PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rodney Holmes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Charles Cheng (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Holmes comes to the cage accompanied by All of the Lights. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Holmes
vs
Cheng

189 cm
23
221 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

196 cm
28
212 lbs
13 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

Fight Club Clothing™
Fight Club Clothing™

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rodney Holmes!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Charles Cheng!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Marco Blurström and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cheng throws a body kick the misses
and Holmes counters with a stiff right hand.
Cheng misses with a hook to the body
and Holmes counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Cheng throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Cheng bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheng throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Holmes makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Cheng scores with a body shot.
Cheng moves out of range of the strikes.
Holmes lands a right hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheng throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Holmes counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Holmes lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Cheng at a distance.
Holmes misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Cheng.
Cheng throws a head kick but Holmes moves out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holmes looks to score with a jab to the body but Cheng is just out of range.
Cheng takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Cheng misses with a jab to the body
and Holmes counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Holmes throws a predictable looking body shot
and Cheng counters with a left to the body.
Cheng throws a right hand that misses
enabling Holmes to counter with a crisp jab.
Cheng misses with a leg kick
letting Holmes counter with a right hand.
Good work by Holmes as he checks the leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rodney Holmes 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.

Holmes rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
letting Cheng counter with a right hand.
Holmes fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Cheng manages to avoid it.
Holmes on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Cheng. Cheng obviously looking to wear him down.

Cheng pushes Holmes up against the cage in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheng works on Holmes's body with a couple of short punches.
Cheng wants to break free but Holmes has control.

Cheng breaks the clinch.
Nice shot lands for Holmes.
Charles Cheng seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Holmes avoids the head kick by Cheng.
Cheng falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Holmes counter with a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheng misses with a kick to the body
and Holmes counters with a stiff right hand.
Holmes misses with a right hand
and Cheng counters with a body kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Holmes moves out of range of the body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holmes throws a poor cross that misses
and Cheng counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Holmes ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Holmes dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Cheng falls off balance throwing a combination
and Holmes counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cheng fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Holmes manages to avoid it.
Cheng throws a sloppy head kick
and Holmes counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cheng misses with the body kick
and Holmes connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charles Cheng showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A shot to the body from Cheng misses
and Holmes counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Holmes avoids the body shot from Cheng.
Holmes moves out of range of the body kick from Cheng.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cheng misses with an attempted mid kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheng takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Cheng throws a leg kick that is checked
and Holmes counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Cheng misses with a lunging right hand
letting Holmes counter with a right hand.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Holmes!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheng throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Holmes counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Cheng slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Cheng looks to throw the jab but Holmes is out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holmes misses with a body shot
and Cheng counters with a nice body kick.
Holmes misses with a hook to the body
and Cheng counters with a right hand to the body.
Cheng misses with a body kick.
Cheng is looking to slow Holmes down with leg kicks.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holmes tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rodney Holmes is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Cheng moves into the clinch successfully.
Cheng lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Cheng tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Holmes blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Cheng is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Holmes is defending well for now.
Cheng missing with knees to the body.
Holmes tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charles Cheng really dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Holmes avoids the head kick by Cheng.
Cheng delivers a nice body kick.
Cheng gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Holmes counters with a stiff right hand.
Holmes connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holmes misses with a lunging right hand
and Holmes takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like Rodney Holmes has been cut.
Cheng shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Holmes misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Cheng counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Charles Cheng seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Holmes throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Cheng counters with a three punch combo that has Holmes backing up. Holmes nods at Cheng to acknowledge the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holmes rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Cheng counters with a low kick, right behind Holmes 's knee.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Holmes swings for the body but Cheng moves out of range.
Cheng throws a leg kick which misses Holmes's front leg but catches the back leg as Holmes tries to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cheng misses with a right hand
and Cheng takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Cheng throws a body kick that misses.
Holmes misses the body punch

and Cheng counters with a flying knee that sends his opponent to the canvas! Cheng looking to finish!

Holmes is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cheng throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cheng wants to stand but Holmes is controlling his posture from full guard.
Cheng throws and elbow that misses. Holmes uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Cheng's guard. Nice move by Holmes!
Holmes controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cheng trying to control the position.

Cheng has his foot on Holmes's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Holmes works his way back into a safe position though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Charles Cheng dominated that fourth round.
The cut man is working on Rodney Holmes's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Cheng throws a nice inside leg kick.
Cheng throws a push kick but Holmes slaps the foot to one side.
Cheng tries to bum rush Holmes with a series of wild strikes but Holmes uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cheng swings away with a body shot that misses
and Holmes makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holmes misses with a body shot
and Cheng counters with a nice low kick that buckles Holmes's knee momentarily.
Holmes falls off balance throwing a combination
and Holmes takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheng walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Holmes checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Cheng misses with an uppercut. Holmes saw that one coming.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Cheng.
Cheng scores with a nice body kick.
Rodney Holmes has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A leg kick checked by Holmes.
Holmes misses with a jab to the body
and Cheng cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Holmes ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cheng moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cheng misses with a kick to the body
and Holmes counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Cheng misses with a head kick.
A head kick from Cheng lands but Holmes takes it in his stride.
Charles Cheng is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cheng throws a right hand that Holmes ducks under and follows up with a left that Holmes also avoids with ease.

And that's the end of the fight!
Charles Cheng comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Cheng 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 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 46:49
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 46:49
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 46:49

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Charles Cheng! Charles Cheng retains his light heavyweight title!