PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Luther Dudley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Dela Cruz (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.

Dudley
vs
Dela Cruz

186 cm
24
279 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
25
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Luther Dudley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, James Dela Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Paul Gruel and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Dela Cruz bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Dudley is looking for a sweep.
Dudley is working hard here to advance position.
Dudley is trying to escape the position but Dela Cruz is controlling the position.
Dudley tries to buck Dela Cruz off but Dela Cruz is having none of it.
Dudley is trying to escape the position but Dela Cruz is controlling the position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. James Dela Cruz wasn't active enough on the ground.

Dela Cruz shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Dela Cruz was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Dela Cruz working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dudley is looking to reverse the position.
Dela Cruz has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dela Cruz lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
A lull in the action here.

Dela Cruz stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Dela Cruz scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Dudley doesn't seem bothered though.

Dela Cruz looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Dela Cruz sitting in guard here, content to control.
Dudley could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Dela Cruz postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Dudley has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Dela Cruz is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Dudley.
Dela Cruz is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Dudley will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Dela Cruz's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

James Dela Cruz has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Dela Cruz shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Dudley is trying to defend but Dela Cruz finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz is taking a breather. Dudley 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.
Dela Cruz tries to pass the half guard into mount. Dudley knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Dela Cruz performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The ref stands the fighters back up. James Dela Cruz was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Dudley closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Dela Cruz to the mat! Dela Cruz manages to get full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Dela Cruz keeping moving, preventing Dudley from controlling successfully.
Dela Cruz doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Dudley throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Dela Cruz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Dudley throws a big elbow that misses.
Dudley postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Dela Cruz pulls Dudley in close to his closed guard and prevents Dudley from doing any damage or advancing position.
Dela Cruz keeping moving, preventing Dudley from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Dela Cruz 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.

Dudley throws a body kick, spinning off balance
enabling Dela Cruz to counter with a crisp jab.

Dela Cruz dives in and scores a takedown into Dudley's guard.
Dela Cruz is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Dela Cruz trying to control the position from guard on top but Dudley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Dudley working for submissions but it's allowed Dela Cruz to get to half guard.
Dela Cruz trying to control the pace.
Dudley wants to improve his position but Dela Cruz is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dudley wants to get back to full guard but Dela Cruz has mounted him!
Dudley working to try and regain half guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Dela Cruz. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Dela Cruz sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Dudley working to try and regain half guard.
Dela Cruz 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 two minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. James Dela Cruz wasn't active enough on the ground.

Dela Cruz closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Dudley quickly recovers to half guard.
Dudley is looking to improve his position.
James Dela Cruz has got the better of the ground game so far.
Dela Cruz not doing much here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Dela Cruz trying to mount his opponent but Dudley defends it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Dela Cruz is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Dudley sees it coming and defends easily.
Dela Cruz keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Dela Cruz is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Dela Cruz perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

James Dela Cruz has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Dela Cruz drives through with a takedown into Dudley's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Dudley throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Dudley is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Dela Cruz content to stall in guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz works a leg free and moves into half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Dela Cruz in particular looking to stall.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Dela Cruz 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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Dela Cruz drives through with a takedown into Dudley's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Dudley keeping moving, preventing Dela Cruz from controlling successfully.
Dela Cruz stopping the sweep attempt from Dudley.
Dela Cruz is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Dela Cruz stopping the sweep attempt from Dudley.

OK we're going to have a standup here. James Dela Cruz hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Dela Cruz shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Dela Cruz passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Dela Cruz wants to control but Dudley is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Dudley is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
You can see the frustration on Dudley's face as Dela Cruz controls the position.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. James Dela Cruz hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Dela Cruz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dudley takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Dela Cruz slows the pace down.
Dela Cruz scores with a couple of short elbows.
Dudley is looking for a sweep.
Dela Cruz is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Let's hope that Dela Cruz has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. James Dela Cruz hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Dela Cruz drives through with a takedown into guard.
Dudley wants to improve his position but instead Dela Cruz has moved into half guard.
Dela Cruz takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Dudley is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dela Cruz with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Dela Cruz is looking to advance position but Dudley won't allow it.
Ground and pound from Dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz tries to pass the half guard into mount. Dudley knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. James Dela Cruz wasn't active enough on the ground.

Dela Cruz closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Dela Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Dela Cruz 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Josh West scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Dela Cruz!