PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ron White (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Cross (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.

White
vs
Cross

180 cm
21
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Ron White!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, David Cross!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Steven Brown and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cross scores with a three punch combo!
Cross swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Cross will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cross throws a right and a left that both miss.
Danga de danga de dang - Cross scores with a four punch combination!
White dodges the punch combination from Cross.
White blocks a low kick nicely.

White closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White is looking to break free of the clinch but Cross has double underhooks.
White is pushing Cross up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
White tries a knee to the head but Cross blocks it.
White taking a breather.

Cross pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
White slips a jab and a cross from Cross.
Cross misses with a two punch combination.
Cross throws a series of punches but White avoids them all with ease.

That's two 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.
Cross fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

White scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Cross trying to control but White postures up.

White is trying to work for a kimura but Cross is defending well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

White is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Cross defends it well.
Cross is trying to maintain the position but White is very close to passing his half guard.
Cross is not content to let White control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of White's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take White's back!
White needs to remain patient if he's going to get out of this sticky situation.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
White avoids the strikes from Cross.
Cross doesn't have the hooks in and White manages to turn into his guard.
White wants to pass the guard but Cross is keeping the position.
White throwing strikes but missing.
White not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Cross wants to get back to his feet but White is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
White is pushing down on Cross's leg trying to pass to half guard. Cross is fighting to maintain full guard but White has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White is looking to take a break and control but Cross is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
White thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Cross is trying to maintain the position but White is very close to passing his half guard.
White stops Cross from getting back to his feet.

White looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
White is breathing heavily.
White winds up and cracks Cross with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ron White 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.

Cross swats away the attempt to clinch by White.
White tries to clinch up but Cross circles away and keeps his distance.
White avoids a punch combination nicely.
White shoots for a takedown but Cross saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cross throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Cross looks for a takedown but White sprawls well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross looks to land a combination but White avoids it well.
Cross lands with an uppercut that bounces White off the cage and back into rage.
Cross misses with a jab, cross combination.
Cross misses with a double jab.

White gets the takedown into side control.
White working away.
White trying to control the position but Cross is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cross tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but White wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Cross avoids any damage from the ground and pound of White.
Cross regains half guard, as White was trying to land strikes.
White seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
White prevents Cross from standing back up.

White wants to work for an arm triangle but Cross is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Cross has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. White is working away from the top position though.
Cross is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

White seems to be looking for submissions.
Nice strikes from White there.
White thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
White trying to control from half guard but Cross is working away.

White is looking for a kimura here.
Cross really doesn't want to stay on the ground with White. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
White wants to pass the guard but Cross is defending well.
White has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Cross looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Cross regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from White.

White thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Cross looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
White not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cross looking to hit a scissor sweep but White is one step ahead there.
Cross is trying to control the position but White postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ron White dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

White throws a leg kick
and Cross counters with a series of strikes. White will be more careful next time no doubt.
Cross misses with a takedown

and White counters with a takedown into side control.

White wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Cross, who protects the arm well.

White is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cross knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
White throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

White wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Cross, who protects the arm well.
Cross tries to bench press White off him but White keeps the position.
White scores with punches from side control.
White wants to control but Cross is keeping him busy.
Cross can't do much from the bottom here.
White works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
White throws an elbow but Cross slips to the side and avoids it well.

White working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
White prevents Cross from escaping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

White tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

White tries for a kimura but Cross is defending well.

White tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no White has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Ron White is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
You can see the frustration on Cross's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White trying to control the position but Cross is working away.
Ron White overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cross keeping his opponent close.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
White tries to clinch but Cross moves out of range.

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.
White tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cross swats him away and circles back towards the center.
David Cross has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

White gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
White pulls Cross in close to prevent any damage.
Cross is looking to stand up but White won't let him.
White controlling Cross's posture.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ron White showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for White, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 James Atkins scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ron White!