PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Brett Stone (ranked 2244 p4p, 3544 weight class) and Rocco Damato (ranked 230 p4p, 341 weight class). Damato has chosen Thunderstruck as his entrance music. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Stone
vs
Damato

178 cm
25
152
13 - 14 - 0

170 cm
26
150
10 - 17 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Bondi MMA 🏝️

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 13 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Brett Stone!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rocco Damato!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Blasius, Patrick Alders and Nard Betker.

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

Stone gets the takedown into side control.
Stone tries to score with some ground and pound. Damato controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Damato tries to escape but Stone is in control.
Stone tries to advance to mount but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stone working the head and body with strikes.
Stone lands some shots froms side control.
Damato on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Damato is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Stone asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Damato struggling a bit here.
Stone controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damato is trying to control Stone's posture but Stone avoids it.
Stone cracks Damato with a big right hand but Damato just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Stone is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Stone scores with a couple of short elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stone working the ground and pound.
Stone is looking to take a break and control but Damato is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Damato is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

Stone is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Damato knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Stone is putting a hurting on Damato here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damato is trying to buck Stone off.
Stone cracks Damato with a big right hand but Damato just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
You can see the frustration on Damato's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Stone scoring with punches from side control.
Damato sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Stone performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Damato is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Stone scores with a couple of nice shots.
Stone is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Stone is thwarting Damato's attempts to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stone keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Stone slips a nice elbow through Damato's hands, connecting with Damato's forehead.
Damato wants to get back to his feet.
Stone perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Damato has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Stone is working away from the top position though.
Damato wants to get back to his feet.
Stone working over Damato with some ground and pound. Damato looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stone landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Stone is trying to work for a kimura but Damato is defending well.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Brett Stone dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Stone fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Damato avoids it really well and circles away.
Rocco Damato is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Stone swats away the attempt to clinch by Damato.
Stone avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Damato closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Stone wants to control but Damato postures up.
Stone is trying to work for a sweep but Damato has mounted him!
Damato unloads with some shots from mount but Stone bucks and avoids them well.

Damato goes for an armbar but Stone turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Stone.
Damato keeping moving, preventing Stone from controlling successfully.

Stone drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Stone jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damato looking to control.
Stone is working Damato over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Stone wants to control from the top but Damato keeps moving.
Stone lands a couple of digs.
Stone is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Stone is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Damato is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Stone is aware though and is defending well.
Stone is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Damato can do to turn this around?

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Damato working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Stone doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Stone manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Stone working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Damato is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Damato is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Stone sees it coming and defends easily.
Stone trying to control but Damato postures up.

Damato looking for a submission but Stone manages to get full guard, putting an end to that submission attempt.
Damato wants to control from the top but Stone keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damato is looking to stand up but Stone won't let him.
Stone wants to get back to his feet but Damato is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Damato postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Damato is fighting to break Stone's control of his arms but Stone is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Damato throwing strikes but missing.
Stone is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Damato trying to control but Stone is working from the bottom.
Damato postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's four 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.

Stone had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Damato defends it easily.
Stone lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Stone pushing down on Damato's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Damato is trying to stand up here but Stone is controlling him well.
Damato is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Stone scores with a couple of nice shots.
The fighters are battling for position here. Damato manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Brett Stone overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stone makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Stone looking to pass the guard.
Damato is trying to control the position from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Brett Stone dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Stone looks to throw the jab but Damato is out of range.
Stone looks to score with a jab to the body but Damato is just out of range.
Damato fails in his attempt to clinch.
Stone dodges the punch combination from Damato.

Stone instigates a clinch.
Stone utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Stone is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Damato gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Stone lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Stone misses with the head strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Damato is looking to break free of the clinch but Stone has double underhooks.
Damato managing to block the knees to the body from Stone.
A right handed body shot lands from Damato.
Stone has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Damato after a bit of a struggle.
A right hand to the body from Damato.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damato stops a takedown attempt from Stone.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brett Stone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Damato wants to break the clinch but can't.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Stone.
Damato looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Stone blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Stone has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Damato clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Can Damato hold on?! Stone is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
Damato tries to roll but Stone sticks to his back.
Stone is landing with strikes from the back.
Damato wants to escape the position.
Damato trying to control the hands but Stone breaks the grip.
Stone lands an elbow to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stone punishes Damato with strikes from the back mount.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stone connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Damato to escape the position.
Damato turns into Stone and is now in his guard.
Damato is fighting to break Stone's control of his arms but Stone is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Damato loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Stone has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Damato off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Damato avoids the body shot from Stone.
Damato rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Stone moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Damato lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Horrible takedown attempt by Stone or perhaps it was just good defense by Damato, which made it look bad.
Damato pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Stone appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Damato misses with a series of wild punches.
Brett Stone is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damato swinging wildly here.

Stone gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Damato takes a knee to the side of the body.
Stone blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Damato misses with a short punch on the inside.
Damato is trying to push Stone away but Stone has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Damato lands a nice uppercut.
Damato tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damato throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Come on Damato - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Damato has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Damato escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Damato shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Stone sprawls well. Stone wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Damato gets slowly back to his feet.
Rocco Damato has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Stone shoots in and bounces Damato off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Damato throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Brett Stone.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Stone, 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 Daniel Blasius scores the fight 30:27
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Brett Stone!
Brett Stone very nearly forgot to thank Bondi MMA 🏝️ amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.