PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Tor Nansen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kale Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nansen kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is The Prodigy - Thunder. Cruz has chosen Welcome to the Jungle as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. This should be a great matchup!

Nansen
vs
Cruz

176 cm
24
165 lbs
12 - 2 - 0

168 cm
23
163 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Bushido Clothing
TFP Graphics - Pit Inc

Canadian Fighter Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tor Nansen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Kale Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Tiny Johnson and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cruz tries to bum rush Nansen with a series of wild strikes but Nansen uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Nansen bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Cruz has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Cruz there as he acknowledges the shot.
Cruz swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Cruz looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Nansen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cruz throws out the jab.
Horrible takedown by Cruz or perhaps it was just good defense by Nansen which made him look bad.
The fighters circling - Cruz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Cruz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Kale Cruz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cruz throws a hook but Nansen avoids it easily.
Cruz connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Cruz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Nansen.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice defenses there by Nansen.
Cruz misses with a straight left.
Cruz missing with a left hand there. Nansen was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cruz lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

Cruz decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nansen is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Cruz's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Cruz's back!
Cruz trying to control but not successfully.
Cruz tries to escape but Nansen has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
Cruz turns into Nansen and is now in his guard.
Cruz postures up in Nansen's guard and throws a big left but Nansen blocks it.
Cruz with a flurry of punches that miss.
Cruz scoring with some ground and pound.
Cruz wants to pass the guard but Nansen is keeping the position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Cruz on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Cruz tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Nansen swivels and escapes.
Nansen lands with a straight right. Cruz didn't see that one coming.
Cruz misses with a looping left.
Cruz tests Nansen's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Cruz throws an overhand right that lands on Nansen's shoulder, as Nansen tries to avoid the shot.

Cruz changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Nansen looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Nansen can't do much from the bottom here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nansen tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Cruz wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
You can see the frustration on Nansen's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Nansen is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz working away.
Cruz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Nansen keeps working.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nansen defending against the ground and pound.
Cruz misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Nansen lands with a nice combination. Cruz backs away looking to recover.
Nansen stalks Cruz and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Cruz's face. Cruz staggers backwards, shaken.
Nansen ducks under a wild hook from Cruz.

Cruz darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Nansen looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is looking to stall here but Nansen recovers full guard.
Cruz controls from within his opponent's guard.
Cruz scoring with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kale 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.

Nansen avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Cruz shoots in for a takedown but Nansen shows good takedown defense.
Nansen uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Cruz.
Cruz tries to close the distance and clinch but Nansen swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nansen scores with a jab to the body.
Cruz tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Nansen swivels and escapes.
Nansen lands a glancing blow to the side of Cruz's head.
Cruz misses the jab.
Cruz cracks Nansen with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
The fighters circling - Cruz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Cruz looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Nansen is fending him off so far but Cruz persists. Nope, Nansen circles away and we're back to standing.
Tor Nansen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kale Cruz.

Nansen darts in and clinches Cruz up against the cage.
Cruz is trying to break the clinch but Nansen has him pressed against the cage.

Nansen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Cruz throws a push kick but Nansen slaps the foot to one side.
A punch lands to the side of Cruz 's head but he takes it in his stride.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nansen throws a hook but Cruz avoids it easily.
Cruz misses with a hook.
Nansen bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Cruz misses with a wild body shot.
Nansen throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Cruz throws a series of punches but Nansen moves out of range.
Nansen circles away from the clinch attempt.
A swing and a miss from Cruz.
Cruz dips to his left and cracks Nansen with an uppercut!
Cruz throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Cruz tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Nansen was well out of range. Poor timing from Cruz.
Cruz attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Cruz fails to land with a series of punches.
Cruz displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Nansen throws out the jab.
Cruz shoots in but Nansen avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Cruz fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Nansen keeps the fight on the outside.
Nansen bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Cruz throws a big shot that misses.
A big left from Cruz misses.
Cruz jabs at Nansen's body.
Nansen displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cruz throws out the jab.
Nansen slips a jab and a cross from Cruz.
Cruz misses with an uppercut. Nansen saw that one coming.
Cruz throws a hook but Nansen blocks it.
Cruz throws a hook to the side of Nansen's head but Nansen sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Cruz changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Nansen looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Cruz sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Nansen is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Cruz misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz trying to control the position but Nansen is working away.
Cruz controlling the position from side mount.
Cruz trying to control the position but Nansen is working away.
Nansen sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Nansen wants to improve his position but Cruz is controlling well.
Cruz wants to free his trapped foot but Nansen is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Cruz is looking to stand up but he'll have to free his leg first. Instead, Nansen manages to get to full guard.
Cruz is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Cruz trying to control but Nansen is working from the bottom.
Cruz looking to pass the guard.
Cruz throws a big right hand that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Kale Cruz will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Cruz misses with a body punch
and Nansen counters with a slapping leg kick.

Cruz closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Nansen is trying to get back to full guard.
Cruz is trying to control the action in half guard but Nansen is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Nansen is trying to get back to full guard.
Cruz trying to control from half guard but Nansen is working away.
Nansen tries to roll over but Cruz keeps him under control.
Cruz tries to pass the half guard into mount. Nansen knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz wants to control but Nansen is keeping him busy.
Cruz trying to control the pace.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Cruz shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Nansen's guard.
Cruz trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Nansen keeping moving, preventing Cruz from controlling successfully.
Nansen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nansen trying to control the position.
Cruz advances to half guard.
Nansen is looking for a sweep. Cruz is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Well, if Cruz is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Nansen wants to control but Cruz is keeping busy.
Cruz is keen to just control but Nansen is a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz slows the pace down in half guard.
Cruz working over Nansen with some ground and pound. Nansen looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Cruz is looking to advance position but Nansen won't allow it.
Nansen punching from the bottom.
Cruz throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Cruz is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cruz throws a strike but Nansen manages to get a kimura sweep and he's found himself on top with the kimura half locked in! This would be a real turnaround! He's torquing it... Will Cruz tap??? YES! He's tapped! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:24 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Tor Nansen!