PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Leonardo Munoz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Neftali De La Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Munoz
vs
De La Cruz

213 cm
18
278 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

193 cm
20
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Leonardo Munoz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Neftali De La Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Shigeki Sano and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Munoz fails with a takedown attempt.

Munoz gets tackled into the cage by De La Cruz. De La Cruz maintains the clinch.
De La Cruz fails to pull guard.
Munoz leaning against his opponent.
De La Cruz is trying to break the clinch but Munoz has him pressed against the cage.
De La Cruz has Munoz pressed against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Munoz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Munoz tries to break the clinch but De La Cruz is controlling the position.

De La Cruz pulls guard successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De La Cruz is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
De La Cruz is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Munoz throws an elbow that misses. De La Cruz uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Munoz's guard. Nice move by De La Cruz!

Munoz keeping full guard, as De La Cruz tries to pass.
De La Cruz wants to control from the top but Munoz keeps moving.
Munoz looking to control.
De La Cruz looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

De La Cruz gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

De La Cruz manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Munoz on his heels. He'll look to pass Munoz's guard now, I'm sure.
Munoz is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
De La Cruz stays in close to Munoz's body and controls the position.
Munoz will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

De La Cruz decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Munoz, up you get!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by De La Cruz or perhaps it was just good defense by Munoz, which made it look bad.

De La Cruz forces Munoz back against the cage and clinches.
Munoz being controlled against the cage.
Munoz wants to get back to striking at distance but De La Cruz won't allow it.
Munoz is pressed up against the cage. De La Cruz has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Munoz down to the mat. Munoz avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Leonardo Munoz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Neftali De La Cruz.

Munoz shoots in and gets a takedown into De La Cruz's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De La Cruz controlling the position.

De La Cruz looking for a guillotine here but Munoz defends easily.
Munoz has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Munoz with a nice head shot there.

De La Cruz looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
De La Cruz wants to stand but Munoz is controlling the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

De La Cruz throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Munoz trying to control but De La Cruz is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neftali De La Cruz dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

De La Cruz shoots in looking for a takedown but Munoz manages to keep the fight standing, pushing De La Cruz's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

De La Cruz pushes Munoz up against the cage in a clinch.
Munoz is trying to break the clinch but De La Cruz has him pressed against the cage.
De La Cruz wants to take the fight to the mat but Munoz manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
De La Cruz tries to pull guard but Munoz won't allow it.
Leonardo Munoz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Neftali De La Cruz.
Munoz managing to block the knees to the body from De La Cruz.
De La Cruz trying to land knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De La Cruz wants to get back to striking at distance but Munoz won't allow it.
Munoz prevents De La Cruz from breaking the clinch.

De La Cruz manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
De La Cruz not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Munoz trying to control the position from guard on top but De La Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

De La Cruz had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Munoz defends it easily.
Munoz's corner is telling him to maintain position.
De La Cruz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Munoz wants to control from the top but De La Cruz keeps moving.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

De La Cruz working for a triangle but Munoz defends it easily.

That's two 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.

De La Cruz has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Munoz can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
A left and a right from De La Cruz both land. Nice combination.

It looks like Leonardo Munoz has been cut.
Munoz tries to bum rush De La Cruz with a series of wild strikes but De La Cruz uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Munoz shoots in for a takedown but De La Cruz shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
De La Cruz tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Munoz defends well and De La Cruz ends up having to push Munoz into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Munoz shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
De La Cruz fails with a takedown attempt.
De La Cruz is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De La Cruz tries to score a power double leg takedown but Munoz sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten De La Cruz somewhat.
Munoz is looking for a counter combo.
Munoz looks to land a combination. De La Cruz sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Leonardo Munoz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Munoz is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by De La Cruz.

De La Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Munoz manages to break the clinch.
Munoz misses with a two punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De La Cruz fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Munoz avoids it really well and circles away.

De La Cruz has taken the fight to the clinch.
Munoz has had enough of the clinch but De La Cruz keeps him there for the moment.
De La Cruz working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
De La Cruz goes for a takedown in the clinch but Munoz prevents it.
De La Cruz tries to pull guard but Munoz holds him up against the cage and eventually De La Cruz drops back down to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Neftali De La Cruz will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Leonardo Munoz's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

De La Cruz shoots in for a double leg but Munoz sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Munoz was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.

Munoz gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows De La Cruz to score an easy takedown into full guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for De La Cruz. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.

De La Cruz gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

De La Cruz gets a clinch.

Munoz manages to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Munoz displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from De La Cruz.

Munoz clinches up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De La Cruz missing with knees to the body.

Munoz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
De La Cruz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

De La Cruz moves into range and clinches up with Munoz.
De La Cruz tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Munoz just stands there and leans against the cage.
Leonardo Munoz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Neftali De La Cruz.
De La Cruz drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Munoz gets the underhooks and prevents it.
De La Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Munoz is looking to break free of the clinch but De La Cruz has double underhooks.
Munoz wants to break free but De La Cruz has control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De La Cruz can't get the takedown.
Munoz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
A frustrated look appears on Munoz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
De La Cruz is stalling here.
De La Cruz just leaning against Munoz, taking a breather.
De La Cruz wants to break free but Munoz has control.

Munoz manages to break the clinch.
Munoz scores with a spinning back kick!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

De La Cruz is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Munoz's half guard.

Munoz kicks De La Cruz off and gets back to his feet.
Munoz connects with a high kick.
A swing and a miss from De La Cruz.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from De La Cruz is defended easily by Munoz.
Munoz has a takedown stuffed.
De La Cruz tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Munoz paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De La Cruz wants to slow Munoz down by chopping away at his legs.
Munoz will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
De La Cruz shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Munoz pinned against the cage. Munoz gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Munoz appears to be looking for a big counter.
De La Cruz shoots in for a takedown but Munoz shows good takedown defense.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A punch combination from Munoz misses.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Munoz misses with an uppercut. De La Cruz saw that one coming.

De La Cruz darts in and clinches Munoz up against the cage.
Leonardo Munoz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Neftali De La Cruz is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Munoz swings wildly with an uppercut but De La Cruz uses good head movement to avoid it.

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 Leonardo Munoz.
I think De La Cruz has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Neftali De La Cruz!