PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Michael O Leary (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paulo Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). O Leary comes into the arena with B.o.B - I'll Be In The Sky blaring out of the sound system. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

O Leary
vs
Cruz

172 cm
19
155 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

172 cm
22
145 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Solid 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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Michael O Leary!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Paulo Cruz!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
O Leary avoids a kick to the body.
Paulo Cruz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cruz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Cruz misses with a series of wild punches.
Cruz lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Cruz throws a sloppy head kick and O Leary moves out of range easily.
A head kick misses from Cruz.
A leg kick checked by O Leary.
Cruz works O Leary's body with a nice hook.
Cruz throws a series of strikes that have O Leary backpedaling.
O Leary blocks a head kick by Cruz.
A nice inside leg kick there by Cruz. That's going to slow O Leary down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Leary shoots in but Cruz avoids the takedown attempt easily.

O Leary shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. O Leary showed some decent athleticism there.
Cruz is looking to get back to is feet but O Leary passes into side control.

O Leary tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no O Leary has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Cruz wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

O Leary is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cruz knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Cruz tries to escape but O Leary is in control.
O Leary working the ground and pound but Cruz is defending the strikes.
Cruz is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but O Leary has just dragged him back down to the mat.
O Leary throwing shots but missing, from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

O Leary working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
O Leary in side control, throwing shots but Cruz defends.

O Leary tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Cruz is pushing O Leary's head away, looking to escape. O Leary manages to hold on to the position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

O Leary is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Cruz has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Cruz dodges the ground and pound from O Leary.

O Leary is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Cruz is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
O Leary creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Cruz sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
O Leary throws an elbow but Cruz slips to the side and avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Michael O Leary will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Cruz tries a head kick but it misses.
Cruz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by O Leary.
Cruz tries a head kick but it misses.
Cruz slaps away a takedown attempt from O Leary, before circling back to the center of the mat.
O Leary tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Cruz swivels and escapes.

O Leary shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Cruz is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst O Leary is controlling him.
O Leary postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.

O Leary has gone for a leg lock! Cruz slips out almost immediately though and dives into O Leary's guard.
Cruz wanted to stand there but O Leary had control of the position.
O Leary is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

O Leary is looking for a triangle but Cruz pushes his legs off easily.
O Leary manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
O Leary throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Cruz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with O Leary. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
O Leary seems to be looking to move to his opponent's back but Cruz is holding on tight.
Cruz takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

O Leary is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Cruz is surviving well by controlling O Leary's body position as best he can.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cruz wants to get back to his feet.
O Leary looking to finish with strikes here!
Cruz is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

O Leary is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Cruz to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Cruz shrugs it off.

O Leary is working close to his opponent, looking to work a submission by the looks of things. Oh, he's managed to get a guillotine from mount as his opponent reached up! That looks tiiiiight! Will he tap? YES, he's tapped! Impressive submission by O Leary!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:27 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Michael O Leary!