PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jose Cuervo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and craig whitehead (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cuervo kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is I know you want me. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Cuervo
vs
whitehead

175 cm
22
179 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

185 cm
19
170 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Blitzkrieg Formula 5000
MMA's Best Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Jose Cuervo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, craig whitehead!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, James Ackerman and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cuervo cracks whitehead with a good jab.

Cuervo bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Cuervo misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Cuervo working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
whitehead tries to improve position but can't.
whitehead manages to work his way to half guard, despite Cuervo's best efforts.
Cuervo 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.
Cuervo thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed whitehead's head.

Cuervo is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Cuervo thows a huge punch but whitehead dodges it nicely.
whitehead punching from the bottom.
whitehead is not content to let Cuervo control the position.
whitehead avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Cuervo.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cuervo throws a nice looking combination but whitehead bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
whitehead moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
A right-left combo lands from whitehead.

Cuervo gets a clinch.

Cuervo drags the fight down to the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cuervo throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
whitehead trying to control but Cuervo is working from the bottom.

Cuervo has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but whitehead can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Cuervo tries to strike from the bottom.
whitehead is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
whitehead throwing strikes from guard but Cuervo blocks nicely.
Cuervo tries to strike from the bottom.

Cuervo isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. whitehead stacks Cuervo on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by whitehead!
Cuervo is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Cuervo is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Cuervo manages to get back to half guard.

Cuervo looking for submissions off his back.
Cuervo trying to hold on to whitehead's head to control him but whitehead postures up.
Cuervo gets back to full guard.

Cuervo had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. whitehead is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Cuervo Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take whitehead's back instead.
Cuervo is trying to stick to whitehead's back but whitehead is turning into Cuervo. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Cuervo's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by whitehead.
whitehead works over Cuervo with some ground and pound from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
whitehead trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
whitehead wants to control from the top but Cuervo keeps moving.
Cuervo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Cuervo throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
whitehead is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Cuervo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
whitehead pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cuervo is keeping the position for now.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Cuervo throws a left and a right that both miss

and whitehead moves into the clinch.
whitehead wants a takedown.
whitehead wants a takedown.

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.

Cuervo jumps guard.
whitehead wants to control from the top but Cuervo keeps moving.
whitehead passes Cuervo's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
whitehead scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Still in half guard, whitehead seems content to control.

Cuervo looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
whitehead prevents Cuervo from improving his position.
whitehead takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
whitehead looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Cuervo has hold of whitehead's hands but whitehead slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
whitehead is tying to control. Cuervo wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Cuervo keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Cuervo throws a right and a left that whitehead avoids nicely.
Cuervo moves in looking to clinch but whitehead pushes him off.

whitehead drives through with a takedown into guard.
whitehead throwing strikes from guard but Cuervo blocks nicely.

Cuervo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
whitehead wants to pass the guard but Cuervo is keeping the position.

Cuervo working for a triangle but whitehead defends it easily.
Cuervo throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cuervo looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
whitehead must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Cuervo can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as whitehead controls the pace.
whitehead wants to control from the top but Cuervo keeps moving.
whitehead missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Cuervo escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. whitehead gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Cuervo had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. whitehead is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Cuervo Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take whitehead's back instead.
Cuervo doesn't have the hooks in and whitehead manages to turn into his guard.
whitehead trying to control the position from guard on top but Cuervo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.

Cuervo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
whitehead postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
whitehead trying to control the position from guard on top but Cuervo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
whitehead pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cuervo is keeping the position for now.
whitehead pushes down on Cuervo's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Nice strikes from whitehead there.
Cuervo is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Cuervo slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
whitehead scoring with some ground and pound.
whitehead throwing strikes but missing.
Cuervo tries to strike from the bottom.

Cuervo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
whitehead lands a couple of decent looking shots.
whitehead controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
whitehead wants to pass the guard but Cuervo is keeping the position.

Cuervo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. whitehead doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. whitehead manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
whitehead trying to control but Cuervo is working from the bottom.
whitehead tries to free his leg and advance position but Cuervo is retaining full guard.
whitehead trying to control but Cuervo is working from the bottom.
whitehead postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Cuervo is looking for a triangle but whitehead pushes his legs off easily.
whitehead with a flurry of punches that miss.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
whitehead throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
whitehead is looking to work some ground and pound but Cuervo has wrist control.
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 Jose Cuervo will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

whitehead uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Cuervo.
Cuervo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cuervo thows a body shot but no joy.
Jose Cuervo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fight stays on the outside here - whitehead looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cuervo shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says whitehead as he avoids it easily.
Cuervo circles away from the clinch attempt.
Cuervo looks to land a body kick but whitehead moved away.
Cuervo fails in his attempt to clinch.
craig whitehead is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cuervo misses with a jab, cross combination.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

whitehead shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
whitehead not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
whitehead is keen to just control but Cuervo is a slippery customer.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cuervo trying to control from the bottom.
Cuervo is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Ground and pound from whitehead.

whitehead is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cuervo sees it coming and defends easily.
Jose Cuervo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
whitehead with the ground and pound but Cuervo uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Cuervo throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
whitehead tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
whitehead throws a series of punches but Cuervo moves out of range.
Cuervo shoots in but no luck this time.
whitehead is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
whitehead throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Cuervo scores a takedown into full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cuervo lands a big elbow.
whitehead tries to hold on but Cuervo postures up.
Cuervo looking to control but whitehead is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Cuervo working away from the top, dropping strikes.
A nice elbow there by Cuervo.
Cuervo lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Cuervo scoring with strikes but whitehead is staying in there.
whitehead tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
whitehead tries to hold on but Cuervo postures up.
whitehead is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Cuervo has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of whitehead's face.
Cuervo scoring with strikes but whitehead is staying in there.
Cuervo scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish whitehead?
Cuervo with shots to the head and body - whitehead looks very uncomfortable down there.
Cuervo landing strikes, looking to finish!
whitehead tries to hold on but Cuervo postures up.
whitehead is looking to get to half guard.
whitehead tries to hold on but Cuervo postures up.
Jose Cuervo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
whitehead is working to get back to half guard.
Cuervo avoids the attempt from whitehead to control.
whitehead is bucking up trying to escape but Cuervo cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Cuervo landing strikes from the mount.
whitehead regains half guard.

Cuervo looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Cuervo is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

And that's the end of the fight!
Jose Cuervo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cuervo, 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 William Gold scores the fight 29:28
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jose Cuervo!