PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mike Graves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Phillip Cole (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Graves
vs
Cole

183 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Good chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Determined

Sportsmanship Ltd.

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Mike Graves!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Phillip Cole!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cole shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Graves pinned against the cage. Graves gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Cole wants to clinch
and Graves counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Cole shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Graves defends it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Graves scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Cole with a poor takedown
and Graves counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Mike Graves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Phillip Cole.
Graves leaves Cole with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves scores with a nice head shot.

Cole gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Cole wants to get back to striking at distance but Graves won't allow it.
Cole is stalling here.

Cole has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Graves uses from the top position.
Cole seems keen to control Graves's posture.
Cole has momentary wrist control but Graves slips an elbow through the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves tries to stand but Cole is controlling from the bottom.
Cole pulls Graves in close to his closed guard and prevents Graves from doing any damage or advancing position.

Cole is working an open guard so Graves takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Cole shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Graves sprawls well. Graves wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Cole gets slowly back to his feet.
Nice defenses there by Graves.
Cole tries to clinch but fails miserably
letting Graves counter with a right hand.

Cole rushes Graves and presses him up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cole blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Cole tries for a takedown. No joy.

Cole successfully pulls guard.
Cole working a defensive guard here.

Cole is working an open guard so Graves takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Graves throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Graves stuns Cole with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Cole walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Nice straight punches there by Graves. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Graves.
Graves shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Cole but Cole pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Graves is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Cole throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Graves's waist but Graves gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Cole off to one side.
Cole shoots in but no luck this time.
Cole closes the distance and clinches up with Graves, looking for a takedown. Cole pushes Graves against the cage but Graves circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Graves lands the left hand.
Graves wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cole tries to clinch but Graves is having none of it.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Cole has Graves pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Graves manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Graves dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Cole dives in for a single leg takedown but Graves sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Cole tries to clinch but fails miserably
enabling Graves to counter with a crisp jab.
No luck for Cole with that takedown attempt.
A combination from Cole does no damage.
Graves misses with a takedown attempt - Cole sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Good shot there by Graves.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Some wild striking there from Cole.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A punch lands to the side of Cole 's head but he takes it in his stride.
A punch lands to the side of Cole 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Graves avoids the head kick by Cole.
Graves went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Phillip Cole is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Graves lands a nice shot that snaps Cole's head back.
Cole looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Mike Graves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Phillip Cole.
Cole shoots in and drives through. Graves sprawls well.
Graves drops down looking for a counter takedown but Cole sprawls and moves away.
Cole tries to clinch but Graves moves away
and Graves connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Mike Graves is winning the standup battle so far.
A clash of legs there as Graves blocks the low kick.
Graves went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
No luck for Cole with that takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Cole defends well and Graves ends up having to push Cole into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Cole goes for a double leg but Graves avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Graves continues to drive forward.
Cole dives in for a single leg takedown but Graves sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Graves swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Graves shoots in and bounces Cole off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graves trying to stand up but can't free himself from Cole's guard.
Cole should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Cole is looking to stand up but Graves isn't so interested in that idea.
Cole controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves trying to control but Cole is working from the bottom.
Cole has his hands on Graves's head, controlling the position.

Cole had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Graves defends it easily.
Graves trying to stand up but can't free himself from Cole's guard.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Cole is adopting a defensive guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Cole looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Graves is fending him off so far but Cole persists. Nope, Graves circles away and we're back to standing.

Graves is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Cole's half guard.
Graves trying to control from half guard but Cole is working away.
Cole wants to get back to full guard.
Cole is refusing to be controlled, as Graves sits in half guard.
Cole is trying is best to control the position here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Graves dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Cole missing with a left hand there. Graves was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Graves throwing a counter right hand but Cole manages to avoid it.
Graves closes the distance and clinches up with Cole, looking for a takedown. Graves pushes Cole against the cage but Cole circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And Cole tries to counter it with a takedown but Graves pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Cole shoots and misses
and Graves counters with a nice uppercut.

Cole instigates a clinch.
Cole goes for a takedown in the clinch but Graves prevents it.
Graves stops a takedown attempt from Cole.
Mike Graves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Phillip Cole.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cole working aggressively here.

Cole escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cole doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Graves counters with a straight right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves closes this distance looking for a takedown but Cole circles away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cole shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Graves cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Graves thuds a left hand into Cole's body.
Nice sprawl there from Graves as Cole shoots in.
Cole wants to clinch but Graves slips to the side
and Graves counters with a nice uppercut.
Graves connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Cole shoots in but Graves avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cole fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cole tries to close the distance and clinch but Graves swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cole looks for a takedown but Graves sprawls well.

Graves bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Graves decides to stand back up.
Cole tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Cole shoots and misses
letting Graves counter with a right hand.
Cole fails with the takedown

and Graves counters with a takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Graves has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Graves circles away from the clinch attempt.

Cole rushes Graves and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Cole misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Graves.
Graves swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Cole tries for a takedown. No joy.
Cole is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Still in the clinch, Cole scores with a nice short uppercut.
Cole is trying to pull guard but Graves has him pressed against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Cole's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Cole is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Cole breaks from the clinch.
Cole fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Graves is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cole can do to turn this around?
Cole shoots in but Graves avoids the takedown attempt easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Graves showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Graves, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 30:27
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Graves!