PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mbuti Bayaka (ranked 3206 p4p, 4697 weight class) and Enzo Cooke (ranked 298 p4p, 387 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Bayaka
vs
Cooke

163 cm
24
163
4 - 1 - 0

175 cm
24
157
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very strong

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Mbuti Bayaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Enzo Cooke!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooke takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Cooke on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Bayaka slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Bayaka slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Nice body punch from Bayaka.
Bayaka scores with a jab to the jaw.
Bayaka connects with a right hand. Cooke shakes it off.
Cooke shoots and misses

and Bayaka counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Bayaka.
Cooke wants to take the fight to the mat but Bayaka manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bayaka pressing his opponent against the cage.
Cooke is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Bayaka is defending well.
Mbuti Bayaka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Enzo Cooke.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bayaka lands a body shot.

Bayaka escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Bayaka connects with a good right hand that stumbles Cooke. Cooke circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Mbuti Bayaka seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cooke takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Bayaka throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Cooke now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Cooke closes the distance and clinches up with Bayaka, looking for a takedown. Cooke pushes Bayaka against the cage but Bayaka circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Bayaka seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Cooke avoids the body shot from Bayaka.
Bayaka jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bayaka scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Cooke dives in and grabs Bayaka's left leg, looking for a takedown. Bayaka pushes down on Cooke's head and hops out.
Bayaka half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Cooke needs to keep his hands up - Bayaka had a free shot at his head there.
Good standup being displayed there by Bayaka as he connects with a hook.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Left hook, right uppercut from Bayaka.
Bayaka lands a nice looking body shot.
Cooke looks winded!
Cooke closes the distance looking to clinch
and Bayaka cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Bayaka lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Bayaka swinging wildly here.
Cooke drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Bayaka defends it well.
Bayaka's corner calls for a 1-2. Bayaka obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Cooke takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Bayaka works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooke ducks right into an uppercut from Bayaka.
Bayaka lands with a shot to the body.
Bayaka moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bayaka lands a nice hook to Cooke's body. Cooke takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
A punch combination from Bayaka misses.
Bayaka lands a jab to the nose.
A jab from Bayaka does it's job there.
Donk. Bayaka catches Cooke right on the button with a cross.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Cooke on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Bayaka connects with a single shot there.
Danga de danga de dang - Bayaka scores with a four punch combination!
Bayaka throws a combination that misses

and Cooke counters with a nice double leg into side control. Bayaka won't be happy with that.
Bayaka on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Bayaka tries to get out of the position.
Bayaka tries to bench press Cooke off him but Cooke keeps the position.

Cooke wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Bayaka, who protects the arm well.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cooke working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

Cooke tries for a kimura but Bayaka is defending well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bayaka tries to improve position but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bayaka gets back to half guard.
Cooke is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Cooke is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Bayaka sees it coming and defends easily.
Cooke is breathing heavily.
Bayaka has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Cooke is working away from the top position though.

Cooke looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Bayaka looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Bayaka is holding on to half guard well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Bayaka wants to get back to full guard.
Bayaka is trying to control but can't.
Cooke prevents Bayaka from improving his position.

Cooke is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Bayaka defends it well.
Bayaka is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Bayaka is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Cooke prevents Bayaka from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cooke is working for a submission of some sort.
Bayaka tries to get to full guard but Cooke has control of the leg.

Cooke is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Cooke is trying to control. Bayaka wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Cooke is looking for a kimura but Bayaka is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Cooke to get the leverage.
Bayaka wants to get back to full guard.
Bayaka is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.

That's four 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.
Bayaka is looking for a sweep. Cooke is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Cooke is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Bayaka is just riding it out for now. Cooke eventually gives up the hold.
Bayaka keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The fighters are battling for position here. Bayaka manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Bayaka bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cooke's guard.

And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Enzo Cooke will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Cooke walks into a stiff left hand from Bayaka.
Bayaka scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Bayaka is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cooke can do to turn this around?
Bayaka with a hook.
Bayaka lands a nice looking body shot.
Bayaka jabs at Cooke's body.
Bayaka will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cooke tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bayaka connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Cooke momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Cooke drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Cooke tries to clinch up but Bayaka circles away and keeps his distance.
Bayaka drops down looking for a counter takedown but Cooke sprawls and moves away.

Bayaka darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Bayaka is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Bayaka not doing much here.
Bayaka is thwarting Cooke's attempts to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bayaka tries to pass to full mount but Cooke defends it.
Bayaka works his way into full mount!

Bayaka jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Cooke manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Cooke manages to work his way to half guard, despite Bayaka's best efforts.
Cooke wants to improve his position but Bayaka is controlling well.
Cooke takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Bayaka sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bayaka working over Cooke with some ground and pound. Cooke looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Cooke is refusing to be controlled, as Bayaka sits in half guard.
Nice strikes from Bayaka there.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Bayaka connects with a nice short shot to Cooke's temple.
The fighters are battling for position here. Cooke manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Cooke is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Bayaka defends well.
Mbuti Bayaka overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Bayaka is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Bayaka postures up and lands a big shot to Cooke's brow.
Bayaka landing some decent shots from guard.
Bayaka postures up and lands a big shot to Cooke's brow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bayaka with a nice head shot there.
Bayaka connects with a couple of short punches.
Bayaka works over Cooke with some ground and pound from guard.

Cooke is rocked!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bayaka distracts Cooke with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Cooke is still in real trouble! Can Bayaka finish him?
Bayaka controlling from the top position.
Bayaka chips away with some ground and pound.
Bayaka with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Bayaka working some strikes from top position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Bayaka looking to pass the guard.
Bayaka with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Bayaka with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Bayaka scoring with some ground and pound.
Bayaka postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mbuti Bayaka showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Bayaka 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:26
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:26
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 29:26

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