PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Julio Cruzeiro (ranked 2180 p4p, 2267 weight class) and Juju Baraka (ranked 343 p4p, 364 weight class). Cruzeiro comes to the cage accompanied by Jah Jah The Conqueror by Linval Thompson. Baraka has chosen Burning Spear as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Cruzeiro
vs
Baraka

194 cm
39
210
29 - 18 - 1

203 cm
35
206
21 - 16 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class MT
Powerful

Shadow Realm Apparel

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 29 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Julio Cruzeiro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Juju Baraka!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Percy O'Donnell and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Baraka scores with a leg kick.
Baraka looks to throw the jab but Cruzeiro is out of range.
Cruzeiro throws a leg kick that misses.
Baraka misses with a head kick.
Cruzeiro avoids the body shot from Baraka.
Cruzeiro throws a right and a left that Baraka avoids nicely.
Cruzeiro does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Baraka works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Cruzeiro lands with an uppercut that bounces Baraka off the cage and back into range.

It looks like Juju Baraka has been cut.
Baraka scores with a decent looking hook.

Baraka moves into the clinch.
Baraka is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Cruzeiro pushes Baraka back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Baraka lands with a short head shot on the inside.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Baraka misses with a hook from the clinch.
Cruzeiro blocks an uppercut.
Cruzeiro misses with a punch on the inside.
Cruzeiro misses with an elbow over the top.
Cruzeiro tries to land knees in the clinch but Baraka avoids the damage to the body.
Cruzeiro tries to land a knee to the head but Baraka blocks with his arms.
Cruzeiro tries to land knees in the clinch but Baraka avoids the damage to the body.
A short left from Cruzeiro.
A hook to the body from Baraka.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right from Baraka on the inside.
Baraka scores with a shot to the side of Cruzeiro's head.
With the fighters up against the cage, Cruzeiro throws an elbow but misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Cruzeiro.
Baraka has a couple of punches blocked by Cruzeiro.
Baraka blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Cruzeiro blocks a body shot from Baraka.
Cruzeiro misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Baraka manages to break the clinch.
Cruzeiro goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Baraka lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
The fighters circling - Baraka throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Cruzeiro uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Baraka.
Baraka throws out a loose jab but Cruzeiro uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nice defenses there by Cruzeiro.
Nice uppercut lands for Baraka. That snapped Cruzeiro's head back.
Juju Baraka seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Baraka throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Baraka clinches.
Cruzeiro misses with a body punch.
Baraka makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Baraka.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A body shot lands from Baraka.
Knees in the clinch landing for Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro lands an elbow just above Baraka 's eye.
Baraka swings wildly with an uppercut but Cruzeiro uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cruzeiro lands with a left to the head.
Baraka misses with a punch to the body.
Cruzeiro blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Cruzeiro breaks from the clinch.
Cruzeiro scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Baraka throws a jab but it's blocked by Cruzeiro.
Baraka throws out a loose jab but Cruzeiro uses good head movement to avoid it.
Baraka connects with a single shot there.
Baraka staying out of range there.
Baraka throws a right hand that misses
and Cruzeiro counters with a good, hard body kick but Baraka shrugs it off.
Baraka will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Cruzeiro avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A nice leg kick lands there from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro takes a shot to the body in his stride.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baraka tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruzeiro swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Good exchange - Cruzeiro coming out on top.
Baraka is looking to clinch but Cruzeiro is avoiding it.
Baraka doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruzeiro circles away.
Cruzeiro throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Cruzeiro moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

