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hughes content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Hughes trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hughes postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Hughes gets to his feet - St pierre follows without any prompting.
St pierre throws a nice looking combination but Hughes bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Hughes looks for a takedown but St pierre sprawls well.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
St pierre is trying hard to land a takedown here. Hughes sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
St pierre stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and St pierre wants it to stay on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Mark Hughes will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

St pierre shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Hughes as he avoids it easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hughes looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hughes closes the distance and clinches up with St pierre, looking for a takedown. Hughes pushes St pierre against the cage but St pierre circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Hughes avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hughes shoots for a double leg takedown but St pierre sprawls well. He's pushed Hughes's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
St pierre stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mark Hughes. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hughes is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A combination from St pierre does no damage.
Hughes shoots in looking for a takedown but St pierre manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Hughes's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
St pierre takes a swing at Hughes's ribcage but misses.
St pierre falls off balance throwing a combination

and Hughes holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St pierre tries to pull guard but Hughes holds him up against the cage and eventually St pierre drops back down to his feet.
Hughes prevents a takedown attempt there.
St pierre can't break the clinch.
St pierre is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Hughes gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Hughes misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from St pierre.

Hughes has dropped down and is working for a takedown. St pierre is trying to keep an underhook but Hughes manages to get the takedown into half guard.

St pierre looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Mark Hughes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Hughes gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Hughes looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for St pierre!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
St pierre is looking to get to half guard.
Hughes lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
St pierre gets back to half guard.
St pierre is looking for a sweep. Hughes is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Hughes passes to side control.
St pierre is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Hughes has just dragged him back down to the mat.
St pierre is looking for a sweep.
Hughes landing a few strikes.
St pierre wants to get back to his feet.
Hughes landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St pierre is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Hughes asserts his dominance and retains side control.

Hughes decides to stand back up.
No joy there for St pierre, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Hughes scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Hughes shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has St pierre pinned against the cage. St pierre gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Hughes fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. St pierre sprawls well initially but Hughes persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
St pierre tries to get to full guard but Hughes has control of the leg.

St pierre is defending against the submission attempts here by Hughes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St pierre is trying to control but can't.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

St pierre is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Hughes pulls his head out easily.
Hughes controlling the pace.
George St pierre has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Hughes gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Hughes scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Mark Hughes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
St pierre takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.

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 William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27

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