PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sal Crosby (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jai Sharma (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Crosby
vs
Sharma

186 cm
22
203 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
22
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 Hilo, Sal Crosby!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jai Sharma!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crosby tries to clinch but Sharma moves out of range.

Sharma scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Sharma missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sharma thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Crosby's head.
Sharma stalling.
Sharma trying to control from half guard but Crosby is working away.

Sharma decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Crosby is breathing heavily.
Crosby sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.

Sharma rushes Crosby and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Sharma successfully pulls guard.

Sharma looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sharma manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sharma tries to control but Crosby wriggling away.
Sharma tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sharma landing shots from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sharma looking to control and managing it successfully.
Sharma looking to control but Crosby is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sharma landing strikes from the mount and Crosby is in trouble!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crosby trying desperately to get to his feet.
Crosby is in a horrible position here. Sharma smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sharma sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Crosby is squirming around, avoiding Sharma's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sharma cracks Crosby with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Sharma lands a heavy elbow.
Sharma scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Sharma working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Crosby is in a horrible position here. Sharma smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sharma controlling from mount.
Sharma breaks from Crosby's wrist control and lands an elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sharma with shots to the head and body - Crosby looks very uncomfortable down there.
Sharma trying to control but Crosby is having none of it.
Sharma in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sharma working the ground and pound effectively.
Crosby wants to hold on but Sharma pushes him away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Sharma working for a submission but Crosby is keeping him at bay.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jai Sharma dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Sharma scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Crosby is refusing to be controlled, as Sharma sits in half guard.
Ground and pound from Sharma.
Sharma throwing shots but Crosby is blocking nicely.
Sharma not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sharma looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Crosby with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Sharma moves nicely into side control.
Sharma tries to move to mount but Crosby blocks the move with his legs.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sharma is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

Sharma has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Sharma throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Crosby's waist but Crosby gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sharma off to one side.

Sharma looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Crosby!
Sharma with the ground and pound from mount.
Sharma controlling his opponent.

Sharma with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sharma takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sharma dominating with strikes here.

Sharma is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Crosby has managed to escape the submission attempt.
A nice elbow there by Sharma.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sharma landing shots from mount.
Sharma wants to control the pace but Crosby is squirming around nicely.
Crosby tries to lock up and control but Sharma gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Crosby is trying to escape the mount.
Sharma landing strikes, looking to finish!
Sharma scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Sharma has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Sharma tries to control but Crosby wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Sharma controlling the position easily from mount.
Sharma scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Crosby?
Sharma sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Sharma fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
A nice elbow there by Sharma.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jai Sharma showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Sharma throws a leg kick which misses Crosby's front leg but catches the back leg as Crosby tries to avoid it.
Sharma with a body punch. A glancing blow.

Sharma feints and as Crosby raises his hands in defense, Sharma changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Sharma gets to his feet - Crosby follows without any prompting.

Sharma throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Crosby was covering up waiting for the punch and Sharma finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Sharma lands a couple of digs.
Sharma passes into half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sharma sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Sharma not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sharma stalling.
Sharma wants to take a breather but Crosby is having none of it.
Sharma lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

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.
Sharma lands strikes from half guard.
Sharma perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Sharma has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Crosby has hold of Sharma's hands but Sharma slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Sharma in particular looking to stall.
Crosby is in trouble now - Sharma has advanced to mount!
Crosby's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Sharma trying to control but Crosby is having none of it.

Despite being in the dominant position, Jai Sharma just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Crosby defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Sharma.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sharma tries for a takedown but Crosby sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Crosby shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Crosby showed some decent athleticism there.
Jai Sharma has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sharma avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Crosby.

Sharma is defending against the submission attempts here by Crosby.
Crosby missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Sal Crosby has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sharma pushes Crosby off looking to stand but Crosby dives back in and keeps control.
Sharma trying to control from the bottom.
Sharma might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Crosby kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Crosby wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sharma keeps working.
Sharma regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Crosby.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Sharma looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jai Sharma comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sharma has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 25:30
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 25:30
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jai Sharma!