PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mark Twister (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and rodrigo cunha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Mark Twister has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Twister
vs
cunha

185 cm
21
153 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

170 cm
20
150 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mark Twister!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, rodrigo cunha!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Daniel Franklin and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Twister looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for cunha!
Twister trying to control but cunha is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Twister takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
cunha is working to get back to half guard.
Twister content just to control the position here.
cunha wants to hold on but Twister pushes him away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
cunha is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Twister can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as cunha is looking to escape.
Twister really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
cunha tries to hold on but Twister postures up.
cunha can't escape the position.
cunha tries to hold on but Twister postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
cunha looks gassed!
cunha tries to reverse the position but Twister maintains control.
Twister landing strikes, looking to finish!
Twister avoids the attempt from cunha to control.
cunha really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

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.
Twister tries to control but cunha wriggling away.
cunha wants to hold on but Twister pushes him away.
Twister tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Twister tries to control but cunha wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Mark Twister just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Twister scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
cunha is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Twister's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
cunha is pressing down on Twister's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
cunha is trying to hold Twister in close to prevent damage but Twister has managed to pass into half guard.
cunha trying to hold on to Twister's head to control him but Twister postures up.
Twister tries to pass the half guard into mount. cunha knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
cunha is refusing to be controlled, as Twister sits in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
cunha wants to control but Twister is keeping busy and won't allow it.
cunha missing with punches from the bottom.
Twister is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Twister wants to take a breather but cunha is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
cunha keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Twister fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Twister tries to close the distance and clinch up but cunha swats him away and circles back towards the center.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Twister dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

cunha shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than cunha was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
cunha throwing strikes here but Twister is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Twister tries to lock up and control but cunha gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
cunha scoring with strikes but Twister is staying in there.
cunha wants to control the pace but Twister is squirming around nicely.
Twister is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Twister tries to hold on but cunha pushes him away.
Twister is working to get back to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
cunha controlling his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
cunha is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Twister can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
cunha looking to control and managing it successfully.
cunha in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
cunha raining down shots from the mount!
BOOM! cunha connects with a massive shot to the dome!

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.
Twister tries to reverse the position but cunha maintains control.
cunha unloads with some shots from mount but Twister bucks and avoids them well.
cunha lands a big shot there that rocks Twister but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Twister is desperately trying to improve his position but cunha has a good base and remains in mount.
cunha controlling from the full mount.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, cunha cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
cunha lands a big shot there that rocks Twister but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Twister is looking to improve his position but cunha isn't that keen on the idea.
cunha takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Twister tries to reverse the position but cunha maintains control.
Twister is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
cunha takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
cunha avoids the attempt from Twister to control.
cunha postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Twister looks a forlorn figure.
cunha controlling from the full mount.

That's four 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.
Twister keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Twister is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
cunha punishing his opponent with strikes.
cunha scores with a couple of good head shots there.
cunha scoring with strikes but Twister is staying in there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

rodrigo cunha showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Twister's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

cunha scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Twister is trying to control but can't.
Twister is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because cunha is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Twister manages to get to full guard.
Twister seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
cunha controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
cunha throwing strikes from guard but Twister blocks nicely.
cunha pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Twister is keeping the position for now.
Twister will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
cunha thows a big elbow that misses.
Twister has control of cunha's left arm, preventing cunha from doing any damage.

That's two 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.
cunha trying to control the position from guard on top but Twister is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Twister is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Twister keeping moving, preventing cunha from controlling successfully.
cunha trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Twister kicks cunha off and gets to his feet.

cunha gets a takedown into half guard.
cunha throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
cunha controlling the action here.
cunha is trying to control. Twister wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
cunha trying to control the pace.
cunha thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
cunha wants to take a breather but Twister is having none of it.
cunha is taking a breather. Twister says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Twister manages to get to full guard.
cunha has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
cunha showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Despite being in the dominant position, rodrigo cunha just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
cunha tries for a takedown but Twister circles away easily

and Twister counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Twister would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
cunha looking to hit a scissor sweep but Twister is one step ahead there.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to rodrigo cunha.
Well cunha has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 29:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:29
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a majority draw!