PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kunta Kinte (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francois Van Steyne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kinte comes to the cage accompanied by Wu Tang Clan- Shame On A Nigga. Van Steyne has chosen When Angels Cry as his entrance music. Francois Van Steyne has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kinte
vs
Van Steyne

187 cm
32
195 lbs
12 - 2 - 0

187 cm
27
195 lbs
12 - 5 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Fury Nutrition Inc.

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 12 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Kunta Kinte!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Francois Van Steyne!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Yves DeLean and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Van Steyne throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Kinte stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Van Steyne misses with a right hand

and Kinte counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Kinte jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Van Steyne walks away with a smile on his face. Kinte gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Kinte has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Razor Sharp Training Systems [Hellraiser Inc.] in the buildup to the fight.
Van Steyne showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Kinte.
Francois Van Steyne seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kinte wants to clinch up but Van Steyne keeps it at a distance.
Kinte misses with a leg kick.
Van Steyne walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Kinte checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.

Van Steyne instigates a clinch.
Kinte misses with the head strike.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kinte.
Kinte has Van Steyne pushed against the cage.
Kinte taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kinte has a couple of punches blocked by Van Steyne.
Kinte struggles to land a body shot inside as Van Steyne controls his hands.
Kinte has a couple of punches blocked by Van Steyne.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kinte.
Van Steyne is stalling here.
With the fighters up against the cage, Van Steyne throws an elbow but misses.
Kinte fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Kinte misses with a hook to the ribs.
Kinte has Van Steyne pressed against the cage, preventing Van Steyne from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Van Steyne blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Kinte lands with a right to the head.
Van Steyne working hard to break the clinch.

Van Steyne breaks from the clinch.
Kinte scores with a jab to the jaw.
Van Steyne throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kinte tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Van Steyne has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Kinte seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Van Steyne can turn it around.
Van Steyne has had enough of the clinch but Kinte keeps him there for the moment.
Kinte throws a punch but it's blocked by Van Steyne.
Van Steyne blocks a body shot from Kinte.
Van Steyne is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Kinte taking a breather.

Van Steyne breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Van Steyne throws a half hearted mid kick.
Van Steyne misses with a double jab.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kinte avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Kinte looks to throw the jab but Van Steyne is out of range.
Van Steyne throws a sloppy head kick and Kinte moves out of range easily.
Kinte connects with an inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Steyne ducks right into an uppercut from Kinte.
Van Steyne looks to land a left hand but Kinte moved out of range nicely.
Van Steyne scores with a nice head shot.
Kinte is looking to clinch.
Kinte throws a hook but Van Steyne blocks it.
Van Steyne throws a hook to the side of Kinte's head but Kinte sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Van Steyne listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Kinte digs a good body shot into Van Steyne's ribs.
Van Steyne will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kinte shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Van Steyne cracks Kinte with an open hand slap.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Steyne misses with a looping left.
Kinte lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Van Steyne backs up against the cage.
Van Steyne feints and then cracks Kinte's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Kinte down.
Van Steyne looks to land a right hand but Kinte moved out of range.
Kinte throws a push kick but Van Steyne slaps the foot to one side.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kinte chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Kinte scoring well with a low kick there.
Kinte staying out of range there.
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 Kunta Kinte 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.

Jab by Van Steyne.
Kinte blocks a jab.
Kinte looks for the body kick but Van Steyne saw that one coming.
Kinte bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Kunta Kinte is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Kinte 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.
Van Steyne takes one to the side of the head.
Van Steyne throws a jab when Kinte was well out of range.
Van Steyne throws a jab but it's blocked by Kinte.
Kinte throws a shot from downtown. Van Steyne moves away and avoids it.
Kinte connects with the punch.
Kinte throws a hook but Van Steyne avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kinte throws a body kick that misses
and Van Steyne counters with a straight right hand.
Van Steyne thows a left - swing and a miss!
Van Steyne misses with a shot to the body

and Kinte counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Kinte.
Van Steyne has Kinte pushed against the cage.
Kinte wants to stall.
A head punch on the inside from Kinte fails to land.
Kinte is stalling here.
Van Steyne wants to break free but Kinte has control.
Van Steyne wants to break free but Kinte has control.
Van Steyne blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kinte misses with some punches.
Kinte struggles to land a body shot inside as Van Steyne controls his hands.
Van Steyne tries to break the clinch but Kinte is controlling the position.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Van Steyne.

