PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marvin Shuster (ranked 2836 p4p, 2729 weight class) and Harvey Cooper (ranked 375 p4p, 367 weight class). Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Shuster
vs
Cooper

190 cm
25
220
1 - 1 - 0

189 cm
25
205
2 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Marvin Shuster!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Harvey Cooper!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Luis Engracia and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Shuster gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Cooper jumps guard but Shuster turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Shuster stalls.

Shuster wants the takedown. Cooper is fighting it off but Shuster persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Cooper's guard against the cage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooper wants to stand and escape but Shuster is having none of it.
Shuster is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Cooper is trying to control the position but Shuster postures up.
Shuster not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooper is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Cooper has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Shuster has passed into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shuster controlling from side mount.
Shuster working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Shuster tries for a kimura but Cooper is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Cooper regains half guard.
Shuster not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Cooper wants to control but Shuster is keeping busy.
Shuster is trying to control the action in half guard but Cooper is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cooper wants to improve his position but Shuster is controlling well.
Cooper is pressing down on Shuster's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Shuster won't allow Cooper to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shuster cracks Cooper with a solid left hand.
We've been hearing good reports from Shuster's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Cooper trying to control the position here.
Shuster stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cooper swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Shuster landing with the ground and pound.

Shuster avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Shuster works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooper tries to kick Shuster off but Shuster keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Cooper tries to roll over but Shuster keeps him under control.
Shuster works his foot free and advances to mount.
Shuster controlling the position easily from mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Shuster working away from the top, dropping strikes.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Marvin Shuster dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Shuster chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Cooper can pounce on him.
Cooper connects with a jab.
Shuster shoots in and drives through. Cooper sprawls well.
Shuster takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Cooper tries to clinch but Shuster moves out of range.
Cooper checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Shuster looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Cooper is fending him off so far but Shuster persists. Nope, Cooper circles away and we're back to standing.
Shuster tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Cooper manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Cooper appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Cooper shoots in and drives through. Shuster sprawls well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shuster misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Shuster throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cooper's waist but Cooper gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Shuster off to one side.
Cooper is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marvin Shuster. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cooper shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Shuster as he avoids it easily.
Shuster looks to throw the jab but Cooper is out of range.
Cooper throws a nice looking combination but Shuster bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shuster shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Cooper sprawls well. Cooper wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Shuster gets slowly back to his feet.
Cooper tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Shuster misses with a body kick.
Cooper tries to clinch there but Shuster circles away.

Shuster gets the takedown into side control.
Cooper is looking to regain half guard here but Shuster keeps moving and retains side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shuster working the ground and pound.
Cooper is trying to get back to half guard.
Cooper is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper is not content to let Shuster control the position.
Shuster prevents Cooper from standing back up.
Cooper trying to control but Shuster postures up.
Cooper tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Shuster looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Cooper is trying to get back to full guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shuster throws a body punch but Cooper moves out of range.

Shuster clinches with his opponent.
A frustrated look appears on Shuster's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Shuster manages to pull guard.
Cooper stopping the sweep attempt from Shuster.
Shuster wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Shuster looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cooper is one step ahead there.
Cooper wants to control from the top but Shuster keeps moving.
My spies in Rio Grappling Club inform me that Cooper has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Shuster scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Shuster tries to clinch up.
Shuster circles away from the clinch attempt.
No luck for Cooper with that takedown attempt.
Shuster misses with a low kick as Cooper jumps back.

Cooper clinches up with Shuster and pushes him back against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Shuster is trying to drag Cooper to the mat but Cooper just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Cooper dodges an elbow strike from Shuster.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Marvin Shuster will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Shuster drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Cooper scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Shuster shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.

Shuster dives in and scores a takedown into Cooper's guard.
Shuster is standing up over Cooper. Cooper looks to escape but Shuster dives into side control.

This has been an exciting period of action!

Shuster is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cooper has escaped the position, nice work there.
Cooper tries to improve position but can't.

Shuster swings around for an armbar but Cooper sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Shuster's guard.
Cooper must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shuster controls Cooper momentarily but Cooper frees himself.
Cooper prevents Shuster from getting back to his feet.
Cooper trying to control but Shuster is working from the bottom.
Cooper looking to pass the guard.
Shuster wants to sweep but no luck.

Cooper stands up and waves to Shuster to follow him.
Cooper darts in looking for a takedown but Shuster gets double underhooks and turns Cooper into the cage.
Shuster is looking to counter the offense by Cooper and move into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Cooper throws a quick inside leg kick.

Shuster gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Shuster drags the fight down to the ground.
Shuster keeping moving, preventing Cooper from controlling successfully.
Marvin Shuster overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Shuster looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cooper throwing strikes but missing.
Cooper being controlled here momentarily.
Shuster is trying to keep Cooper in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper trying to control but Shuster is working from the bottom.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Shuster shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Shuster was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
You can see the frustration on Cooper's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooper tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Shuster wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Cooper can't do much from the bottom here.

Shuster decides to stand back up. Shuster steps back and let's Cooper get back to his feet.

Shuster clinches with his opponent.
Cooper jumps guard but Shuster turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Shuster gets through Cooper's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Harvey Cooper has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Marvin Shuster is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cooper is trying to pull guard but Shuster has him pressed against the cage.

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 Marvin Shuster.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Shuster, 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marvin Shuster!