PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mike Cope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sub Hero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cope comes into the arena with You're Going Down blaring out of the sound system. Hero comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Giant Squid - Panthalassa kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Mike Cope is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Cope
vs
Hero

176 cm
23
152 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

164 cm
28
146 lbs
15 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
Powerful

5th Round

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mike Cope!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Sub Hero!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Ivan Kurochkin and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hero looks for a takedown but Cope sprawls well.
Mike Cope seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hero misses with a takedown attempt - Cope sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hero fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Mike Cope has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sub Hero.
Cope avoids the body shot from Hero.
Hero shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Cope as he jumps to the side.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Hero.
Both fighters take a look at the clock.
Cope tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Cope is not content to let Hero control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hero looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Hero sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Cope is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Cope is looking to regain half guard here but Hero keeps moving and retains side control.
Cope manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Hero regains full guard. Nicely done.
Hero wants to sweep but no luck.
Hero looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Cope puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Cope stalling away here and it's allowed Hero to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Cope being controlled here momentarily.
Cope throwing strikes from guard but Hero blocks nicely.
Cope wants to control from the top but Hero keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hero can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Cope controls the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cope loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Cope throws a big right hand that misses.
Hero manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Hero misses with a head shot.
Hero lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Cope hang on?
Cope wants to control but Hero is having none of it.
Hero looking to control but Cope is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hero won't let Cope get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Hero lands with some strikes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cope tries to hold on but Hero postures up.
Hero looking to ground and pound but Cope is blocking nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sub Hero 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.

Hero staying out of range there.
Cope with a hook.
Hero doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Cope misses with a looping left.
Hero waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Cope.
Hero misses with a jab to the body
and Cope counters with a low kick, right behind Hero 's knee.
Hero uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Cope.
Hero misses with an uppercut.
Cope misses with a hook.
Cope looks to throw the jab but Hero is out of range.
Cope jabs at Hero's body.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Hero checks a leg kick.
Cope misses the shot to the body.
Hero looks to score with a jab to the body but Cope is just out of range.
Cope connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Hero misses with a hook.
Cope cracks Hero with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Cope throws an overhand right that lands on Hero's shoulder, as Hero tries to avoid the shot.
Hero throws a body punch but Cope moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hero keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cope throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Cope scores with a body shot.
Cope missing with a left hand there. Hero was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Hero throws a hook but Cope avoids it easily.
Cope digs a good body shot into Hero's ribs.
Cope looks to land a right hand but Hero moved out of range.
Cope just misses with a punch to the body.
Cope keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cope tries to close the distance and clinch but Hero swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cope throws a jab but it's blocked by Hero.
Cope looks to throw the jab but Hero is out of range.

Hero closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Hero is trying to control the action in half guard but Cope is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cope controlling the position for now.
Hero is pressing down on Cope's thigh, looking to free his foot. Cope is holding on for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cope preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Cope is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hero's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hero's back!
Cope landing with strikes.
Cope doesn't have the hooks in and Hero manages to turn into his guard.
Cope will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Cope is trying to keep Hero in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hero lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Hero won't allow Cope to sweep him here.
Hero connects with a couple of short punches.
Cope tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Hero trying to control the position from guard on top but Cope is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cope has Hero pulled in close to control his posture.
Hero preventing the sweep.

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.
Hero trying to control but Cope is working from the bottom.
Cope wants to control the position but Hero says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Hero is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hero throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Cope looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Hero missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Cope dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Hero throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
The fighters circling - Cope throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Hero slips under a jab from Cope.
Hero is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Cope rather than just go for the knockout.
Hero misses with a straight left.
Cope bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Cope closes the distance and clinches.
Hero tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Cope throws a punch but it's blocked by Hero.
Hero prevents a body shot from Cope.

