PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Leonzar Kennedy (ranked 408 p4p, 277 weight class) and Joost Van Buren (ranked 62 p4p, 39 weight class). Leonzar Kennedy could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Joost Van Buren's chin.

Kennedy
vs
Van Buren

188 cm
26
215
13 - 5 - 0

188 cm
40
206
39 - 23 - 1

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Fast

Conviction

New Standard

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 13 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Leonzar Kennedy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 39 - 23 - 1, fighting out of New York, Joost Van Buren!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Percy O'Donnell and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Van Buren lands a nice looking body shot.

Van Buren gets a clinch.
Van Buren comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Kennedy takes a shot to the head.
A head punch on the inside from Kennedy fails to land.
Van Buren pushes Kennedy back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Kennedy lands a good knee to the midsection. Van Buren won't want to take too many of those.
Kennedy avoiding damage as Van Buren throws knees to the body.
Kennedy lands with a light punch inside.
Van Buren tries to work over Kennedy's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Van Buren throws a punch but it's blocked by Kennedy.

Kennedy escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kennedy scores with a nice strike.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Van Buren uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Kennedy fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Kennedy lands a right hook to the body.
Van Buren fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Kennedy manages to avoid it.
An attempted straight right counter from Kennedy misses the target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kennedy jabs at Van Buren's body.
Kennedy blocks the body kick.
Van Buren lands a right hook to the body.
Kennedy throws a sloppy head kick and Van Buren moves out of range easily.
Van Buren was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
Van Buren feints a jab promting Kennedy to slip. Van Buren then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Kennedy slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Van Buren keeps Kennedy at a distance using the push kick.
A swing and a miss from Kennedy.
Kennedy scores with a spinning back kick!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Buren throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Van Buren lands with an uppercut that bounces Kennedy off the cage and back into range.

It looks like Leonzar Kennedy has been cut.
Kennedy shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kennedy misses with a hook. Van Buren ducked under it nicely.
Kennedy's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Kennedy duly obliges.
Kennedy sizes up Van Buren with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Kennedy pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Van Buren thows a body kick. Kennedy tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Van Buren misses with a looping right.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Buren thows a left - swing and a miss!
Kennedy went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Kennedy tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Van Buren manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Van Buren now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Kennedy throws a hook but Van Buren avoids it easily.
Van Buren has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Van Buren changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Van Buren lands with an uppercut that bounces Kennedy off the cage and back into range.
Van Buren throws a body shot but no joy.
Kennedy misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Van Buren.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Van Buren.
Kennedy throws a big counter combination but Van Buren scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Van Buren darts in and clinches Kennedy up against the cage.
Van Buren lands a good knee to the midsection. Kennedy won't want to take too many of those.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kennedy lands a body punch.
Kennedy tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Van Buren avoids it.
Van Buren scores with a shot to the side of Kennedy's head.
Van Buren with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Kennedy blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Van Buren misses with a punch to the body.
Kennedy misses with a body punch.
Van Buren lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Van Buren blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Van Buren leaning against his opponent.
Van Buren throws a punch but it's blocked by Kennedy.
Van Buren unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kennedy lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Kennedy is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Our sources have told us that Kennedy has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
Van Buren tries a body shot but Kennedy blocks it.
Kennedy lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Kennedy lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Van Buren backwards.
Van Buren can't find room to land a body shot as Kennedy controls the action.
Van Buren misses with a punch to the body.
Van Buren prevents a body shot from Kennedy.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joost Van Buren dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Leonzar Kennedy's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Van Buren misses with a body kick.
Van Buren throws a sloppy head kick and Kennedy moves out of range easily.
Van Buren moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Jab, jab by Kennedy - just one landing.

