PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Michael Cristo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Leben (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chris Leben has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cristo
vs
Leben

184 cm
20
197 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

184 cm
23
185 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Michael Cristo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Chris Leben!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Skip Squint and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A combination from Leben does no damage.
A swing and a miss from Leben.
Leben throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cristo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cristo moves to clinch but Leben breaks away
and Leben counters with a two punch combo.
Leben misses with a double jab

and Cristo counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Leben bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cristo's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cristo keeping moving, preventing Leben from controlling successfully.
Leben throwing strikes from guard but Cristo blocks nicely.
Cristo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Leben loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leben postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Leben missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Leben working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Leben throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cristo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Leben trying to control but Cristo is working from the bottom.
Leben trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Cristo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Leben throwing strikes from guard but Cristo blocks nicely.

Leben avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Cristo is breathing heavily.
Leben trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Leben throwing strikes from guard but Cristo blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Leben accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Leben loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Leben wants to control from the top but Cristo keeps moving.

Leben stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Cristo wants to clinch up but Leben keeps it at a distance.
Cristo doesn't manage to clinch there - Leben circles away.
Leben throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cristo counters with a left and a right that stings Leben.
Leben falls off balance throwing a combination

and Cristo counters with a shoot takedown. Leben fights it but they end up in guard.
Cristo stopping the sweep attempt from Leben.
Leben looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Cristo puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leben wants to improve his position but Cristo is controlling well.
Leben trying to hold on to Cristo's head to control him but Cristo postures up.
Cristo stalling.
Cristo is looking to take a break and control but Leben is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Leben wants to improve his position but Cristo is controlling well.

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.

Michael Cristo has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Cristo looks to throw a body kick
and Leben counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Cristo throws a nice head kick!
Cristo shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Leben but Leben pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Cristo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Leben is fending him off so far but Cristo persists. Nope, Leben circles away and we're back to standing.

Cristo has Leben up against the cage in a clinch.
Cristo goes for a takedown attempt but Leben pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Michael Cristo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cristo slips a jab and a cross from Leben.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Leben misses with a double jab

and Cristo counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Cristo dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Cristo will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nice sprawl there from Leben as Cristo shoots in.
Leben throws a combination that misses

and Cristo counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Leben's guard now.
Leben has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Leben wants to stand but Cristo is controlling the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Leben is on top in guard.
Cristo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Leben.
Leben stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cristo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Cristo is adopting a defensive guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leben stands and throws Cristo's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Leben working the body and head with strikes.
Leben lands a nice forearm strike.
Leben tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Cristo is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Leben working over Cristo with some ground and pound. Cristo looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Cristo looks like he's trying to stand up.
Leben thows a huge punch but Cristo dodges it nicely.
Leben not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leben wants to control but Cristo is keeping him busy.
Leben throwing shots but Cristo is blocking nicely.
Cristo is trying to get back to full guard.
Leben wants to control but Cristo is keeping him busy.
Cristo wants to get back to full guard but Leben has passed into side control.
Michael Cristo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Leben thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Cristo tries to hold on but Leben postures up.
Leben is landing with some decent strikes but Cristo is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Cristo can't escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leben lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Cristo working to try and regain half guard.
Cristo just holding on.
Leben lands a big elbow.
Leben thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Leben misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Cristo regains half guard.
Cristo is looking for a sweep. Leben is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Leben missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leben tries to pass the half guard into mount. Cristo knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cristo has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Leben is working away from the top position though.
Leben sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Cristo defending well though.
Cristo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cristo keeps control of the position for the meantime.

Cristo is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Leben pulls his head out easily.
Leben is thwarting Cristo's attempts to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Michael Cristo will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Leben displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Cristo.
Leben throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Cristo.
Cristo shoots in for a double leg but Leben sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Leben fails to land with a series of punches.
Leben swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cristo shoots in looking for a takedown but Leben manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Cristo's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Michael Cristo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cristo looks to clinch
and Leben connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Leben throws a nice looking combination but Cristo bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Leben closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cristo moves to clinch but Leben breaks away
and Leben counters with a one-two to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Leben. Those never looked like landing.
Leben misses with a combination
and Cristo counters with a big head kick but Leben shrugs it off.
Chris Leben is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cristo throws a lazy body kick
and Leben counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Cristo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Leben paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Cristo looks for a takedown but Leben sprawls well.
Cristo shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Leben counters with a series of strikes. Cristo will be more careful next time no doubt.
Leben throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Leben defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Cristo.
A combination from Leben does no damage.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Leben in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leben tries to bum rush Cristo with a series of wild strikes but Cristo uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Cristo throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Cristo avoids the body shot from Leben.
Leben throws a combination that misses

and Cristo counters with a takedown into side control.
Leben manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Leben is trying to stand up here but Cristo is controlling him well.
Leben is pressing down on Cristo's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Leben is on top in guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cristo is looking to stand up but Leben isn't so interested in that idea.
Leben landing some decent shots from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cristo controls Leben momentarily but Leben frees himself.
Leben trying to control the position from guard on top but Cristo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Leben throws a big right hand that misses.

Leben avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Leben preventing the sweep.
Chris Leben has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Leben accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Leben missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

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.
Cristo wants to stand up but Leben is controlling him.
Leben is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Leben working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Leben scoring with punches to the head and body.
Cristo manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Leben manages to get himself to full guard.
Cristo trying to control but Leben is working from the bottom.
Leben is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Cristo is controlling him.

Leben working for submissions but it's allowed Cristo to get to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Chris Leben.
Well Cristo 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 Hugh Johnson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 29:29
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Michael Cristo!