PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Diego Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roshihiro Funkiunga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Roshihiro Funkiunga has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Diego Cruz 's chin.

Cruz
vs
Funkiunga

171 cm
26
147 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

167 cm
30
134 lbs
6 - 8 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Diego Cruz !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Roshihiro Funkiunga!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shigeki Fujiwara and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cruz with a lazy takedown attempt

and Funkiunga counters with a single leg into guard. Cruz didn't expect that.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cruz wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Cruz throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Cruz is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Cruz thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

Funkiunga actively working from the bottom here.

Cruz is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Cruz connects with a nice short shot to Funkiunga's temple.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Funkiunga is refusing to be controlled, as Cruz sits in half guard.
Cruz seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Cruz trying to control from half guard but Funkiunga is working away.

Cruz is looking for a kimura here.
Cruz looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Funkiunga with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Cruz works his way into full mount!
Funkiunga is in a horrible position here. Cruz smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz with shots to the head and body - Funkiunga looks very uncomfortable down there.
Cruz tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Poor strikes thrown by Cruz there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Cruz lands with some strikes.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cruz dominating with strikes here.
Cruz tries to control but Funkiunga wriggling away.
Cruz landing strikes from the mount and Funkiunga is in trouble!
Funkiunga in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Funkiunga is looking to escape.
Funkiunga really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Cruz . If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cruz with a couple of short strikes.
Cruz dominating with strikes here.
Funkiunga is squirming around, avoiding Cruz 's attempts to control the action.
Cruz has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Cruz goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Funkiunga turns into him and now he's in Cruz 's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cruz has Funkiunga pulled in close to control his posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Funkiunga would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Funkiunga is trying to tuck his arms in to keep them safe but Cruz has managed to isolate one of them and has got a loose triangle. Funkiunga is looking to defend but Cruz has done well to lock his legs together - this could be big trouble for Funkiunga! Cruz pulls down on the head and a little smile comes across his face - he knows he's got it. Yep, Funkiunga taps out and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:39 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Diego Cruz !
Diego Cruz spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.