PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Riley Free (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alan Cobra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Free
vs
Cobra

199 cm
22
265 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

188 cm
29
250 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Riley Free!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Alan Cobra!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Shigeki Sano and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Free just misses with a punch to the body.
Free is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Cobra.
Free looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Cobra is fending him off so far but Free persists. Nope, Cobra circles away and we're back to standing.
Cobra ducks under a wild hook from Free.
Free shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Cobra misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
No joy there for Cobra, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Alan Cobra seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Free avoids the body shot from Cobra.
Free avoids the head kick by Cobra.
Cobra keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Free works over Cobra's head and body with a nice combination.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Free tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cobra was well out of range. Poor timing from Free.
Free throws a hook but Cobra avoids it easily.
Cobra lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Cobra.
Cobra throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Cobra lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Free throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cobra's waist but Cobra gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Free off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Riley Free. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Free takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Free avoids the head kick by Cobra.
Cobra scores with a nice strike.
Cobra just misses with a punch to the body.

Cobra pushes Free up against the cage in a clinch.
Free tries to land knees in the clinch but Cobra avoids the damage to the body.
Free throws an elbow that misses.
Free lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Cobra.
Cobra lands an elbow that stopped Free in his tracks for a moment.
Cobra working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Cobra tries to throw a body punch but Free avoids it by throwing Cobra back against the cage.
Free has had enough of the clinch but Cobra keeps him there for the moment.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Cobra avoiding damage as Free throws knees to the body.
Cobra lands a nice shot to the body.
Cobra lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Free creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cobra lands a knee to the head.
Free on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Free trying to stall but Cobra improves his position.
Free lands a nice knee to the body.
Free tries to circle away but Cobra has him pinned against the cage.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Free. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
Cobra is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Free is keeping busy.
Free throws an elbow that misses.
Free avoiding damage as Cobra throws knees to the body.
Free trying to land knees to the body.
Cobra wants to stall.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Free goes for a takedown attempt but Cobra pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Cobra stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Free walks into a straight right hand from Cobra.
Free throws a half hearted mid kick.
Cobra tries a head kick but it misses.
Cobra checks a low kick from Free.
Free's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Cobra connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Free scrambles back to his feet.
Free thuds a left hand into Cobra's body.
Cobra throws a sloppy head kick and Free moves out of range easily.
Free slips under a jab from Cobra.
Free cracks Cobra with a good jab.
Cobra lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Free circles away quickly and effectively.
Free shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Cobra as he jumps to the side.
A looping hook to the body misses from Free. Cobra does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Free shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cobra defends it nicely.
Free throws out a loose jab but Cobra uses good head movement to avoid it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A jab lands there for Cobra.
A combination from Cobra does no damage.
Cobra throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Cobra throws a sloppy head kick
letting Free counter with a right hand.
Free tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Cobra is able to avoid easily.
Free misses with a head kick.
Cobra throws a series of punches but Free avoids them all with ease.
Cobra throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Free stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Nice jab there from Cobra.
Free throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Free throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Cobra sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Free slips a jab from Cobra.
Free misses with a body shot.
Free misses the jab.
Free looks to land a left hand but Cobra moved out of range nicely.
Free looks to score with a jab to the body but Cobra is just out of range.
Free uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Cobra.

Free closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Free is looking to take a break and control but Cobra is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Cobra prevents Free from improving position.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Free trying to control the position but Cobra is working away.
Cobra is looking for a sweep.
Cobra pushes Free away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Free gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

Free tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Free has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Free is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cobra has escaped the position, nice work there.
Cobra is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Free asserts his dominance and retains side control.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Cobra defending against the ground and pound.

Free is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cobra has escaped the position, nice work there.

Free working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Free looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Free slows the pace down.

Free working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

Free is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Cobra is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Free goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Cobra rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Free's guard! Nice work there by Cobra!

Free has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Cobra off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cobra leaves Free with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alan Cobra dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Cobra jabs Free to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Free jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Free throws the left hand but Cobra avoids the punch easily.
Cobra throws a head kick but Free moves out of range.
Free misses with a head kick.
Cobra blocks a head kick by Free.
Free shoots in but no luck this time.
Cobra throws a nice head kick!

Free throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Cobra tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Free is in Cobra's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cobra wants to stand up but Free is controlling him.
Free trying to control the position from guard on top but Cobra is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Free 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.
Free prevents Cobra from getting back to his feet.
Free is stalling in the full guard.
Free stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cobra swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Cobra wants to stand and escape but Free is having none of it.
Free will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Free wants to pass the guard but Cobra is keeping the position.
Cobra pulls Free in close to his closed guard and prevents Free from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Free misses with a jab, cross combination.
Free has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Cobra.
Free misses with a leg kick.
Cobra lands with a kick to the temple. Free shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
A head kick from Cobra lands but Free takes it in his stride.
Alan Cobra seems to be getting the better of the standup.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cobra throws a head kick but Free moves out of range.
A big right from Free misses.
Cobra tries a head kick but it misses.
Cobra avoids the head kick by Free.
Free throws a right and a left that both miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Free blocks a head kick by Cobra.
Cobra lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Cobra displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Free.
The fighters circling - Cobra throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
No joy there for Free, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Cobra tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Free falls off balance throwing a combination
and Cobra counters with a stiff right hand.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cobra takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

Free decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Cobra wants to get back to full guard.
Free stops Cobra from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Free is keen to just control but Cobra is a slippery customer.
Riley Free overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Free is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Cobra defends it well.
Free content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Free wants to pass the guard but Cobra is defending well.

That's five minutes gone in the round.

Free is working for a kimura but Cobra is defending it quite comfortably.
Free wants to lay and pray for a moment but Cobra keeps working.
Free thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Cobra's head.
Free missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Free is trying to control. Cobra wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Cobra is trying to stand back up but Free is controlling him

Free is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Cobra moves into full guard.
Free throwing strikes from guard but Cobra blocks nicely.
Free wants to control from the top but Cobra keeps moving.
Cobra is trying to control the position but Free postures up.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Free postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Free forces his way into half guard.
Cobra blocking the ground and pound attempt from Free.

Free is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Cobra defends it well.
Free content to control rather than advance.

Free is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.

Free is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cobra sees it coming and defends easily.
Free works his foot free and advances to mount.
Free can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Cobra is looking to escape.
Cobra manages to regain half guard. Good work.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Free is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Free looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cobra blocking the ground and pound attempt from Free.

Free seems to be working for a kimura but Cobra defends the submission attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Riley Free.
I have no idea who won that fight. Let's wait and see whether the judges are as confused as me! Time for a split decision perhaps?!. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.

Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight for Alan Cobra!
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight for Alan Cobra!
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight for Alan Cobra!

Alan Cobra wins by unanimous decision!