PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Howard Stern (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Kroblur (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stern comes to the cage accompanied by The Great American Nightmare. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Stern
vs
Kroblur

184 cm
31
199 lbs
23 - 11 - 0

186 cm
29
196 lbs
14 - 8 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Perkele!
Humanoid Nutrition (160Q for 160$)

KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Howard Stern!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Matt Kroblur!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Phil Schofield and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kroblur scores with a nice strike.
Stern connects with a good right hand that stumbles Kroblur. Kroblur circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Stern moves out of range as Kroblur strikes.
Kroblur throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Stern's head.
Stern has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Rabid Dog in the buildup to the fight.
Stern blocks a jab.
Stern ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Stern throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Kroblur lands with a thumping leg kick.
Kroblur throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Stern defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Kroblur.
Stern throws a hook but Kroblur blocks it.
Matt Kroblur seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kroblur moves out of range of the strikes.
A little jabbing left from Kroblur on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.

Stern drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Stern tries to advance to mount but can't.
Stern wants to control but Kroblur is keeping him busy.

Stern looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kroblur tries to buck Stern off but Stern is having none of it.
Kroblur is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Stern's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Stern wants to lay and pray for a moment but Kroblur keeps working.
Kroblur works his way to full guard. Good work.
Stern wants to control from the top but Kroblur keeps moving.
Stern trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Kroblur manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Kroblur cracks Stern with a solid left hand.
Stern preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Kroblur got a little sloppy there for a moment and Stern has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Kroblur has managed to get both his arms back between Stern's legs - danger averted.
Kroblur wants to control from the top but Stern keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stern looking to hit a scissor sweep but Kroblur is one step ahead there.
Stern not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kroblur accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Stern preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kroblur preventing the sweep.
Kroblur working some strikes from top position.
Stern is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Kroblur is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kroblur preventing the sweep.
Kroblur working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Stern seems keen to control Kroblur's posture.
Kroblur scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Kroblur working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Stern's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kroblur lands a couple of digs.
Kroblur throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Stern works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Kroblur throws a big elbow that misses.
Kroblur landing some decent shots from guard.
Kroblur postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Kroblur trying to control the position from guard on top but Stern is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Stern pulls Kroblur in close to his closed guard and prevents Kroblur from doing any damage or advancing position.
Stern looking for a sweep. Not yet Stern, not yet.
Kroblur keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Stern's head.
Kroblur throwing strikes from guard but Stern blocks nicely.
Stern lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Stern connects with a couple of short punches.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kroblur 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 four minutes gone in the round.
Stern wants to improve his position but Kroblur is controlling well.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Kroblur working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.
Stern blocking the ground and pound attempt from Kroblur.
Kroblur is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Kroblur throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Stern trying to control but Kroblur postures up.
Kroblur working the head and body with strikes.
Stern tries to roll over but Kroblur keeps him under control.
Kroblur missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Kroblur lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stern trying to control but Kroblur postures up.
Stern keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Kroblur 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.

Stern misses with a wild body shot.
Kroblur fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Stern seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Stern takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Kroblur is looking to score with low kicks.
Kroblur cracks a nice hook into Stern's ribs.
Kroblur has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Stern finds it's way round the side to connect with Kroblur's head.
A jab from Stern finds it's way through Kroblur's defenses.
Kroblur misses the shot to the body.
An attempted straight right counter from Stern misses the target.
Kroblur misses with a body shot
and Stern counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Kroblur thinking.
A good leg kick by Stern.
Stern throws a looping overhand right but Kroblur ducks down to avoid it.
A little jabbing left from Kroblur on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stern avoids the body shot from Kroblur.
Stern tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Kroblur defends well and Stern ends up having to push Kroblur into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Kroblur misses with an uppercut. Stern saw that one coming.
Kroblur lands with a nice body punch.
Nice jab there from Kroblur.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kroblur swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Kroblur needs to keep his hands up - Stern had a free shot at his head there.
Kroblur lands an overhand right.
Stern ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Kroblur throws a body punch but Stern moves out of range.
Kroblur throws a head kick but Stern moves out of range.
Kroblur has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Kroblur there as he acknowledges the shot.
Kroblur shoots in for a takedown but Stern shows good takedown defense.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Kroblur.
Kroblur working away.
Stern on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Stern is looking for a sweep.
Stern manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Kroblur throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Kroblur is trying to control. Stern wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Kroblur lands strikes from half guard.
Matt Kroblur has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stern avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kroblur.
Stern holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Kroblur prevents Stern from improving his position.
Stern wants to control but Kroblur is keeping busy.
Kroblur is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Kroblur thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Stern's head.
Kroblur is nestled in close to Stern, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Kroblur sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Stern defending well though.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
Kroblur winds up and cracks Stern with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Stern wants to get back to full guard.
Stern is not content to let Kroblur control the position.
Kroblur prevents Stern from improving his position.
Kroblur not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Kroblur working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kroblur trying to control the action but Stern is working from the bottom.
Kroblur has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Kroblur seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Stern keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Kroblur working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Stern is looking for a sweep. Kroblur is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Kroblur looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Stern with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Nice strikes from Kroblur there.
Stern tries to get to full guard but Kroblur has control of the leg.
Kroblur is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Kroblur working the head and body with strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kroblur lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Stern is rocked!
Kroblur lands a big elbow - Stern is out of it! He's waving his arms around but his eyes are closed and he's not intelligently defending himself - the ref has no choice but to jump in and stop the fight! This one is in the books! A TKO win for Kroblur!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Matt Kroblur!
Matt Kroblur is the new middleweight champion!
During a confident post fight interview, Matt Kroblur thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
Howard Stern spoke after the fight, saying 'I blame Robin and those big G's.'.