It looks like Joost Van Buren has been cut.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Van Buren.
Kennedy was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Kennedy tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Kennedy avoids a kick to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Van Buren swings for the body but Kennedy moves out of range.
It looked like Kennedy was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Van Buren.
Kennedy takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Van Buren in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Van Buren lands a really nice looking cross but Kennedy seems unphased.
Joost Van Buren seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kennedy scores with a decent looking hook.
Van Buren throws a leg kick but Kennedy sees it coming and moves out of range.
Kennedy throws a nice looking combination but Van Buren bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
A nice side step and Van Buren releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Van Buren fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Kennedy manages to avoid it.
Kennedy scores with a head kick.
Van Buren takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Kennedy slips a straight right by Van Buren.
Kennedy throws a lazy head kick
and Van Buren counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Kennedy thinking.
Kennedy tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Van Buren throws a body punch but Kennedy moves out of range.
Kennedy swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Van Buren scores with a push kick.
Van Buren connects with a body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Van Buren misses the shot to the body.
Van Buren scores with a nice body kick.
Kennedy swings away with a body shot that misses
and Van Buren counters with a solid body kick.
Van Buren fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Kennedy manages to avoid it.
Kennedy is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Van Buren has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Van Buren moves out of range as Kennedy strikes.
Van Buren is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Kennedy rather than just go for the knockout.
Kennedy with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Van Buren to score with a decent uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Buren misses with a body shot.
Van Buren misses with an attempted mid kick.
Van Buren throws a wild body kick that Kennedy sees coming a mile off.
Kennedy looks to throw the jab but Van Buren is out of range.
Van Buren scores with a nice strike.
Van Buren scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Van Buren is looking to clinch.
Van Buren lands with a nice body punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kennedy throws a hook but Van Buren avoids it easily.
Van Buren lands with a shot to the body.
Van Buren lands with a nice combination. Kennedy backs away looking to recover.
A shot to the liver by Van Buren. Beautiful body shot.
Kennedy swats away the attempt to clinch by Van Buren.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Jab from Kennedy.
Van Buren thumps Kennedy with a low kick.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joost Van Buren showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kennedy avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
A punch lands to the side of Van Buren 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Van Buren misses with a looping right.
Kennedy went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Kennedy is looking to clinch but Van Buren is avoiding it.
Van Buren tries to clinch but Kennedy is having none of it.
Kennedy takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A decent looking cross lands there for Van Buren.
Kennedy scoring well with a low kick there.

Van Buren drives through and clinches with Kennedy against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Van Buren throws a head punch that misses.
Kennedy missing with knees to the body.
Van Buren lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Kennedy looking to throw knees to the head but Van Buren is blocking nicely.
Kennedy goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Van Buren softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Van Buren keeps control of Kennedy as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Van Buren tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Kennedy's elbow.
Kennedy misses with a body punch.
A shot in the inside from Van Buren.
A short body shot lands from Van Buren as the two fighters clinch.
Van Buren lands with a short shot to the head.
Kennedy working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
A short body shot lands from Kennedy as the two fighters clinch.
Van Buren is trying to maintain a safe position but Kennedy gets an underhook and turns Van Buren into the cage.
Van Buren misses with a hook to the ribs.
Van Buren takes a knee right on the jaw!
Van Buren lands a nice knee to the body.
Leonzar Kennedy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Van Buren tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kennedy avoids it.
Kennedy misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Van Buren.
Van Buren managing to block the knees to the body from Kennedy.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Kennedy obliges.
Van Buren takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Van Buren.
Van Buren throws a head punch that misses.
Kennedy blocks an uppercut.
Van Buren pushes Kennedy back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Kennedy scores a nice knee to the body.
A short right from Kennedy on the inside.
Kennedy tries to throw a body punch but Van Buren avoids it by throwing Kennedy back against the cage.
Van Buren blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Van Buren misses with a short punch on the inside.
Van Buren using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Kennedy has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Kennedy connects with a knee to the head.
Kennedy stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Kennedy lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Van Buren or not.
Kennedy lands a right hand.
A shot in the inside from Kennedy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Van Buren misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Kennedy.
Kennedy tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Kennedy tries to land knees in the clinch but Van Buren avoids the damage to the body.
Kennedy missing with knees to the body.
A nice left hand lands by Kennedy.
Kennedy lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Van Buren backwards.
Van Buren is trying to stall.
Kennedy blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Joost Van Buren is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Van Buren is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Kennedy is defending well for now.
Van Buren misses with a punch on the inside.
Van Buren tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Kennedy presses Van Buren against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
A shot in the inside from Kennedy.
Van Buren blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kennedy lands a left hand that snaps the head of Van Buren backwards.
Kennedy lands a hook to the side of the head.
Kennedy misses with some punches.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Kennedy.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Van Buren lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Kennedy tries a knee to the head but Van Buren blocks it.
Van Buren lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Kennedy backwards.
Kennedy presses Van Buren against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Kennedy scores with a knee to the head.
Kennedy tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Kennedy misses with a hook to the ribs.
Knees in the clinch landing for Kennedy.
Kennedy tries a knee to the head but Van Buren blocks it.
Van Buren swings wildly with an uppercut but Kennedy uses good head movement to avoid it.
Kennedy blocks a punch to the side of the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Leonzar Kennedy showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Van Buren has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joost Van Buren!
Joost Van Buren was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.