Cope breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hero slips under a jab.
Cope throws the left hand but Hero avoids the punch easily.
Hero fails with the takedown
and Cope counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cope misses with an uppercut. Hero saw that one coming.
Hero jabs at Cope's body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cope. Hero does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hero has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Cope.
Hero looks for a takedown but Cope sprawls well.
Mike Cope has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sub Hero.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Cope.
Cope lands the left hand.
Hero ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hero closes this distance looking for a takedown but Cope circles away.
Cope throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Cope is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Cope throws a leg kick which misses Hero's front leg but catches the back leg as Hero tries to avoid it.
Hero throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Cope connects with the punch.
Hero missing with a left hand there. Cope was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Hero connects with the punch.
Cope pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Mike Cope is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cope swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hero shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hero tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Cope swivels and escapes.
Hero gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Cope counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Hero waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Cope.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cope connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Cope swings for the body but Hero moves out of range.
Cope throws the left hand but Hero avoids the punch easily.
Hero throws a lazy right hand but Cope sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Cope lands with a good body shot.
Nice defenses there by Hero.
Hero slips a jab from Cope.
Cope throws a push kick but Hero slaps the foot to one side.
Hero displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cope throws out the jab.
Horrible takedown by Hero or perhaps it was just good defense by Cope which made him look bad.
Cope tries to clinch but Hero moves out of range.
Cope lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Hero at a distance.
Hero takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Cope scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Hero fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
A jab from Cope does it's job there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cope scores with a jab to the head.
Hero has his takedown stuffed

and Cope counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Cope.
Cope is trying to break the clinch but Hero is controlling him.
Cope working aggressively here.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Cope takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Cope looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Cope manages to break the clinch.
Hero misses with a takedown
and Cope counters with a straight right hand.
Hero takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Cope misses with a looping right.
Hero jabbing away but nothing is landing.
A swing and a miss from Hero.
Cope lands a glancing blow to the side of Hero's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hero ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hero misses with a body shot.
Cope just misses with a punch to the body.
Good shot there by Cope.
Hero gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Cope.
Cope fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Hero tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cope was well out of range. Poor timing from Hero.
Hero shoots and misses
and Cope makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Cope throws a leg kick that misses.
A decent looking cross lands there for Hero.
Hero closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Cope scores with a hook.
Cope connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Hero fails with the takedown
letting Cope counter with a right hand.
Hero misses with a body shot
enabling Cope to counter with a crisp jab.
Cope misses the jab.

Hero gets the takedown into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Cope clearly takes that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Cope tries to close the distance and clinch up but Hero swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Hero misses with a takedown attempt
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Cope tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Hero looks to land a left hand but Cope moved out of range nicely.
Hero defending well as Cope loads up on a big left hand.
Hero walks into a stiff left hand from Cope.
Cope lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Hero with a lazy takedown attempt
and Cope counters with a nice body shot.
A big left from Hero misses.
Cope throws a shot from downtown. Hero moves away and avoids it.
Cope scores with a nice head shot.

Cope tries to sprawl but Hero drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Cope manages to get to full guard.
Cope bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hero's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hero keeping moving, preventing Cope from controlling successfully.
Cope content to stall in guard here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hero avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Cope pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hero is keeping the position for now.
Hero has Cope pulled in close to control his posture.
Hero keeping moving, preventing Cope from controlling successfully.
Cope has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Cope throws a big right hand that misses.
Cope wants to control from the top but Hero keeps moving.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Hero holds on and takes a little breather.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Mike Cope.
Hero uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Cope.
Hero misses with a wild body shot.
Hero lands an overhand right.
Hero avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Hero displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cope throws out the jab.
Hero keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cope.
Cope uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cope fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Hero checks it well.
Hero just misses with a punch to the body.
Cope scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Hero tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cope was well out of range. Poor timing from Hero.
Cope throws a jab but it's blocked by Hero.
Hero has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Cope ducks under a wild hook from Hero.
The fighters circling - Cope throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Cope thows a left - swing and a miss!
Hero tries for a takedown but Cope circles away easily
and Cope cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Mike Cope has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sub Hero.
Cope tries to score with a low kick but Hero moves his leg out of the way.
Hero ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Cope lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Cope throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Hero sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Cope looks to land a right hand but Hero moved out of range.
Hero closes this distance looking for a takedown but Cope circles away.
Cope connects with the punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Cope scores with a jab.
Hero shoots and misses
and Cope counters with a nice body shot.
Decent striking displayed by Cope there.
Hero throws a big shot that misses.
Cope misses with a leg kick.
Good shot there by Cope.
Hero misses with an uppercut. Cope saw that one coming.
Hero takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Hero shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Cope counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Cope keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
A jab from Cope does it's job there.

