PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hanz Stokenhizer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shogun Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stokenhizer kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is The Lucky Bullets "Cross the Line". Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Stokenhizer
vs
Rua

184 cm
33
162 lbs
14 - 19 - 0

190 cm
29
201 lbs
12 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Good kicks
Powerful

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 - 19 - 0, fighting out of London, Hanz Stokenhizer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 0, fighting out of London, Shogun Rua!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, Paul Tew and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A clash of legs there as Stokenhizer blocks the low kick.

Rua moves into the clinch successfully.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks it.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Rua is stalling here.
Rua missing with knees to the body.
Rua is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.
Rua misses with a knee strike.
Rua wants to stall.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Stokenhizer is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Stokenhizer tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Stokenhizer misses with a knee strike.
Stokenhizer looking to throw knees to the head but Rua is blocking nicely.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Stokenhizer has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rua lands a knee to the head.
Rua misses with a knee strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua looks gassed!
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks it.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Stokenhizer lands an elbow inside that Rua shrugs off.
Stokenhizer lands an elbow inside that Rua shrugs off.
Rua stalling in the clinch but Stokenhizer improves position.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Stokenhizer landing knees to the head.
Stokenhizer takes a knee to the side of the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks it.
Rua connects with a nasty looking knee right to Stokenhizer's face.
Stokenhizer lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stokenhizer lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Stokenhizer avoids it.
Stokenhizer lands a body shot in the clinch.
Rua misses with a knee strike.
Stokenhizer tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks it.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Stokenhizer tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Rua is looking to control Stokenhizer's arms but Stokenhizer gets an underhook and turns him. Now Rua has his back to the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Stokenhizer is blocking nicely.
Stokenhizer crunches a lovely knee into Rua's ribcage.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Stokenhizer with a knee to the head.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Stokenhizer is blocking nicely.
Rua tries a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks it.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Stokenhizer comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.

Stokenhizer jumps into guard, dragging Rua to the mat.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Stokenhizer manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shogun Rua 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.

Rua throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Stokenhizer counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Stokenhizer scores with a takedown into Rua's guard.
Rua is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Stokenhizer is standing up over Rua. Rua looks to escape but Stokenhizer dives into side control.
You can see the frustration on Rua's face as Stokenhizer controls the position.
Rua is trying to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Stokenhizer decides to stand back up.
Hanz Stokenhizer is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Stokenhizer blocks the body kick.
Stokenhizer tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Rua moves into the clinch successfully.
Stokenhizer on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Rua dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Stokenhizer unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rua lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Stokenhizer is keeping busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stokenhizer tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua avoiding damage.
Stokenhizer using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rua has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Stokenhizer misses with a knee to the head.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Stokenhizer is blocking nicely.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.
Rua tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rua is breathing heavily.
Stokenhizer throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Rua blocks it with crossed arms.
Knees in the clinch landing for Stokenhizer.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Rua with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stokenhizer avoiding damage as Rua throws knees to the body.
Rua missing with knees to the body.
Rua looking to throw knees to the head but Stokenhizer is blocking nicely.
Rua scores with a knee to the head.
Stokenhizer tries a knee to the head but Rua blocks it.
Rua throws a knee to the head but misses.
Stokenhizer with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Stokenhizer stalling the fight.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Rua is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua is trying to slow the pace down but that's a couple of times in a row that he's tried to get underhooks and Stokenhizer has denied him.

Stokenhizer manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Rua wants to get up but he can't break Stokenhizer's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Stokenhizer is pulling down on Rua's head. It's preventing any offense from Rua, at least for the moment.
Rua is looking to stand up but Stokenhizer won't let him.
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 Hanz Stokenhizer will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Rua avoids the head kick by Stokenhizer.

Rua gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Rua with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Rua looking to stall.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Stokenhizer.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Rua slows down the pace here.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Stokenhizer has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Stokenhizer blocks it with crossed arms.
Rua is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Stokenhizer is defending well for now.
Stokenhizer content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Stokenhizer blocks with his arms.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.
A knee to the head by Stokenhizer.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Stokenhizer scores with a knee to the head.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Stokenhizer goes for a takedown attempt but Rua pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Rua throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua throws a body kick the misses
and Stokenhizer counters with a series of strikes. Rua will be more careful next time no doubt.

Rua has Stokenhizer up against the cage in a clinch.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.

Stokenhizer manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rua would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Stokenhizer is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stokenhizer with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Stokenhizer prevents Rua from standing back up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Rua has one foot on Stokenhizer's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Shogun Rua is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Stokenhizer fails with an attempt to clinch.
A low kick from Rua misses

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua connects with a knee to the head.
Stokenhizer with a knee to the head.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Stokenhizer has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Rua trying to stall but Stokenhizer improves his position.
Rua misses with a knee to the head.
Rua misses with a knee strike.
Stokenhizer with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Stokenhizer stalling the fight.
Rua is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Stokenhizer is defending well for now.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rua with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Stokenhizer misses with a knee strike.
Rua is looking to control Stokenhizer's arms but Stokenhizer gets an underhook and turns him. Now Rua has his back to the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shogun Rua comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Rua has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 28:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shogun Rua!
A relieved looking Shogun Rua thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.