PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Joseph Hamadou (ranked 6305 p4p, 24802 weight class) and Alexander Stevens (ranked 562 p4p, 581 weight class). Stevens has chosen Jailhouse rock as his entrance music. Joseph Hamadou has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Hamadou
vs
Stevens

182 cm
18
168
1 - 1 - 0

178 cm
23
170
0 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Joseph Hamadou!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Alexander Stevens!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Eddie Farnsworth and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice takedown defense from Stevens. No joy for Hamadou on that attempt.

Stevens scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Stevens decides to stand up.
Hamadou tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Stevens manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Hamadou will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Hamadou gets the takedown into side control.
Stevens wants to control but Hamadou postures up.
Stevens is letting Hamadou control him for a moment.
Stevens wants to control but Hamadou postures up.
Stevens is trying to get back to half guard.
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!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Stevens is trying to control Hamadou's posture but Hamadou avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamadou controlling the position.
Hamadou has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Stevens is trying to control Hamadou's posture but Hamadou avoids it.
Hamadou taking a breather here.
Hamadou's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hamadou knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Stevens on the ground.
Stevens is trying to get back to half guard.
Hamadou working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Hamadou is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Stevens's shoulder. That is not cool.
Stevens regains half guard.
Hamadou wants to free his trapped foot but Stevens is holding on for dear life with his legs.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hamadou passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Stevens!
Hamadou takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Hamadou looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Hamadou postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Stevens looks a forlorn figure.
Stevens holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Hamadou tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Hamadou controlling the position easily from mount.
Stevens wants to hold on but Hamadou pushes him away.
Hamadou throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Stevens wants to control but Hamadou is having none of it.
Stevens avoids a series of strikes thrown by Hamadou.
Hamadou sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hamadou looking to ground and pound but Stevens is blocking nicely.
Stevens tries to reverse the position but Hamadou maintains control.
Hamadou tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Further stalling from Hamadou.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stevens regains half guard.
Stevens is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Hamadou dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Hamadou changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Stevens tries to avoid it but Hamadou manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Stevens to the ground. Stevens escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Stevens throws a nice outside leg kick.
Horrible takedown attempt by Stevens or perhaps it was just good defense by Hamadou, which made it look bad.
Hamadou doesn't manage to clinch there - Stevens circles away.
Hamadou tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Stevens paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Hamadou tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Stevens shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hamadou defends it nicely.
Hamadou wants to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hamadou shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Stevens pinned against the cage. Stevens gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Stevens throws a fast counter high kick but Hamadou manages to duck under it in time.

Hamadou dives in and scores a takedown into Stevens's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamadou trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Our spies down at at Tran MMA Gym inform us that Stevens has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Hamadou is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Stevens has his foot on Hamadou's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Hamadou works his way back into a safe position though.
Hamadou is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Hamadou seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Stevens for as long as he can get away with.
Hamadou has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hamadou wants to pass the guard but Stevens is keeping the position.
Hamadou controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Joseph Hamadou overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Hamadou is stinking the place up with his stalling.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Hamadou slaps away a takedown attempt from Stevens, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Joseph Hamadou has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alexander Stevens.
Hamadou tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Stevens enables Hamadou to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Stevens manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Hamadou controlling from the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Hamadou.
Hamadou passes into half guard.
Stevens taking some punishment here, with Hamadou in his half guard.
Hamadou is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Stevens can do to turn this around?
Hamadou keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Hamadou throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Hamadou perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's four 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.
Stevens is trying to maintain the position but Hamadou is very close to passing his half guard.
Hamadou keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Hamadou throwing shots but Stevens is blocking nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Hamadou not doing much here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hamadou looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Hamadou tries to clinch up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Hamadou dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Hamadou shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Stevens pinned against the cage. Stevens gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Hamadou tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Stevens paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Hamadou shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Stevens but Stevens pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Stevens fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Horrible takedown attempt by Stevens or perhaps it was just good defense by Hamadou, which made it look bad.
Stevens looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stevens with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Hamadou tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Stevens gets caught napping as Hamadou dives in and scores a takedown. Stevens manages to retain guard.
Stevens wants to stand and escape but Hamadou is having none of it.
Hamadou missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hamadou works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Stevens gets back to full guard.
Stevens takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hamadou looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Stevens trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

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.
Hamadou controlling from the top position.
Hamadou continues to stall.
Hamadou continues to hold on tight.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Stevens tries to clinch there but Hamadou circles away.
Stevens circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hamadou wants to clinch.
Hamadou misses with a takedown
and Stevens cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joseph Hamadou. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stevens swats away the attempt to clinch by Hamadou.
Stevens tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Hamadou paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens lands with a slapping head kick.
Stevens swats away the attempt to clinch by Hamadou.
A countering left hand to the body from Stevens misses.
Stevens darts in looking for a takedown but Hamadou gets double underhooks and turns Stevens into the cage.
Hamadou tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Stevens manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Alexander Stevens seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Hamadou tries to close the distance and clinch but Stevens swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Stevens smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Hamadou is looking to clinch.
Joseph Hamadou is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hamadou shoots for a takedown but Stevens saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Hamadou tries to clinch up
and Stevens counters with a head kick. That will keep Hamadou thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!

Hamadou is rocked!

It looks like Joseph Hamadou has been cut.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Oh Hamadou is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hamadou gets underhooks to prevent Stevens's takedown attempt.

Stevens escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hamadou misses with a takedown attempt

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

Stevens pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Stevens clinches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hamadou is looking to control Stevens's arms but Stevens gets an underhook and turns him. Now Hamadou has his back to the cage.

Stevens pulls guard successfully.
Stevens working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Hamadou.
Hamadou throws an elbow that misses. Stevens uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Hamadou's guard. Nice move by Stevens!

Stevens stands and throws Hamadou's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Stevens thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Stevens in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

Stevens is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Hamadou has escaped the position, nice work there.
Stevens trying to control the action but Hamadou is working from the bottom.

Stevens decides to stand up, so the ref orders Hamadou to his feet.
Hamadou tries to clinch but Stevens moves out of range.
Hamadou moves to clinch but Stevens breaks away
and Stevens counters with a straight that turns Hamadou's legs to rubber! Stevens pushes forward with more strikes and Hamadou goes down, battered and bloody! That's a wrap folks!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Alexander Stevens!
A very excited looking Alexander Stevens made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.