PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Lateef Crowder (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Caio Croce (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Crowder comes to the cage accompanied by Tribute. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Crowder
vs
Croce

183 cm
25
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

187 cm
25
196 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

CEC Nutrition Q160 & Loans

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lateef Crowder!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Caio Croce!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Seu Braga and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Crowder shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Crowder showed some decent athleticism there.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Croce wants to control but Crowder is keeping busy.

Croce looking for subs from the bottom but Crowder mounts him!
Crowder looking to control and managing it successfully.
Croce wants to hold on but Crowder pushes him away.
Croce can't escape the position.
Croce wants to hold on but Crowder pushes him away.
Crowder looking to control and managing it successfully.
Croce wants to control but Crowder is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crowder looking to control but Croce is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Croce tries to hold on but Crowder pushes him away.
Croce can't escape the position.
Croce wants to hold on but Crowder pushes him away.
Croce regains half guard.
Crowder is looking to advance position but Croce won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Croce trying to control but Crowder postures up.

Crowder seems to be looking for submissions.

Croce looking for submissions off his back.

Croce actively working from the bottom here.

Croce looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crowder is looking to advance position but Croce won't allow it.
Croce is trying to control but can't.
Crowder wants to lay and pray for a moment but Croce keeps working.
Croce trying to hold on to Crowder's head to control him but Crowder postures up.
Crowder trying to control the action but Croce is working from the bottom.

Croce looking for submissions off his back.
Croce is trying to control but Crowder manages to pass to mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Croce is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Crowder is trying to stand up but he's being controlled by his opponent.
Crowder working the ground and pound effectively.
Croce is looking to get to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Crowder content just to control the position here.
Crowder 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.

That was a close round but I would say that Lateef Crowder will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Crowder scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Crowder looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Lateef Crowder overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Croce looking for submissions off his back.
Crowder wants to take a breather but Croce is having none of it.
Croce is trying to control but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Caio Croce wasn't active enough on the ground.

Crowder shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Croce napping and manages to drive through into side control!
You can see the frustration on Croce's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Crowder tries to stand but Croce is controlling his head.
Crowder working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Croce tries to improve position but can't.
Croce tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Crowder avoids the attempt from Croce to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Croce holds of for dear life.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Croce is squirming around, avoiding Crowder's attempts to control the action.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Croce wants to hold on but Crowder pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Croce is looking to improve his position but Crowder isn't that keen on the idea.
Crowder can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Croce is looking to escape.
Croce tries to hold on but Crowder postures up.
Crowder tries to push Croce's head away but Croce is holding on tight.
Croce is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Caio Croce hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Crowder looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Croce!
Croce struggling a bit here.
Crowder tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Croce is looking for a sweep.
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!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Croce can't do much from the bottom here.
Croce tries to bench press Crowder off him but Crowder keeps 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 Lateef Crowder will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Crowder shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Crowder showed some decent athleticism there.

Croce looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Crowder is controlling the pace.
Croce is trying to maintain the position but Crowder is very close to passing his half guard.

Croce actively working from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Crowder in particular looking to stall.
Croce tries to roll over but Crowder keeps him under control.
Croce trying to control here.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Crowder seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Croce is trying to control but can't.
Croce is concentrating on defense, preventing Crowder from advancing position.

We're going to have a standup here because Lateef Crowder wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Crowder shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Croce napping and manages to drive through into side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Croce wants to control but Crowder postures up.
Crowder tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Crowder sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Croce is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Croce is looking to regain half guard here but Crowder keeps moving and retains side control.
Croce prevents Crowder from improving position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
You can see the frustration on Croce's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Croce manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Croce wants to control but Crowder is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Crowder tries to stand and escape but Croce is controlling the position.

Croce actively working from the bottom here.

Crowder moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Croce.
Lateef Crowder is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Croce wants to control but Crowder postures up.
Crowder wants to lay and pray for a moment but Croce keeps working.
Caio Croce has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Croce is trying to control Crowder's posture but Crowder avoids it.
Crowder happy to just control the position for now.
Crowder working away.
Croce is trying to escape the position but Crowder is controlling the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Crowder misses with a wild body shot.

Crowder feints and as Croce raises his hands in defense, Crowder changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lateef Crowder showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Crowder 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lateef Crowder!
A very excited looking Lateef Crowder made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.