PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Rabulan Kristofer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cruz has chosen Mama Said Knock You Out as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Rabulan Kristofer has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Kristofer
vs
Cruz

225 cm
18
130 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

173 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Experienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rabulan Kristofer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dan Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Joseph Jones and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kristofer looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kristofer throws and low kick but Cruz moves out of range easily.
Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kristofer lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kristofer tries to clinch up.
Kristofer really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Cruz closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Cruz is thwarting Kristofer's attempts to control the position.
Cruz missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Cruz thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kristofer's head.
Cruz throwing shots but Kristofer is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz is nestled in close to Kristofer, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Cruz not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Ground and pound from Cruz.
Ground and pound from Cruz.
Cruz sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Kristofer defending well though.
Cruz working over Kristofer with some ground and pound. Kristofer looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Kristofer blocking the ground and pound attempt from Cruz.
Cruz sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Kristofer defending well though.
Cruz throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Kristofer trying to control but Cruz postures up.
Cruz lands strikes from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz thows a huge punch but Kristofer dodges it nicely.
Cruz thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kristofer's head.
Cruz looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Kristofer wants to control but Cruz is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Cruz not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Cruz looks gassed!
Cruz prevents Kristofer from improving his position.
Cruz slips a nice elbow through Kristofer's hands, connecting with Kristofer's forehead.
Cruz is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Kristofer tries to get to full guard but Cruz has control of the leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kristofer avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Cruz.
Kristofer blocking the ground and pound attempt from Cruz.
Cruz sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Kristofer defending well though.
Cruz throwing shots but Kristofer is blocking nicely.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cruz missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Cruz not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Kristofer tries to clinch up.
A chopping leg kick lands by Kristofer.
Kristofer throws a leg kick but Cruz moved away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Kristofer throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cruz swats away the attempt to clinch by Kristofer.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kristofer moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cruz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kristofer is looking to clinch but Cruz is avoiding it.
Kristofer moves in looking to clinch but Cruz pushes him off.
Kristofer tries to clinch up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Cruz dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Kristofer tries to clinch but Cruz is having none of it.
Kristofer tries to clinch up.
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Cruz checks the leg kick.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kristofer fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kristofer tries to clinch but Cruz is having none of it.
Kristofer is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
An inside leg kick from Kristofer misses.
Kristofer tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A clash of legs there as Cruz blocks the low kick.
Kristofer doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruz circles away.
Kristofer throws a solid leg kick but Cruz takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Kristofer.
Kristofer is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Cruz throws a head kick that misses.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kristofer walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Cruz checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cruz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Rabulan Kristofer seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kristofer fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kristofer throws a low kick but it's checked well by Cruz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Kristofer motions for Cruz to come forward. Kristofer throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Kristofer doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruz circles away.
Kristofer is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kristofer doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruz circles away.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch but Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kristofer moves in looking to clinch but Cruz pushes him off.
Kristofer tries to clinch up.
Kristofer tries to clinch but Cruz is having none of it.
Rabulan Kristofer is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kristofer tries to clinch there but Cruz circles away.
Kristofer tries to clinch up but Cruz circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kristofer fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kristofer wants to clinch.
Kristofer tries to clinch but Cruz moves out of range.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kristofer looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kristofer moves in looking to clinch but Cruz pushes him off.
Kristofer is looking to clinch.
Cruz throws a right and a left that Kristofer avoids nicely.
Kristofer is looking to clinch but Cruz is avoiding it.
Kristofer tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Kristofer tries a low kick but Cruz avoids it.
Kristofer wants to clinch.
Cruz throws a head kick that misses.
Cruz keeps the fight on the outside.
Kristofer misses with a leg kick.
Kristofer attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Kristofer is looking to clinch.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cruz keeps the fight on the outside.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A very close round there. Could go either way on the judges scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Kristofer defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Cruz.
Kristofer throws a leg kick but Cruz checks it.
Kristofer tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cruz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kristofer is looking to clinch.
Cruz blocks a low kick nicely.

Cruz throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Kristofer was covering up waiting for the punch and Cruz finishes the takedown easily into guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cruz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cruz being controlled here momentarily.
Kristofer knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Cruz on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz throws a strike but Kristofer rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Kristofer prevents Cruz from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kristofer tries to stand but Cruz is controlling from the bottom.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Kristofer wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
Rabulan Kristofer has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Dan Cruz is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four 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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Cruz wriggles free and stands up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dan Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Cruz 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 Jorge Garcia scores the fight 28:29
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 28:30
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 28:29

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