PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between daniel cook (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and phil darling (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

cook
vs
darling

189 cm
22
205 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

180 cm
22
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Prefers standup

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, daniel cook!
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, phil darling!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Stewart Dunkirk and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
cook throws a sloppy head kick and darling moves out of range easily.
darling 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.
cook avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
cook tries a head kick but it misses.
darling throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
cook throws a head kick that misses

and darling counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
darling is looking to stall here but cook recovers full guard.
cook wants to stand but darling is controlling the position.
darling looking to sit in guard and control but cook gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
darling controlling cook's posture.

cook gets to his feet - darling follows without any prompting.

That's one minute gone in the round.
darling is looking to clinch but cook is avoiding it.
cook keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
cook swings away with a body shot that misses

and darling counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for cook!
cook is trying to stand up.
darling trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, darling cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
cook tries to buck darling off but darling takes his back!
darling tries to keep control of the position but cook is staying busy.
cook trying to get back to his feet but darling is in full control for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
cook is breathing heavily.
darling trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
cook is trying to stand back up.
cook is keeping busy.
Oooh a big shot gets through from darling. Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
cook has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Good control from darling.

darling is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. cook defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

cook showing good submission defense here.
cook holding both darling 's hands and preventing any damage.

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.
Will darling go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
cook has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
darling is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
cook is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

phil darling 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.

Excellent takedown into side control there by darling.
cook wants to get back to his feet but darling drags him back down.

darling has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
cook keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
darling closes this distance looking for a takedown but cook circles away.
cook swats away the attempt to clinch by darling.
darling shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts cook as he jumps to the side.
daniel cook has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of phil darling.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

darling looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for cook!

That's one minute gone in the round.
darling can't control as he wanted to and cook manages to get the fight back to his half guard.
cook is looking to escape.
darling tries to pass the half guard into mount. cook knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
darling trying to control the action but cook is working from the bottom.
cook tries to kick darling off but darling keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
darling not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
darling prevents cook from standing back up.

That's two 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.

cook kicks off darling and gets to his feet.
darling lands with a kick to the temple. cook shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
No joy there for cook, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
darling scores with a jab. cook acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
darling shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with cook but cook pushes him off and we're back to square one.
darling shoots for a double leg takedown but cook sprawls well. He's pushed darling's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
cook lands a body shot.

darling darts in and clinches cook up against the cage.
darling creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through cook's defenses.
darling wants to break the clinch but can't.
darling is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

cook breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
cook throws a lazy head kick

and darling counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for cook!
cook really wants to buck darling off and get back to his feet.

darling is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But cook has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from cook!
darling looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

darling is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
cook wants to get up but he can't break darling's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
darling wants to sweep here but cook controlling him for the moment.

cook stands up and waves to darling to follow him.
cook throws a nice head kick!

Excellent takedown into side control there by darling.
phil darling has got the better of the ground game so far.
cook is trying to buck darling off.
cook is not content to let darling control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

phil darling showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

darling throws a body punch but cook moves out of range.
cook throws a lazy right hand but darling sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
darling throws a front kick that sends cook stumbling back into the cage.

darling drives through with a takedown into guard.
darling in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
cook is looking to stand up but darling isn't so interested in that idea.
darling works over cook with some ground and pound from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
darling trying to control but cook is working from the bottom.
darling trying to stand up but can't free himself from cook's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
darling wants to control from the top but cook keeps moving.
darling tries to stand but cook is controlling from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Horrible takedown by darling or perhaps it was just good defense by cook which made him look bad.
darling tries to clinch but cook is having none of it.
darling is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
darling fails with a takedown attempt.
cook throws a combination that misses

and darling counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

cook kicks darling off and gets back to his feet.
cook just misses with a punch to the body.

darling shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
cook keeping moving, preventing darling from controlling successfully.
cook wants to stand and escape but darling is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

cook has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes darling off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
cook throws a right and a left that both miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
darling tries to clinch there but cook circles away.
darling throws a series of strikes that have cook backpedaling.
A head kick misses from cook.

darling closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
cook tries to escape but darling is in control.
cook trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.

darling decides to stand up, so the ref orders cook to his feet.
darling shoots in and drives through. cook sprawls well.
daniel cook has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of phil darling.
darling shoots in but cook avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
darling slips a jab and a cross from cook.
darling looks for a takedown but cook sprawls well.
cook throws a head kick that misses.

darling forces cook back against the cage and clinches.
darling goes for a takedown in the clinch but cook prevents it.

cook manages to break the clinch.
darling shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says cook as he avoids it easily.

darling 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.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

cook wriggles free and stands up.
daniel cook has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
phil darling is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
darling digs a good body shot into cook's ribs.

And that's the end of the fight!
phil darling comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got darling winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 27:30
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... phil darling!