PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Albert Hoffman (ranked 36 p4p, 7 weight class) and Eric Staal (ranked 258 p4p, 35 weight class). Eric Staal has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Hoffman
vs
Staal

167 cm
37
182 lbs
29 - 23 - 0

180 cm
32
192 lbs
22 - 8 - 1

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter
Mockstar Energy Drinks 160Q

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 29 - 23 - 0, fighting out of London, Albert Hoffman !
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 8 - 1, fighting out of New York, Eric Staal!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Alyssa Summers and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hoffman manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Staal on his heels. He'll look to pass Staal's guard now, I'm sure.
Staal bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hoffman 's guard.

Hoffman isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Staal stacks Hoffman on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Staal!
Hoffman is trying to get back to half guard.
Staal working the ground and pound from side control.
Staal 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 Hoffman 's shoulder. That is not cool.
Staal wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hoffman keeps working.
Staal lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Hoffman keeping his opponent close.
Hoffman gets back to half guard.
Hoffman wants to improve his position but Staal is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hoffman is staying active underneath Staal, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Hoffman is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Staal is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Staal wants to take a breather but Hoffman is having none of it.
Staal is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Staal is looking to take a break and control but Hoffman is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nice strikes from Staal there.
Staal perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hoffman slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Hoffman looking for a guillotine here but Staal defends easily.
Hoffman is trying to keep Staal in close.
Staal trying to control but Hoffman is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Staal is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hoffman has his foot on Staal's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Staal works his way back into a safe position though.
Hoffman might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Hoffman had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Staal defends it easily.
Staal wants to control from the top but Hoffman keeps moving.

Staal got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hoffman has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Staal has managed to get both his arms back between Hoffman 's legs - danger averted.

Hoffman is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Hoffman working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Staal has passed into half guard!

Hoffman looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hoffman is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staal with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Hoffman trying to get back to full guard but Staal takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Staal cracks Hoffman with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Staal lands with some strikes.
Hoffman can't escape the position.
Staal landing punches.
Staal can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Hoffman is looking to escape.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A nice elbow there by Staal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Staal dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Staal looks to score with a jab to the body but Hoffman is just out of range.
Hoffman looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Staal is fending him off so far but Hoffman persists. Nope, Staal circles away and we're back to standing.
Hoffman shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Staal as he jumps to the side.
A jab from Staal finds it's way through Hoffman 's defenses.
Hoffman shoots in looking for a takedown. Staal tries to sprawl out of it but Hoffman keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Staal manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Albert Hoffman . That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hoffman moves out of range of the body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A low kick from Staal misses

so Hoffman counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Hoffman trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Eric Staal has got the better of the ground game so far.
Hoffman throws a big elbow that misses.
Hoffman throws a strike but Staal rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Staal lands a couple of elbows.
Staal is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Hoffman throws his legs up looking for a submission but Staal uses it to pass to side control.
Staal working away.
A lull in the action here as Staal stalls from top position.
Staal landing a few strikes.
Staal just content to control the position.
Staal's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hoffman tries to improve position but can't.
Hoffman sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Hoffman wants to get back to full guard.

Hoffman looking for submissions off his back.

Hoffman looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Staal controlling the action here.
Staal has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Staal works his way into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hoffman sneaks back into half guard.
Staal lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Hoffman looking for submissions off his back.
Staal lands with a punch from half guard.
Hoffman is refusing to be controlled, as Staal sits in half guard.
Hoffman wants to get back to full guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Staal lands a nice short elbow.
Hoffman is staying active underneath Staal, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Hoffman looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Hoffman has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Staal escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Staal!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Staal working the body and head with strikes.
Hoffman wants to control but Staal postures up.
Hoffman is looking to regain half guard here but Staal keeps moving and retains side control.
Staal lands some shots froms side control.
Hoffman is working to avoid the ground and pound but Staal connects with a decent elbow.
Staal looks up at the clock and then as Hoffman takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Staal smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

Hoffman is rocked!
Staal has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Oh Hoffman is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Staal is landing with some decent strikes but Hoffman is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Staal loads up with a big shot that hurts Hoffman ! He's pulled Staal in close but Staal has postured up and lands more strikes. Can Hoffman survive? More strikes from Staal and Hoffman is out! The ref jumps in to save him! Brutal ground and pound!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Eric Staal!
Eric Staal is the new middleweight champion!