PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Wiley Abu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roco de Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Abu
vs
de Cruz

182 cm
25
179 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

185 cm
26
180 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Very quick

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

♦Xplode Nutrition♦ 158 Stamina $100

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Wiley Abu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Roco de Cruz!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
de Cruz loads up on a big right hand but Abu slips the punch.
de Cruz avoids the body shot from Abu.
de Cruz swings and misses with a shot to the body
and de Cruz takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
A big left from de Cruz misses.
de Cruz throws a hook but Abu blocks it.
de Cruz swings for the body but Abu moves out of range.
de Cruz lands with an uppercut that bounces Abu off the cage and back into rage.
de Cruz misses the shot to the body.
Roco de Cruz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
de Cruz throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Abu sees it coming and avoids it easily.
de Cruz lands a glancing blow to the side of Abu's head.
de Cruz fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Abu on the side of the head.

Abu scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Abu 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.
de Cruz is looking to control Abu's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can de Cruz avoid being mounted?

That's one minute gone in the round.

Abu seems to be looking for submissions.
Abu wants to pass the guard but de Cruz is defending well.
de Cruz trying to control from the bottom.
Abu trying to advance position but de Cruz counters by regaining guard.
Abu trying to control the position from guard on top but de Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
The fighters circling - de Cruz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Abu uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from de Cruz.
Abu fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Abu walks into a jab.
A swing and a miss from Abu.
Abu slips under a jab.
de Cruz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
de Cruz lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
de Cruz misses with a hook to the body
and Abu counters with a nice uppercut.
The fight stays on the outside here - Abu looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A looping hook to the body misses from de Cruz. Abu does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abu tries to score a power double leg takedown but de Cruz sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Abu somewhat.
de Cruz throws a good cross that connects.
de Cruz cracks Abu with a right hand to the side of the head.
de Cruz throws a looping overhand right but Abu ducks down to avoid it.
Abu misses with a body shot
enabling de Cruz to counter with a crisp jab.

Abu is rocked!
de Cruz throws the left hand but Abu avoids the punch easily.
Oh Abu is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Abu lands with a nice body punch.
Abu cracks de Cruz with an open hand slap.
Abu seems to have got his legs back now.
de Cruz throws a hook but Abu blocks it.
Abu misses with a looping left.
de Cruz moves out of range as Abu strikes.
de Cruz misses with a hook. Abu ducked under it nicely.
de Cruz tests Abu's chin there with a solid looking shot.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Abu wants to clinch up but de Cruz keeps it at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abu misses with a straight right.

Abu rushes de Cruz and presses him up against the cage.
Abu pushes off an throws an elbow but de Cruz leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Abu scores with a knee to the head.
de Cruz doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A right hook to the body lands for de Cruz.
A body shot lands from de Cruz.
de Cruz swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Abu swings away with an uppercut that misses.
de Cruz doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
de Cruz doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Abu blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Abu lands a nice uppercut.
de Cruz is trying to break the clinch but Abu has him pressed against the cage.

de Cruz breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
de Cruz fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Abu staying out of range there.
de Cruz fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Abu on the side of the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Abu ducks under a wild hook from de Cruz.
de Cruz bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Abu's head.
Abu ducks right into an uppercut from de Cruz.
de Cruz throws a nice looking combination but Abu bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roco de Cruz dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

de Cruz throws a hook to the side of Abu's head but Abu sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Nice sprawl there from de Cruz as Abu shoots in.
Abu doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
de Cruz throws a jab when Abu was well out of range.
Abu walks into a straight right hand from de Cruz.
Abu misses with an uppercut. de Cruz saw that one coming.
de Cruz might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

de Cruz drops Abu with a nice combination! de Cruz dives into Abu's guard, looking to finish!
de Cruz not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
de Cruz slips nicely into half guard.
Abu is refusing to be controlled, as de Cruz sits in half guard.
Abu is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Abu looking for submissions off his back.
de Cruz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Abu. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Abu is controlling de Cruz's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Abu is looking to improve his position.
Abu is trying to control but can't.

That's two 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.
de Cruz is trying to control. Abu wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Abu is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Abu wants to clinch.
de Cruz lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Abu tries to move into range but de Cruz moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
de Cruz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Roco de Cruz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
de Cruz displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Abu.
Abu staying out of range there.
A big left from Abu misses.
Abu uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from de Cruz.
de Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Abu scores with a takedown into de Cruz's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Abu drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and de Cruz dives on top into guard.
Abu manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Abu trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Abu controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abu tries to control but de Cruz wriggling away.
Abu scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Abu controlling his opponent.
Abu trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roco de Cruz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

de Cruz looks to throw the jab but Abu is out of range.
de Cruz lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
de Cruz throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
de Cruz lands a nice looking body shot.
A telegraphed right hand from de Cruz misses the target.
Abu uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Nice body punch from de Cruz.
de Cruz thows a left - swing and a miss!
Abu avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
de Cruz throws a hook to the side of Abu's head but Abu sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
de Cruz misses with an uppercut.
A left lands for de Cruz.
Abu scores with a nice head shot.

Abu darts in and clinches de Cruz up against the cage.
de Cruz misses with some punches.
de Cruz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Abu is leaning against de Cruz and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
de Cruz misses with the head strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Abu keeps the fight in the clinch, despite de Cruz's efforts to push away.
de Cruz has a couple of punches blocked by Abu.

Abu works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
de Cruz bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Abu's guard.
Abu trying to keep a closed guard but de Cruz is proving a slippery customer.
Abu looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but de Cruz puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Still in half guard, de Cruz seems content to control.
Abu wants to control the action here but instead de Cruz manages to pass to full mount!
Abu is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
de Cruz controlling from the full mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abu really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Abu tries to hold on but de Cruz pushes him away.
de Cruz can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Abu is looking to escape.
de Cruz prevents Abu from getting the reversal.
de Cruz looking to control but Abu is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abu really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Abu is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Abu is working to get back to half guard.
Abu wants to control but de Cruz is having none of it.
Abu is looking to improve his position but de Cruz isn't that keen on the idea.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Abu is working hard here to advance position.
de Cruz tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Abu slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Wiley Abu has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Abu looking for subs from the bottom but de Cruz mounts him!
Abu tries to get back to half guard but can't.

And that's the end of the fight!
Roco de Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got de Cruz winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Roco de Cruz!