It looks like Kunta Kinte has been cut.

Van Steyne breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kinte looks to throw the jab but Van Steyne is out of range.
Kinte thows a body shot but no joy.
Kinte connects with a jab.
Van Steyne pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Kinte crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Van Steyne - the referee stops the clock and Kinte gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Van Steyne. Kinte manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
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!
Kinte throws a front kick aimed at Van Steyne's knee but Van Steyne avoids it well.
Kinte throws a front kick aimed at Van Steyne's knee but Van Steyne avoids it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kinte takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Van Steyne misses with a hook. Kinte ducked under it nicely.
Kinte tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Kinte throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Van Steyne counters with a stiff right hand.
Nice defenses there by Kinte.

Van Steyne closes the distance and clinches.
Van Steyne has had enough of the clinch but Kinte keeps him there for the moment.
Van Steyne blocks a body shot from Kinte.
Van Steyne blocking some punches.
Kinte prevents Van Steyne from breaking the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Steyne.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kinte tries to throw a body punch but Van Steyne avoids it by throwing Kinte back against the cage.
Kinte struggles to land a body shot inside as Van Steyne controls his hands.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Steyne.
Van Steyne can't break the clinch.
Van Steyne tries to break free but Kinte pushes him back against the cage.
Kinte lands a hook to the side of the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Kinte.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kinte tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Van Steyne manages to break the clinch.
Kinte fails in his attempt to clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kinte looks for the body kick but Van Steyne saw that one coming.
Kinte looks to land a combination but Van Steyne avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Francois Van Steyne will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Kunta Kinte's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kinte doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Francois Van Steyne seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Kinte throws a half hearted mid kick.
Van Steyne misses the jab.
A big right from Van Steyne misses.
A swing and a miss from Kinte.
Kinte avoids the head kick by Van Steyne.
Van Steyne misses with a straight right.
Van Steyne throws a nice looking combination but Kinte bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Van Steyne slips a jab and a cross from Kinte.
Van Steyne swings widly with a right hand

and Kinte moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kinte throws a punch but it's blocked by Van Steyne.
Kinte pressing his opponent against the cage.
Kinte misses with a body punch.
A short right from Kinte on the inside.
Kinte scores with a shot to the side of Van Steyne's head.
Kinte wants to stall.
Kinte misses with a body punch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Kinte tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Van Steyne smiles and moves away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kinte misses with a body shot
and Van Steyne counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kinte wants to clinch.
Donk. Kinte catches Van Steyne right on the button with a cross.
Van Steyne lands the left hand.
A low kick from Kinte is predictable there
and Van Steyne counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Van Steyne throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The fight stays on the outside here - Kinte looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Van Steyne looks to throw the jab but Kinte is out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Steyne walks forward, straight into a front kick from Kinte.
Kinte ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice body kick there by Kinte.
Kinte uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Van Steyne.
Van Steyne throws a right hand that misses

and Kinte counters by moving into the clinch.
Kinte misses with a hook from the clinch.
Kinte misses with a punch on the inside.

Van Steyne breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kinte moves out of range of the strikes.
Van Steyne misses with a hook. Kinte ducked under it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kinte clinches with his opponent.
Kinte lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Kinte just leaning against Van Steyne, taking a breather.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Steyne.
Kinte misses with a body punch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kinte doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Kinte is trying to stall.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Van Steyne creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Van Steyne breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Kunta Kinte.
I think Kinte has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 28:29
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 29:29
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!