PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Kevin Bishop (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maxwell Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Bishop
vs
Hardy

172 cm
23
144 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

164 cm
23
144 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Kevin Bishop!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Maxwell Hardy!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Don Winkell and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardy works the jab nicely.
Hardy throws a leg kick
and Bishop counters with a nice uppercut.
Hardy walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Bishop checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Hardy explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Hardy misses with a body kick.
Hardy throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Hardy blocks a leg kick.
Bishop thuds a left hand into Hardy's body.
Bishop thows a left - swing and a miss!
A low kick from Hardy is predictable there
and Bishop counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Hardy shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Hardy connects with a solid leg kick.
Good leg kick by Hardy there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
An inside leg kick lands from Hardy.
Hardy scores with a nice right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy looks to land a body kick but Bishop moved away.
A leg kick checked by Bishop.
Bishop avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Bishop misses with a lunging right hand
and Hardy counters with a body kick.
Bishop chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Hardy can pounce on him.
Hardy pivots, looking for a leg kick but Bishop is out of range and Hardy settles back down.

Hardy gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Bishop sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Bishop stopping the sweep attempt from Hardy.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Bishop accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Bishop controls the pace.
Bishop landing some decent shots from guard.
Hardy is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Bishop dives into side control.
Bishop lands a decent elbow from side control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hardy can't do much from the bottom here.

Bishop looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bishop tries to advance to mount but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hardy is looking for a sweep.
Bishop throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
What's Hardy going to do here then? He's in a bit of a pickle.
Bishop 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.
Bishop misses with the ground and pound.
Hardy being controlled for a moment.
Hardy struggling a bit here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bishop looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Hardy is avoiding damage well.
Bishop in side control, throwing shots but Hardy defends.
Bishop working the ground and pound but Hardy is defending the strikes.
Hardy struggling a bit here.
Hardy tries to bench press Bishop off him but Bishop keeps the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hardy gets back to half guard.
Bishop scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Maxwell Hardy will probably get the nod.
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.

Bishop ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hardy moves away.
Hardy thumps Bishop with a low kick.
Hardy scores with a sloppy right hand. Bishop should have avoided that one.
Bishop takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Hardy lands with a thumping leg kick.
Hardy misses with a low kick.
Bishop moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

Bishop looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Hardy manages to get to full guard.

Hardy is looking for a triangle but Bishop pushes his legs off easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bishop trying to control but Hardy is working from the bottom.
Bishop connects with a couple of short punches.
Bishop pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hardy is keeping the position for now.

Bishop drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Hardy dives on top into guard.
Hardy pushes down on Bishop's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Bishop is looking to improve his position.
Hardy moves into full mount! Bishop won't be happy about that!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bishop is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Hardy looking to control but Bishop is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Hardy controlling his opponent.
Hardy prevents Bishop from getting the reversal.
Kevin Bishop overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Hardy wants to control the pace but Bishop is squirming around nicely.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bishop is in all sorts of trouble here.
Hardy looking to control but Bishop is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy prevents Bishop from getting the reversal.
Hardy trying to control but he's not successful this time.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Bishop tries to hold on but Hardy postures up.
Hardy trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Hardy controlling the position easily from mount.
Hardy throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Hardy trying to control but Bishop is having none of it.
Bishop is desperately trying to improve his position but Hardy has a good base and remains in mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy tries to control but Bishop wriggling away.
Hardy controlling from mount.
Bishop wants to control but Hardy is having none of it.
Hardy trying to control but Bishop is having none of it.
Hardy controlling the position easily from mount.
Hardy tries to control but Bishop wriggling away.
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.

Maxwell Hardy showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Bishop checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Bishop moves away from the strike by Hardy.
Bishop looks to land a right hand but Hardy moved out of range.
Hardy ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hardy is looking to chop away at Bishop's legs.
Hardy avoids the body shot from Bishop.
Bishop fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Hardy looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Hardy lands with a straight right. Bishop didn't see that one coming.
Hardy tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Bishop is able to avoid easily.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Hardy lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Bishop has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Bishop and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Bishop missing with a left hand there. Hardy was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Hardy takes a swing at Bishop's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy throws a leg kick but Bishop sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Bishop takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Hardy scores with a jab. Bishop acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Bishop throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Bishop checks a low kick from Hardy.
Bishop throws a solid leg kick but Hardy takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Bishop.
Hardy with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Bishop throws a lazy right hand but Hardy sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Hardy throws a lazy right hand but Bishop sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A leg kick checked by Bishop.
Bishop looks to score with a jab to the body but Hardy is just out of range.
Bishop is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Hardy throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Bishop with a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy swings away with a leg kick that misses.
A nice inside leg kick there by Hardy. That's going to slow Bishop down.
Hardy moves in looking to clinch but Bishop pushes him off.
Hardy feints and then cracks Bishop's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Bishop down.
Bishop looks to throw the jab but Hardy is out of range.
Hardy slips under a jab.
Hardy connects with a right hand. Bishop shakes it off.
Hardy throws a poor cross that misses
and Bishop counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bishop walks into a left hand.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hardy looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Maxwell Hardy seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Hardy lands a nice leg kick that just misses Bishop's sensitive parts.
Bishop throws a shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Bishop counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Hardy misses with a left hand
and Bishop cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Hardy with a nice cross.
A jab from Hardy misses.
Bishop misses with an uppercut. Hardy saw that one coming.
Hardy throws a leg kick but Bishop moved away.
Bishop takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Hardy lands a leg kick that knocks Bishop off balance momentarily.
Bishop throws a jab but it's blocked by Hardy.
Hardy misses the shot to the body.
Maxwell Hardy is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Bishop, right into the meat.
Hardy scores with a leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hardy lands a leg kick that knocks Bishop off balance momentarily.
Bishop checks a leg kick nicely.
A bone on bone clash there as Bishop blocks the leg kick.
Bishop pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bishop moves out of range of the body kick from Hardy.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bishop swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Bishop uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Hardy has time to react.
Nice defenses there by Hardy.
Hardy attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bishop stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Hardy.
Hardy scores with a kick to the midsection.
Kevin Bishop has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hardy misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

And that's the end of the fight!
Maxwell Hardy comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Hardy winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Maxwell Hardy!