It looks like Julio Cruzeiro has been cut.
Cruzeiro throws a leg kick but Baraka sees it coming and moves out of range.
Cruzeiro slips a jab from Baraka.
Baraka stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Cruzeiro.
Baraka throws the left hand but Cruzeiro avoids the punch easily.
The fighters circling - Cruzeiro throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Baraka swinging wildly here.
Cruzeiro feints and then cracks Baraka's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Baraka down.
Baraka takes one to the chin there.
Cruzeiro takes a swing at Baraka's ribcage but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baraka connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A jab from Cruzeiro does it's job there.
Baraka swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Baraka throws a right hand that misses
and Cruzeiro cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
That kick from Cruzeiro tenderised Baraka's leg. Baraka is trying to keep his angry face on.
Cruzeiro scores with a nice head shot.
Cruzeiro swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cruzeiro blocks the body kick.
Cruzeiro digs a good body shot into Baraka's ribs.
Cruzeiro looks to land a body kick but Baraka moved away.
Baraka jabbing away but nothing is landing.
The fighters circling - Cruzeiro throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Cruzeiro tried to score with a low kick but Baraka checks it.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Baraka drops his hands momentarily and Cruzeiro takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Cruzeiro lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
The fight stays on the outside here - Baraka looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Julio Cruzeiro will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Baraka clinches.
Cruzeiro lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Baraka or not.
Baraka with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Cruzeiro is working Baraka over against the cage.
Still in the clinch, Cruzeiro scores with a nice short uppercut.
Baraka misses with a shot to the kidneys.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Baraka creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Baraka has a couple of punches blocked by Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro tries to land knees in the clinch but Baraka avoids the damage to the body.
Baraka blocks a body shot from Cruzeiro.
Baraka misses with a body punch.
Cruzeiro blocks a body shot from Baraka.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Baraka just misses with a elbow thrown towards Cruzeiro's brow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Cruzeiro's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Julio Cruzeiro is winning the standup battle so far.
Baraka checks the leg kick nicely there.
Cruzeiro scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Cruzeiro wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Cruzeiro checks a leg kick nicely.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cruzeiro displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Baraka throws out the jab.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Baraka moves into the clinch.
Cruzeiro throws a head punch that misses.
Cruzeiro pushes Baraka back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Baraka makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Baraka tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Cruzeiro misses with a punch to the body.
A short right from Cruzeiro.
Baraka tries to work over Cruzeiro's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Baraka working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Baraka lands a left hand that snaps the head of Cruzeiro backwards.
Cruzeiro scores with a shot to the side of Baraka's head.
A shot in the inside from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro throws an elbow that misses.
Baraka throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Cruzeiros head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cruzeiro is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Baraka is defending well for now.
Cruzeiro throws a knee to the head but misses.
Cruzeiro throws an elbow that misses.
Baraka has a couple of punches blocked by Cruzeiro.
Baraka working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Cruzeiro misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baraka fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Baraka escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Baraka has Cruzeiro up against the cage in a clinch.
Cruzeiro works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Cruzeiro works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Cruzeiro with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Baraka blocks an uppercut.
Baraka tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Cruzeiro throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Baraka blocks an elbow strike.
A short right from Baraka.
Cruzeiro softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Cruzeiro blocks a body shot from Baraka.
Baraka lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Baraka works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Cruzeiro presses Baraka against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Baraka is breathing heavily.
Cruzeiro lands a body shot.
Cruzeiro lands with a right to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruzeiro is leaning against Baraka and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Juju Baraka seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Cruzeiro just misses with a elbow thrown towards Baraka's brow.
Cruzeiro working some nice short punches in the clinch.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Cruzeiro.
Baraka working aggressively here.
Cruzeiro landing knees to the body.
Baraka blocks a body shot from Cruzeiro.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Baraka just misses with a elbow thrown towards Cruzeiro's brow.
Cruzeiro makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
A short body shot lands from Cruzeiro as the two fighters clinch.
Cruzeiro tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Baraka's elbow.
Baraka managing to block the knees to the body from Cruzeiro.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Baraka just misses with a elbow thrown towards Cruzeiro's brow.
Cruzeiro misses with a hook from the clinch.
Baraka managing to block the knees to the body from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Cruzeiro pushes Baraka back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Baraka misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Cruzeiro comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Cruzeiro looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A head punch on the inside from Baraka fails to land.
Cruzeiro blocking some punches.
Cruzeiro cracks Baraka with a nice body shot.
A short left from Cruzeiro.
Baraka avoids a wild elbow strike from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Cruzeiro throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Baraka misses with some punches.
Baraka working aggressively here.
Cruzeiro misses with the head strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Cruzeiro.
Baraka misses with the head strike.
Cruzeiro throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Baraka blocks it with crossed arms.
Cruzeiro blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cruzeiro lands a nice shot to the body.
Cruzeiro lands a left hand.
Baraka can't find room to land a body shot as Cruzeiro controls the action.
Still in the clinch, Cruzeiro scores with a nice short uppercut.
Cruzeiro pushes off an throws an elbow but Baraka leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Julio Cruzeiro dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Cruzeiro thumps Baraka with a low kick.
Cruzeiro connects with a leg kick.
Cruzeiro cracks Baraka with an open hand slap.
Baraka waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Cruzeiro.
Baraka with a jab.
Donk. Baraka catches Cruzeiro right on the button with a cross.
Baraka sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Cruzeiro jabs Baraka right on the nose. Baraka blinks but takes it well.
Cruzeiro avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cruzeiro goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Baraka looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
It looks like Cruzeiro has been trying to sharpen up his punching technique, as it looks crisper than last time we saw him.
Cruzeiro takes a swing at Baraka's ribcage but misses.
Cruzeiro walks into a jab.
Cruzeiro darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cruzeiro lands a head shot.
Baraka moves out of range of the strikes.
Cruzeiro throws a looping overhand right but Baraka ducks down to avoid it.
Baraka throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baraka slips a jab from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Baraka connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Cruzeiro scrambles back to his feet.
Baraka tries to clinch but Cruzeiro is having none of it.
Cruzeiro swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Cruzeiro lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Cruzeiro throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Baraka.
Baraka shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Baraka fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Cruzeiro.
Baraka pulls out of a head kick attempt.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Cruzeiro checks a leg kick.
Baraka will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Baraka takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A bone on bone clash there as Baraka blocks the leg kick.
Cruzeiro avoids the body shot from Baraka.
Baraka wants to slow Cruzeiro down by chopping away at his legs.
Some bone on bone action there as Cruzeiro checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Baraka takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruzeiro throws a quick inside leg kick.
Cruzeiro looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cruzeiro lands with a thumping leg kick.
Cruzeiro misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Baraka counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Cruzeiro scores with a jab to the jaw.
Baraka tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Cruzeiro counters with a nice uppercut.
Cruzeiro tries to move into range but Baraka moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Baraka pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Cruzeiro cracks a nice hook into Baraka's ribs.
Cruzeiro does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Cruzeiro moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Cruzeiro misses with a wild body shot.
The fight stays on the outside here - Baraka looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cruzeiro blocks a jab.
No joy there for Baraka, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruzeiro digs a good body shot into Baraka's ribs.
Baraka's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Cruzeiro connects with a nice looking jab.
Cruzeiro looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

