PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jason Cottle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Connor (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.

Cottle
vs
Connor

177 cm
21
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
22
177 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jason Cottle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, John Connor!
The judges for this bout are , and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cottle shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Cottle trying to control but Connor is having none of it.
Connor is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Connor is looking to get to half guard.

Cottle is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
Connor has his takedown stuffed
and Cottle counters with a two punch combo.
Cottle misses with a low kick.

Connor fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Cottle sprawls well initially but Connor persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Connor perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Connor prevents Cottle from standing back up.
Connor throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Cottle kicks off Connor and gets to his feet.
Some wild striking there from Cottle.
Connor lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Cottle throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Cottle throws out a powerful jab.
Connor clobbers Cottle with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Cottle throws a left and a right that both miss

and Connor counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Connor trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Cottle keeping moving, preventing Connor from controlling successfully.
Cottle is looking to stand up but Connor isn't so interested in that idea.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Connor trying to control the position from guard on top but Cottle is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Cottle wriggles free and stands up.
Cottle throws a right hand that Connor ducks under and follows up with a left that Connor also avoids with ease.
Connor moves out of range as Cottle throws a body kick.
Cottle throws a combination that misses

and Connor counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Connor prevents Cottle from getting back to his feet.
Cottle is breathing heavily.

Cottle kicks Connor off and gets to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connor circles away from the clinch attempt
and Connor counters with a nice body kick.
Jason Cottle seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cottle shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Connor as he jumps to the side.
A big right from Connor misses.
Cottle tries to clinch up.
Connor keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Cottle misses with a leg kick
and Connor connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cottle throws a right and a left that Connor avoids nicely.

Connor gets the takedown into side control.
Connor wants to lay and pray for a moment but Cottle keeps working.
Cottle is trying to buck Connor off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Connor trying to control the action but Cottle is working from the bottom.
Cottle being controlled for a moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cottle is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Connor dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Cottle throws a right and a left that Connor avoids nicely.
Connor tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Cottle swivels and escapes.
Connor tries to clinch but Cottle is having none of it.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Cottle is looking to break free of the clinch but Connor has double underhooks.
Cottle wants to get back to striking at distance but Connor won't allow it.

Cottle breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Connor tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cottle swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cottle shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Connor pinned against the cage. Connor gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Cottle misses with a series of wild punches.
Connor shoots in but Cottle avoids the takedown attempt easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Connor looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Jason Cottle has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Connor.
Cottle pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Connor takes one to the chin there.
Connor circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cottle throws a left and a right that both miss
and Connor counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Connor shoots in but no luck this time.
Connor is breathing heavily.
Cottle swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Connor counters by clinching up.

Connor breaks from the clinch.
Cottle lands a really nice looking cross but Connor seems unphased.
Connor checks a leg kick.
Cottle connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Cottle lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Cottle lands with a nice combination. Connor backs away looking to recover.
Cottle looks to land a combination but Connor avoids it well.
Cottle is looking to chop away at Connor's legs.
Cottle scores with a nice right hand.
Cottle misses with the combination.
Connor dodges the punch combination from Cottle.
Cottle swinging wilding here.
Connor walks into a jab.
Connor with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Cottle to score with a decent uppercut.
Cottle misses with a jab to the body

and Connor counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Cottle's guard now.

Cottle kicks Connor off and gets to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cottle keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Connor.
Cottle swinging wilding here.
No joy there for Cottle, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Cottle closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Cottle prevents Connor from escaping the position.
Connor is trying to control Cottle's posture but Cottle avoids it.

Cottle decides to stand back up.
Cottle lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Jason Cottle is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Connor drives through with a takedown into guard.
Cottle keeping moving, preventing Connor from controlling successfully.
Connor looking to sit in guard and control but Cottle gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connor bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cottle's guard.
Cottle keeping moving, preventing Connor from controlling successfully.
Connor is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Connor works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Connor is working for a kimura but Cottle is defending it quite comfortably.

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.
Connor is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Connor is tying to control. Cottle wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Connor trying to control from Cottle's half guard. Cottle has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Connor must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Despite being in the dominant position, John Connor just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Connor looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cottle displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Cottle throws a series of punches but Connor moves out of range.
Cottle keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
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 Jason Cottle will probably get the nod.
That's time! Cottle's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Cottle tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Cottle throws and low kick but Connor moves out of range easily.
Cottle closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Connor keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Connor tries for a takedown but Cottle sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Cottle shoots for a takedown but Connor saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Connor swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Cottle throws a left and a right that both miss

and Connor counters with a takedown into side control.
Connor trying to control the action but Cottle is working from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cottle takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cottle wants to get back to his feet.
The referee asks Connor politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Connor prefers to stall for the moment though.
Cottle is not content to let Connor control the position.

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.
Connor prevents Cottle from escaping the position.
Connor is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Cottle will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

Despite being in the dominant position, John Connor just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cottle fails with the takedown

and Connor counters by moving into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jason Cottle. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cottle is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Cottle drops down looking for an ankle pick but Connor pulls his leg out and moves away.
Cottle looks to land a combination but Connor avoids it well.
Connor checks a low kick from Cottle.
Cottle lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Cottle tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Cottle lands a jab-cross combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Connor throws a right hand that Cottle ducks under and follows up with a left that Cottle also avoids with ease.
Connor takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Cottle looks for the body kick but Connor saw that one coming.
Cottle closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Cottle shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Connor but Connor pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Cottle throws a leg kick but Connor checks it.
Cottle throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Connor.
Horrible takedown by Cottle or perhaps it was just good defense by Connor which made him look bad.
Cottle tries to clinch but Connor moves out of range.
Nice sprawl there from Connor as Cottle shoots in.
Cottle misses with a jab, cross combination.

Cottle moves into the clinch.

Cottle escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cottle is looking to land body kicks.
Cottle is looking to clinch.
Cottle gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Connor counters with a slapping leg kick.
Connor wants to clinch up but Cottle keeps it at a distance.
Cottle shoots for a double leg takedown but Connor sprawls well. He's pushed Cottle's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cottle looks for a takedown but Connor sprawls well.
Cottle thows a leg kick but Connor checks it

and Connor holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Connor breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Cottle throws a series of strikes that have Connor backpedaling.
Cottle throws a left and a right that both miss

and Connor counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Connor slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cottle wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Cottle 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.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cottle regains half guard there - taking advantage of Connor's attempt to lay and pray for a moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Connor comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Connor has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Suge Night scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:30
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Connor!