Hero looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Cope wants to sweep but no luck.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Cope had his way with Sub Hero in that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Hero just misses with a punch to the body.
Hero fails with the takedown.
Cope throws a right hand that Hero ducks under and follows up with a left that Hero also avoids with ease.
Hero takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Cope fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hero manages to avoid it.
Hero is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Cope lands the left hand.
Cope fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hero manages to avoid it.
Cope misses with a straight right.
Cope misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hero.
Hero throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Hero has his takedown stuffed
and Cope counters with a lovely straight right hand!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hero misses with an uppercut.
Cope scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Cope throws a looping overhand right but Hero ducks down to avoid it.
Hero throws a big shot that misses.
Cope misses with a straight left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cope misses with a straight right.
Hero misses with a takedown attempt
and Cope counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Hero thinking.
Mike Cope has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sub Hero.
Cope connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Hero with a poor takedown
and Cope counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Hero is wobbling all over the place through exhaustion. Will he make it to the final bell?
Cope scores with a nice head shot.
Hero looks for a takedown but Cope sprawls well.
Cope throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Hero sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Cope slips a straight right by Hero.
Cope moves out of range as Hero strikes.
Good leg kick by Cope there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Hero gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Cope counters with a right hand to the body.
Cope scores with a crisp jab that stopped Hero in his tracks.
Cope connects with a right hand. Hero shakes it off.
Hero moves out of range of the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cope digs a good body shot into Hero's ribs.
Cope tried to score with a low kick but Hero checks it.
Hero takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Hero changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Cope tries to avoid it but Hero manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Cope to the ground. Cope escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
A left lands for Cope.
Hero throws a hook but Cope blocks it.
Hero misses with a hook. Cope ducked under it nicely.
Cope ducks under a wild hook from Hero.
Hero shoots and misses
enabling Cope to counter with a crisp jab.
Cope lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Cope throws a shot from downtown. Hero moves away and avoids it.
Cope connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Cope scores with a punch to the head.
Cope throws an overhand right that lands on Hero's shoulder, as Hero tries to avoid the shot.
Cope lands with a hook. Hero tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Cope stuns Hero with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Hero avoids the body shot from Cope.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cope wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Cope waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Hero.
Hero throws a body punch but Cope moves out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Hero is defended easily by Cope.
Hero looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Cope throws a hook to the side of Hero's head but Hero sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Hero shoots in looking for a takedown but Cope manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Hero's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Cope lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Cope swinging wildly here.
Cope swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Hero.
Hero misses with a body shot
and Cope counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Cope swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Cope throws a big shot that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cope fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Hero walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Cope paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Hero jabs at Cope's body.
Hero ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hero takes one to the side of the head.
Hero swings away with a body shot that misses
and Cope counters with a head kick.
Sub Hero has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hero ducks under a wild hook from Cope.
Hero tries for a takedown but Cope circles away easily
letting Cope counter with a right hand.
Cope is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Hero misses with a takedown attempt
and Cope counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Hero thinking.
Cope lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Hero at a distance.
Hero chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Cope can pounce on him.
Hero takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Hero with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Cope to score with a decent uppercut.
Cope with a jab.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Cope showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Cope has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 49:45
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 49:45
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 49:45

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Cope!
Mike Cope retains his featherweight title!