PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Dark Hunter (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Clifford Donovan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Donovan has chosen Down Under as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Hunter
vs
Donovan

170 cm
24
167 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

175 cm
26
166 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Dark Hunter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Clifford Donovan!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hunter jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Donovan has taken the fight to the clinch.
A short right from Donovan.
Donovan lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Hunter.
Hunter misses with some punches.
Donovan stalling.
Donovan receives a warning from the referee for stalling.
Hunter pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Donovan manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Donovan manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Donovan fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Hunter, pushing him back against the cage.

Donovan jumps guard and drags Hunter to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hunter is looking to stand up but Donovan won't let him.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Donovan wants to stand and escape but Hunter is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hunter gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Donovan clinches.
Donovan working Hunter over with knees to the body.
Donovan working Hunter over with knees to the body.
Donovan blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hunter stalling the fight.

Hunter manages to break the clinch.

Donovan clinches.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Donovan told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.
Donovan landing knees to the body.
Donovan throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Hunters head.
Donovan looking to stall.
Donovan takes an elbow to the forehead.
Hunter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Donovan takes an elbow to the forehead.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Donovan lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hunter backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hunter creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Hunter on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Donovan is working Hunter over against the cage.
Donovan is looking to control Hunter's arms but Hunter gets an underhook and turns him. Now Donovan has his back to the cage.
Hunter on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hunter throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Donovan working Hunter over with knees to the body.
Donovan makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Hunter managing to block the knees to the body from Donovan.
Donovan landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Donovan lands a knee to the body.
Hunter pushes Donovan back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hunter goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Donovan on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Hunter creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Donovan's defenses.
Donovan stalls.
Donovan trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donovan misses with some punches.
Hunter managing to block the knees to the body from Donovan.
Hunter misses with some punches.
Donovan is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Donovan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Donovan looking to stall.
Donovan missing with knees to the body.
Hunter on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Donovan jumps guard.
Donovan tries to strike from the bottom.

Donovan is working an open guard so Hunter takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

Donovan has managed to clinch.
A knee to the head by Hunter.

It looks like Clifford Donovan has been cut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Donovan takes an elbow to the temple.
Hunter lands a right hand.
Donovan tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hunter's elbow.
Hunter is trying to maintain a safe position but Donovan gets an underhook and turns Hunter into the cage.
Donovan misses with a short punch on the inside.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hunter manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Hunter misses with a knee strike.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Hunter gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Donovan lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hunter backwards.
Hunter connects with a nasty looking knee right to Donovan's face.
Donovan tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hunter avoids it.
Hunter trying to stall but Donovan improves his position.
Donovan misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hunter.
Hunter is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Donovan will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Hunter up against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Clifford Donovan dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Clifford Donovan's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Donovan clinches up with Hunter and pushes him back against the cage.
Hunter misses with a knee strike.
Hunter on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Donovan working Hunter over with knees to the body.
Donovan swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hunter lands a damaging elbow.
Donovan trying to land knees to the body.
Donovan struggles to land a body shot inside as Hunter controls his hands.

Donovan pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Donovan has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Donovan closes the distance and clinches.
Hunter stalling the fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hunter pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Donovan looking to slow down the pace here.
Donovan landing knees to the body.
Donovan unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Hunter tries a knee to the head but Donovan blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donovan manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Clifford Donovan seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Hunter stalling the fight.
Donovan has a couple of punches blocked by Hunter.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Hunter just misses with a elbow thrown towards Donovan's brow.
Donovan scores a nice knee to the body.
Hunter misses with a hook from the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Hunter throws an elbow but misses.
Donovan throws a head punch that misses.
Donovan takes a shot to the head.
Donovan effectively controlling the action here.
With the fighters up against the cage, Hunter throws an elbow but misses.
Donovan putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hunter in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Hunter tries to throw a body punch but Donovan avoids it by throwing Hunter back against the cage.
Nice body punch from Hunter - that landed with a thud.
Donovan blocks an elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donovan tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hunter avoids it.
Donovan landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Donovan blocks the elbow strike.
Hunter managing to block the knees to the body from Donovan.
Hunter lands an elbow just above Donovan 's eye.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Donovan blocks an elbow strike from Hunter.
Donovan lands a left hand.
Hunter has a couple of punches blocked by Donovan.
Knees to the body from Donovan.
Donovan scores with a knee to the head.
Donovan tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hunter avoids it.
Donovan tries to land knees in the clinch but Hunter avoids the damage to the body.
Donovan dodges an elbow strike from Hunter.
Donovan is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hunter is defending well for now.
Donovan's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Donovan goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donovan looking to slow down the pace here.
Hunter takes a knee to the side of the body.
Hunter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hunter blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hunter lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Donovan or not.
Hunter managing to block the knees to the body from Donovan.
Hunter is trying to maintain a safe position but Donovan gets an underhook and turns Hunter into the cage.
Hunter wants to get back to striking at distance but Donovan won't allow it.
Donovan tries to circle away but Hunter has him pinned against the cage.
Donovan misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Hunter fails to land.
Donovan using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Donovan misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hunter.
Donovan is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Donovan with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hunter swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Donovan breaks the clinch.

Donovan darts in and clinches Hunter up against the cage.

Donovan breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hunter tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Donovan manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Donovan has managed to clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Donovan has Hunter pressed against the cage.
Hunter pushes off an throws an elbow but Donovan leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Donovan lands with a left to the head.
Hunter working hard to break the clinch.
Donovan blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Donovan crunches a lovely knee into Hunter's ribcage.
Donovan missing with knees to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Donovan creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Donovan working Hunter over with knees to the body.
Donovan is working for takedown but Hunter is calmly controlling the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Clifford Donovan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Clifford Donovan's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! 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.

Donovan forces Hunter back against the cage and clinches.
Donovan blocks the elbow strike.
Donovan landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Donovan lands a good knee to the midsection. Hunter won't want to take too many of those.
Hunter is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

Donovan pulls guard.
Donovan wants to get back to his feet but Hunter is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Donovan trying to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Donovan wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donovan is pulling down on Hunter's head. It's preventing any offense from Hunter, at least for the moment.
Donovan has a closed guard, preventing Hunter from standing up.
Donovan throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Donovan is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Donovan shoots in but no luck this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Hunter tries to clinch up.
Hunter takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Hunter is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Hunter is looking to clinch.
Hunter wants to clinch up but Donovan keeps it at a distance.

Hunter closes the distance and pushes Donovan back into the cage.

Donovan pulls guard.
Donovan looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Hunter puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Donovan has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Hunter is working away from the top position though.
Hunter tries to stand but can't do so whilst Donovan controls his leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hunter prevents Donovan from improving his position.
Hunter tries to stand and escape but Donovan is controlling the position.

Donovan makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Hunter looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hunter tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Donovan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Clifford Donovan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hunter tries to clinch up.
Dark Hunter is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Donovan drives through and clinches with Hunter against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Hunter throws an elbow but misses.
Hunter pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Donovan prevents Hunter from breaking the clinch.
Donovan tries to pull guard but Hunter forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Hunter misses with some punches.
Donovan working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Donovan tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Dark Hunter has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Clifford Donovan.
Donovan is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hunter is defending well for now.

Hunter manages to break the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Donovan throws a right hand that Hunter ducks under and follows up with a left that Hunter also avoids with ease.

Donovan clinches up against the cage.
Donovan utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Dark Hunter has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Clifford Donovan is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hunter goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

And that's the end of the fight!
Clifford Donovan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Donovan 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30

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