PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Joe Stevenson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ehora Dopau (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dopau has chosen Tchanana na na na as his entrance music. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Stevenson
vs
Dopau

175 cm
20
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

167 cm
18
146 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joe Stevenson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ehora Dopau!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Emerson Jorge and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Stevenson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Dopau!
Stevenson content just to control the position here.
Dopau trying desperately to get to his feet.
Stevenson avoids the attempt from Dopau to control.
Dopau is trying desperately to improve position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Stevenson with a couple of short strikes.
Dopau wants to try and get back to his feet.
Stevenson landing strikes from the mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Stevenson cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Dopau is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Stevenson landing punches.
Dopau is in a horrible position here. Stevenson smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Dopau tries to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
BOOM! Stevenson connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Dopau really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Dopau wants to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
Stevenson is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Dopau can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Dopau can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Dopau looks gassed!
Stevenson controlling from mount.
Stevenson cracks Dopau with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Stevenson in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Dopau tries to hold on but Stevenson pushes him away.
Dopau taking shots to the head.
Stevenson is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Dopau can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Dopau taking shots to the head.
Dopau is looking to improve his position but Stevenson isn't that keen on the idea.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson with good strikes from the mount here!
Stevenson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Dopau can't escape the position.
Stevenson controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Stevenson with a couple of short strikes.
Stevenson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Dopau tries to reverse the position but Stevenson maintains control.
Stevenson 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.
Stevenson is landing with some decent strikes but Dopau is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Stevenson lands a big shot there that rocks Dopau but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
A nice elbow there by Stevenson.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Stevenson content just to control the position here.
Stevenson with a couple of short strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Stevenson 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.

Stevenson shoots for a double leg takedown but Dopau sprawls well. He's pushed Stevenson's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Dopau fails with an attempt to clinch.

Stevenson shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Dopau in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Stevenson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Stevenson lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Stevenson with the ground and pound from mount.
Dopau is breathing heavily.
Stevenson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Stevenson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Dopau hang on?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson looking to control but Dopau is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Dopau tries to lock up and control but Stevenson gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

Stevenson jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Dopau manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Stevenson stands up and beckons Dopau to his feet.
Joe Stevenson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Stevenson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Dopau but Dopau pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Stevenson is looking to clinch.

Stevenson gets caught flat footed, as Dopau shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Stevenson pushes Dopau off and scrambles back to his feet.
Dopau with a lazy takedown attempt

and Stevenson counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Stevenson.
Stevenson is stalling in the full guard.
Stevenson is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Stevenson avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Dopau has momentary wrist control but Stevenson slips an elbow through the middle.
Stevenson is stalling in the full guard.
Stevenson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Stevenson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Dopau is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Stevenson slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Stevenson wants to control from the top but Dopau keeps moving.
Dopau is trying to control the position but Stevenson postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Stevenson dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Dopau scores with a nice head shot.
Dopau is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Stevenson keeps the fight on the outside.
Dopau misses with a takedown

and Stevenson counters with a nice double leg into side control. Dopau won't be happy with that.
Dopau tries to bench press Stevenson off him but Stevenson keeps the position.
Stevenson is working Dopau over with some ground and pound from side control.
You can see the frustration on Dopau's face as Stevenson controls the position.
Stevenson connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Dopau some visible discomfort.
Joe Stevenson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Dopau takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stevenson in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Dopau is trying to get back to half guard.
Stevenson working the head and body with strikes.
Stevenson scoring with punches from side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Stevenson works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dopau is working to avoid the ground and pound but Stevenson connects with a decent elbow.
Dopau being controlled for a moment.
Stevenson landing strikes.
Stevenson scoring with punches and elbows.
Stevenson working the ground and pound.
Stevenson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Dopau can do to turn this around?
A lull in the action here as Stevenson stalls from top position.
Dopau struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevenson controlling the position.
Stevenson lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Dopau down.
Dopau is trying to escape the position but Stevenson is controlling the position.
Stevenson seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Dopau for as long as he can get away with.
Stevenson working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Stevenson cracks Dopau with a big elbow.
Dopau seems a little lost for a moment, as Stevenson dominates the positioning.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Joe Stevenson just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Stevenson has taken the fight to the clinch.
Stevenson is working for takedown but Dopau is calmly controlling the position for now.
Stevenson is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Dopau pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Dopau manages to break the clinch.
Ehora Dopau has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Joe Stevenson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Stevenson with a poor takedown

and Dopau counters with a single leg into guard. Stevenson didn't expect that.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Stevenson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Stevenson, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:26
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:26
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Stevenson!