Baraka has Cruzeiro up against the cage in a clinch.
Cruzeiro misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Cruzeiro breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Cruzeiro throws a body shot but no joy.
Baraka jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Cruzeiro misses with an uppercut.
Cruzeiro throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
A left lands for Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
An inside leg kick lands from Cruzeiro.
Cruzeiro avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
An inside leg kick from Cruzeiro misses.
Cruzeiro looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Cruzeiro finds it's way through Baraka's defenses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baraka misses the jab.
Cruzeiro throws a chopping leg kick but Baraka manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Baraka throws a low kick but Cruzeiro moves out of range easily.
Baraka throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Baraka cracks Cruzeiro with an open hand slap.
Baraka misses with a head kick.
Cruzeiro has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Baraka finds it's way round the side to connect with Cruzeiro's head.
Cruzeiro avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Baraka fails with an attempt to clinch.
Baraka pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Baraka throws an overhand right that lands on Cruzeiro's shoulder, as Cruzeiro tries to avoid the shot.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cruzeiro swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Baraka unleashes a big counter combination but Cruzeiro bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Cruzeiro blocks a head kick by Baraka.
Juju Baraka has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Baraka doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruzeiro circles away.
Cruzeiro scores with a hook to the body. Baraka takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.

And that's the end of the fight!
Julio Cruzeiro showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Cruzeiro has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:28
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Julio Cruzeiro!
During a confident post fight interview, Julio Cruzeiro thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.