PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ahmed Roberson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stephen Underhill (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Roberson
vs
Underhill

174 cm
23
215 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

150 cm
25
200 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Decent wrestler
Decent knees
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ahmed Roberson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Stephen Underhill!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Ivan Kurochkin and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Underhill instigates a clinch.
Roberson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Underhill is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Underhill has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Roberson regains guard immediately.
Underhill looking to pass the guard.
Underhill sitting in guard here, content to control.
Underhill passes Roberson's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Roberson trying to control from the bottom.
Underhill wants to lay and pray for a moment but Roberson keeps working.

Underhill is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Roberson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Underhill.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Underhill controlling the action here.
Underhill trying to mount his opponent but Roberson defends it.
Underhill seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Roberson does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Roberson wants to control but Underhill is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Underhill thows a huge punch but Roberson dodges it nicely.
Underhill sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Stephen Underhill has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
A jab from Roberson does it's job there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Roberson gets the takedown into side control.
Underhill trying his best to control but Roberson has mounted him.
Roberson lands a heavy elbow.
Underhill slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Underhill is looking to improve his position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Underhill keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Underhill has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Roberson is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Underhill is doing well to control the position and prevent Roberson from advancing to side control.
Roberson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Roberson really is a fat lump.
It looks like Roberson is going to stand back up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Roberson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Underhill blocking the ground and pound attempt from Roberson.

Roberson looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Underhill wants to control but Roberson is keeping busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Underhill tries to get to full guard but Roberson has control of the leg.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Underhill can do anything to dispel that myth.
Roberson wants to stand up but Underhill manages to regain full guard.
Roberson wanted to stand there but Underhill had control of the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Underhill is pulling down on Roberson's head. It's preventing any offense from Roberson, at least for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Underhill dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Underhill shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Roberson manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Underhill pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Roberson is keeping the position for now.
Roberson working a defensive guard here.
Underhill controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Underhill postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Underhill preventing the sweep.
Roberson will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Underhill trying to control but Roberson is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roberson has a closed guard, preventing Underhill from standing up.
Roberson controls Underhill momentarily but Underhill frees himself.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Roberson takes the fight into the clinch.

Underhill works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Roberson keeping moving, preventing Underhill from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Roberson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Underhill lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Roberson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Underhill slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Roberson trying to keep a closed guard but Underhill is proving a slippery customer.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Horrible takedown attempt by Roberson or perhaps it was just good defense by Underhill, which made it look bad.
Underhill tries to clinch up but Roberson circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Underhill just misses with a punch to the body.
Underhill fails in his attempt to clinch.

Underhill clinches with his opponent.

Roberson is fighting off a takedown attempt but Underhill is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Roberson to the mat. Roberson regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Underhill trying to control the position from guard on top but Roberson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Underhill is breathing heavily.
Underhill with a flurry of punches that miss.
Underhill seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Roberson seems keen to control Underhill's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Underhill is stalling in the full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Stephen Underhill.
Underhill misses with a head kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Roberson gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Roberson is trying to push Underhill away but Underhill has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Underhill showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Roberson's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Underhill dodges the punch combination from Roberson.
Roberson scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Underhill plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

It looks like Ahmed Roberson has been cut.
Stephen Underhill seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Roberson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Underhill wants to improve his position but instead Roberson has moved into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ground and pound from Roberson.
Underhill is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Roberson is working for a submission of some sort.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Roberson looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Roberson thows a huge punch but Underhill dodges it nicely.
Underhill is looking to control Roberson's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Underhill avoid being mounted?
Roberson slips a nice elbow through Underhill's hands, connecting with Underhill's forehead.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Underhill keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Underhill tries to get to full guard but Roberson has control of the leg.
Roberson wants to get back to his feet.
Underhill tries to roll over but Roberson keeps him under control.
Roberson wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Underhill moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Roberson postures up.
Underhill tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Underhill takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Roberson accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Roberson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Underhill is proving hard to escape from.
Roberson lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Roberson stands up and waves to Underhill to follow him.
Roberson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Underhill moves into the clinch.

Underhill is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Roberson can't fight it off and eventually Underhill manages to take the fight to the floor. Roberson looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Underhill forces his way into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Roberson pushes Underhill off looking to stand but Underhill dives back in and keeps control.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Stephen Underhill.
Well Underhill has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Stephen Underhill!