PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Dante Cummins (ranked 4497 p4p, 4458 weight class) and Atari Mason (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.

Cummins
vs
Mason

189 cm
20
155
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
20
154
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Dante Cummins!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Atari Mason!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cummins closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Cummins stands up out of the half guard.
Mason leaves Cummins with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Despite the aggression on Mason's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Nice takedown defense from Mason. No joy for Cummins on that attempt.
Mason keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Mason wants to counter with a clinch but Cummins pushes him away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dante Cummins. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mason slips a jab and a cross from Cummins.

Mason has taken the fight to the clinch.
Cummins is looking for a takedown.
Cummins tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Mason just stands there and leans against the cage.

Cummins breaks from the clinch.
Cummins shoots in but no luck this time.
Cummins throws a leg kick but Mason sees it coming and moves out of range.
Cummins throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mason throws a counter combo.
Cummins is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cummins misses with a double jab.

Mason rushes Cummins and presses him up against the cage.

Mason has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Cummins is trying to keep an underhook but Mason manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Mason in particular looking to stall.
Cummins wants to control but Mason is keeping busy.
Mason is controlling the pace.
Mason working over Cummins with some ground and pound. Cummins looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mason is working for a kimura but Cummins is defending it quite comfortably.
Cummins has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Mason is working away from the top position though.

Mason decides to stand and escape the position.

Mason moves into the clinch successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mason is working for takedown but Cummins is calmly controlling the position for now.
Cummins is trying to drag Mason to the mat but Mason just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Mason will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Cummins up against the cage.

Cummins pulls guard effortlessly.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Cummins throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Mason escapes and throws Cummins's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Mason content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cummins is looking to regain half guard here but Mason keeps moving and retains side control.

Mason is trying to get an arm triangle but Cummins is defending well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The referee asks Mason politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Mason prefers to stall for the moment though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Atari Mason dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Mason bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Cummins throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
Dante Cummins is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cummins lets loose with a powerful body kick. Mason will feel that in the morning.
Mason fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Mason fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Mason avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cummins looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mason closes the distance and clinches up with Cummins, looking for a takedown. Mason pushes Cummins against the cage but Cummins circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Dante Cummins has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Atari Mason.

Cummins closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Mason has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Cummins is on him like a limpet, forcing Mason back against the cage.
Mason is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mason breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Mason fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Cummins to the ground. Mason is now in Cummins's guard.

Cummins kicks Mason off and gets to his feet.
Cummins really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Mason needs to keep his hands up - Cummins had a free shot at his head there.
Mason tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cummins paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Mason closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cummins dives in and grabs Mason's left leg, looking for a takedown. Mason pushes down on Cummins's head and hops out.
Cummins fails in his attempt to clinch.
Mason takes a kick to the side of the head.
An inside leg kick lands from Cummins.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mason blocks a head kick by Cummins.
Cummins throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Mason shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Cummins is looking for a sweep. Mason is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Cummins is trying to stand.
Mason trying to control the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Mason there.
Atari Mason has got the better of the ground game so far.

Mason stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Cummins shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Mason but Mason pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Mason dives in and scores a takedown into Cummins's guard.
Mason is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mason working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Cummins trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Cummins tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Mason is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Cummins tries for a takedown but Mason sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Mason fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Dante Cummins will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Cummins takes a kick to the side of the head.
Mason throws a wild body kick that Cummins sees coming a mile off.
Cummins looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Mason is fending him off so far but Cummins persists. Nope, Mason circles away and we're back to standing.

Mason feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Cummins working a defensive guard here.
Cummins has Mason pulled in close to control his posture.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cummins doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cummins looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cummins avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Mason seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Mason closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Cummins quickly recovers to half guard.
Cummins pushes Mason off but Mason dives into side control.

Mason decides to stand back up.

Cummins drives through and clinches with Mason against the cage.
Cummins avoiding damage as Mason throws knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cummins breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Mason keeps the fight on the outside.
Mason let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.

Mason scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mason is staying tight to Cummins's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Let's hope that Mason 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.
Cummins strikes from the bottom but Mason takes advantage and advances to full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cummins keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Mason tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Cummins tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Mason tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Mason looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Mason controlling from the full mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Mason lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Atari Mason comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Mason 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 Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Atari Mason!
Dante Cummins was interviewed post fight and said 'It was a good well rounded fight, and i hope for the best in my opponents future endeavors '.