PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cedric Berisha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cory Markiewicz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Markiewicz is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Twista-Victory or death. 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.

Berisha
vs
Markiewicz

225 cm
19
300 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

195 cm
22
245 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Cedric Berisha!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Cory Markiewicz!
The judges for this bout are Eliza Hachem, Skip Squint and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Markiewicz lands with a thumping leg kick.
Berisha avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Berisha misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Berisha closes the distance and clinches up with Markiewicz, looking for a takedown. Berisha pushes Markiewicz against the cage but Markiewicz circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Markiewicz throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Markiewicz tries to clinch but Berisha moves out of range.

Berisha feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Berisha showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Markiewicz avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Berisha wants to control from the top but Markiewicz keeps moving.
Berisha scoring with punches to the head and body.
Berisha knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Markiewicz on the ground.
Markiewicz looks gassed!
Markiewicz keeping full guard, as Berisha tries to pass.
Berisha content to stall in guard here.
Berisha trying to control the position from guard on top but Markiewicz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Berisha postures up and lands a big shot to Markiewicz's brow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Berisha slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Berisha trying to control the position from guard on top but Markiewicz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Cedric Berisha just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Berisha moves out of range of the strikes.

Berisha shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Berisha showed some decent athleticism there.
Berisha winds up and cracks Markiewicz with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Berisha winds up and cracks Markiewicz with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Markiewicz is staying active underneath Berisha, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Berisha landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Berisha will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Berisha is looking to stall here but Markiewicz recovers full guard.
Berisha wants to control from the top but Markiewicz keeps moving.
Berisha looking to sit in guard and control but Markiewicz gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Berisha wants to sweep but no luck.
Berisha keeping moving, preventing Markiewicz from controlling successfully.
Berisha controls Markiewicz momentarily but Markiewicz frees himself.
Berisha is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Markiewicz is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Berisha wants to sweep but no luck.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Markiewicz doesn't manage to clinch there - Berisha circles away.
A jab lands there for Markiewicz.
Berisha circles away from the clinch attempt.
Berisha takes a kick to the side of the head.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Berisha.
Berisha prevents Markiewicz from escaping the position.
Markiewicz is not content to let Berisha control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cedric Berisha dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Markiewicz keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Nice sprawl there from Markiewicz as Berisha shoots in.
Berisha fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cedric Berisha. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Markiewicz gets in close and instigates a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice body punch from Markiewicz - that landed with a thud.
A knee to the head by Markiewicz.

It looks like Cedric Berisha has been cut.
A shot in the inside from Markiewicz.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Berisha wants a takedown but no success here.
Markiewicz gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

Markiewicz breaks the clinch.
Markiewicz tries to clinch up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Markiewicz fakes the leg kick and cracks Berisha in the body.
Berisha slips under a jab from Markiewicz.
Markiewicz swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Berisha shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Berisha looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Markiewicz is on top in guard.
Berisha not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Markiewicz trying to control but Berisha is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Berisha managing to control the position.
Berisha keeping moving, preventing Markiewicz from controlling successfully.
Berisha looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Berisha controlling the position.
Berisha looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Markiewicz misses with a hook. Berisha ducked under it nicely.
Cedric Berisha is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The fight stays on the outside here - Markiewicz looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Berisha fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Berisha shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Markiewicz as he jumps to the side.
Berisha misses with a takedown attempt - Markiewicz sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Berisha keeps the fight on the outside.
Markiewicz fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Markiewicz tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Berisha paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Markiewicz misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Berisha tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Markiewicz swivels and escapes.
Berisha shoots in for a double leg but Markiewicz sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Horrible takedown by Berisha or perhaps it was just good defense by Markiewicz which made him look bad.
Berisha fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Berisha shoots in for a double leg but Markiewicz sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Markiewicz rushes Berisha and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Markiewicz tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Markiewicz lands an elbow inside.
Berisha tries for a takedown but Markiewicz manages to get underhooks.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cory Markiewicz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Cedric Berisha's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Berisha uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Markiewicz.
Markiewicz tries to clinch there but Berisha circles away.
Markiewicz misses with a wild body shot.
Berisha fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Markiewicz with a lazy takedown attempt

and Berisha counters with a single leg into guard. Markiewicz didn't expect that.

Markiewicz throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Berisha working some strikes from top position.
Berisha working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Berisha is stalling in the full guard.
Berisha tries to free his leg and advance position but Markiewicz is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Berisha sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Markiewicz's guard.
Berisha missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Berisha drops an elbow to the side of Markiewicz's head.
Berisha wants to pass to mount but Markiewicz is defending the position.
Markiewicz trying to control from the bottom.
Berisha seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Cedric Berisha overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Markiewicz pushes Berisha off looking to stand but Berisha dives back in and keeps control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Berisha looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Berisha seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Berisha not doing much here.
Markiewicz tries to roll over but Berisha keeps him under control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Berisha prevents Markiewicz from standing back up.
Berisha lands with a punch from half guard.
Markiewicz wants to get back to his feet.
Berisha landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Markiewicz is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Berisha pulls his head out easily.
Markiewicz wants to get back to his feet.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Berisha darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Markiewicz is trying to stand up here but Berisha is controlling him well.
Berisha not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Berisha drops an elbow to the side of Markiewicz's head.
Berisha throwing shots but Markiewicz is blocking nicely.
Markiewicz wants to control but Berisha is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Markiewicz looks like he's trying to stand up.
Berisha seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Markiewicz does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Berisha shoots in but no luck this time.
Markiewicz throws an overhand right that lands on Berisha's shoulder, as Berisha tries to avoid the shot.
Cory Markiewicz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Berisha shoots in looking for a takedown. Markiewicz tries to sprawl out of it but Berisha keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Markiewicz manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cedric Berisha. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Markiewicz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Markiewicz misses with a head kick.
No joy there for Markiewicz, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cedric Berisha showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Berisha has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Eliza Hachem scores the fight 29:28
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 29:28
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cedric Berisha!