PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dedric Knowles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joakim Kroon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Knowles
vs
Kroon

194 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

193 cm
18
205 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dedric Knowles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joakim Kroon!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, George Francis and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kroon darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Knowles is trying to control but can't.
Kroon wants to free his trapped foot but Knowles is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Kroon working Knowles over with strikes.
Kroon uses his free foot to push down on Knowles's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Knowles.
Kroon pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Kroon landing strikes, looking to finish!
Knowles is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Kroon putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Knowles's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Kroon has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kroon landing strikes from the mount.
Kroon tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
A nice elbow there by Kroon.

Kroon is working for a guillotine from mount but Knowles frees his head quite easily.
Kroon trying to control but Knowles is having none of it.
Kroon scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Knowles wants to try and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kroon trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kroon pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Kroon looking to secure an arm triangle but Knowles defends it well.
BOOM! Kroon connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Kroon has control of Knowles's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Knowles regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Kroon looks gassed!
Kroon takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kroon throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

Kroon with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Knowles keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Knowles is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Kroon thowing shots but they're missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Kroon goes for an armbar but Knowles turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Knowles.
Knowles would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Knowles missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Kroon wants to sweep here but Knowles controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joakim Kroon dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Knowles misses with a takedown attempt

and Kroon counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Knowles is staying active underneath Kroon, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Kroon prevents Knowles from improving his position.
Kroon is trying to control. Knowles wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Knowles is looking to control Kroon's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Knowles avoid being mounted?

Kroon decides to stand up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Knowles fails to land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knowles lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Kroon circles away quickly and effectively.
Knowles fails to land with a series of punches.
Joakim Kroon seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kroon throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Knowles's waist but Knowles gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kroon off to one side.
Kroon tries to clinch but Knowles moves out of range.
Kroon takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Knowles stuffs the takedown attempt from Kroon. Kroon gets slowly back to his feet.
Kroon avoids the head kick by Knowles.
Knowles tries for a takedown but Kroon circles away easily

and Kroon counters with a single leg into guard. Knowles didn't expect that.
Kroon throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Knowles works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Knowles wants to stand and escape but Kroon is having none of it.
Kroon is stalling in the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kroon preventing the sweep.

Kroon gets to his feet - Knowles follows without any prompting.
Knowles tries to clinch but fails miserably
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Knowles lands with a cross.
Knowles scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Knowles moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

Kroon closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Knowles to the mat! Knowles manages to get full guard.
Kroon landing with the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knowles can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kroon controls the pace.
Kroon throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Knowles preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kroon trying to control the position from guard on top but Knowles is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Knowles isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Kroon stacks Knowles 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 Kroon!
Kroon lands a few punches from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Knowles tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Kroon wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Knowles wants to control but Kroon postures up.
A lull in the action here.
Kroon is looking to take a break and control but Knowles is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Knowles tries to bench press Kroon off him but Kroon keeps the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joakim Kroon showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Knowles fails with the takedown

and Kroon counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

Kroon is trying to work for a kimura but Knowles is defending well.
Kroon throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Kroon is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Knowles is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:50 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Joakim Kroon!