PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tony Neer (ranked 5926 p4p, 24550 weight class) and John Cox (ranked 589 p4p, 648 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Neer
vs
Cox

189 cm
19
210
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
21
205
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Overeem’s Horse Meat

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Tony Neer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, John Cox!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Alec Ball and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Neer closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Cox can't find room to land a body shot as Neer controls the action.
Neer is looking for a takedown.
Neer dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Neer looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Neer jumps guard.
Neer controls Cox momentarily but Cox frees himself.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Neer manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cox tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Neer lands with a right to the head.

Neer pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Neer shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cox defends it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neer shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Neer. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Neer throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Cox throws a series of strikes that have Neer backpedaling.
Cox tries to clinch but Neer moves out of range.
Cox stuffs the takedown attempt from Neer. Neer gets slowly back to his feet.
Cox rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Neer moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Neer ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Neer takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Neer tries to score a power double leg takedown but Cox sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Neer somewhat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cox moves into range and connects with a jab.
A jab from Cox misses.
Neer tries to counter by clinching up but Cox breaks away and moves out of range.
Cox throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Cox throws a right and a left that both miss.
Neer seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Cox swinging wildly here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Neer moves into the clinch.
Neer is trying to pull guard but Cox turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Neer prevents a body shot from Cox.
Cox misses with a body punch.

Neer manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neer controlling Cox's posture.
Cox slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Neer not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Neer keeping moving, preventing Cox from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Neer is trying to control the position but Cox postures up.
Neer is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Cox is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Cox wants to stand and escape but instead Neer has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

Neer trying to control the position from guard on top but Cox is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cox wants to sweep here but Neer controlling him for the moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but John Cox will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Neer shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cox defends it nicely.
Neer misses with a combination
and Cox counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Neer circles away from the clinch attempt.
No joy there for Cox, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Cox displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Neer.
Neer fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Neer. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neer shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cox defends it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A leg kick checked by Cox.
Neer misses with a leg kick
and Cox makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Cox swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Neer shoots in looking for a takedown but Cox manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Neer's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Neer looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Cox misses the shot to the body.
Cox scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Neer throws a sloppy head kick and Cox moves out of range easily.
Neer darts in looking for a takedown but Cox gets double underhooks and turns Neer into the cage.
Cox tries to throw a body punch but Neer avoids it by throwing Cox back against the cage.
Cox trying to control the position but instead, Neer has worked for underhooks and has pushed Cox into the cage.
Neer fails to pull guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neer prevents the takedown attempt.
Cox has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Neer manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Neer is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Neer looking for a sweep. Not yet Neer, not yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cox is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Neer can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Cox controls the pace.
Cox postures up and lands a big shot to Neer's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neer working a defensive guard but Cox manages to pass into side control anyway.
Neer is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cox is controlling him well.
Cox scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Neer to see if he's OK.

Cox stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Neer lands with a good body shot.
Cox stuffs the takedown.
Neer with a poor takedown
and Cox counters with a left and a right that stings Neer.
Neer on the wrong end of a nice hook.
A combination from Cox does no damage.
Neer walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Cox checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Tony Neer is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neer dives in and grabs Cox's left leg, looking for a takedown. Cox pushes down on Neer's head and hops out.
Nice takedown defense from Cox. No joy for Neer on that attempt.
Cox tries to clinch up.
Neer blocks a jab.
Cox misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Neer.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cox tries to close the distance and clinch up but Neer swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Neer checks a leg kick nicely.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Cox checks a leg kick.
Cox throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Neer.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Neer slips a jab and a cross from Cox.
Cox throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Neer was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.

Neer fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Cox, pushing him back against the cage.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

John Cox showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Neer is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Cox throws an overhand right that lands on Neer's shoulder, as Neer tries to avoid the shot.
Cox takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Neer shoots in for a takedown but Cox shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Cox is looking for the big counter here.
Cox leaves Neer with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Neer moves into the clinch.
Neer jumps guard but Cox turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tony Neer. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neer tries to pull guard but Cox holds him up against the cage and eventually Neer drops back down to his feet.
Neer is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Cox is defending well.
Cox struggles to land a body shot inside as Neer controls his hands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neer is trying to pull guard but Cox has him pressed against the cage.

Neer gets control of Cox's arms and successfully pulls guard. Neer will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Cox is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Neer controls Cox momentarily but Cox frees himself.
Cox content to stall in guard here.
John Cox is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Cox stopping the sweep attempt from Neer.
Neer trying to keep a closed guard but Cox is proving a slippery customer.
Cox trying to control the position from guard on top but Neer is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cox must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Neer being controlled here, momentarily.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Cox takes the fight into the clinch.

Neer jumps into guard, dragging Cox to the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cox sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Neer tries to strike from the bottom.
Cox wants to control from the top but Neer keeps moving.
Neer looking to control.
Cox preventing the sweep.
Tony Neer overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cox showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

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.

Neer is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Cox defends well.
Neer not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Cox content to stall in guard here.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cox throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to John Cox.
I've got Cox winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 28:30
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30

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