PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Chris Jericho (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mitch Cling (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cling has chosen Indistructable as his entrance music. Chris Jericho has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Jericho
vs
Cling

179 cm
20
188 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

189 cm
20
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Likes ground

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Chris Jericho!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mitch Cling!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Tiny Johnson and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Jericho instigates a clinch.
Cling looking for a takedown.
Jericho avoiding damage.
A knee to the head by Jericho.
Jericho looking to stall.
Jericho with a knee to the head.

It looks like Mitch Cling has been cut.
Jericho is pressed up against the cage. Cling has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Jericho down to the mat. Jericho avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Chris Jericho seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cling showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Jericho.
Jericho is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Jericho pushes Cling up against the cage in a clinch.
Cling takes a knee right on the jaw!
Jericho is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Cling is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Chris Jericho has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mitch Cling.
Cling looks gassed!
Jericho crunches a lovely knee into Cling's ribcage.
Cling misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Jericho.
Jericho slows down the pace here.
Cling takes a shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Jericho.
Cling throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Jericho is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Knees to the body from Jericho.
Jericho crunches a lovely knee into Cling's ribcage.
Jericho landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Jericho tries to land a knee to the head but Cling blocks with his arms.

Cling turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Cling manages to end up in side control.
Jericho wants to control but Cling postures up.

Cling looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Jericho struggling a bit here.

Cling is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Jericho knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Jericho sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jericho is staying active underneath Cling, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Jericho is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Cling slows the pace down in half guard.
Jericho is controlling Cling's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Cling stalling away here and it's allowed Jericho to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Cling wants to control from the top but Jericho keeps moving.
Cling throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Jericho keeping full guard, as Cling tries to pass.
Cling is looking to stand up but Jericho won't let him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jericho looking to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Jericho tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cling swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cling throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Jericho's waist but Jericho gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Cling off to one side.
Jericho moves in looking to clinch but Cling pushes him off.

Cling fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Jericho sprawls well initially but Cling persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cling content to control rather than advance.
Jericho slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Cling is fighting to break Jericho's control of his arms but Jericho is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Jericho looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Jericho pushes Cling off and scrambles back to his feet.
Cling circles away from the clinch attempt.
Jericho tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cling paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Jericho scores with a takedown into Cling's guard.
Cling controls Jericho momentarily but Jericho frees himself.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Jericho trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Jericho wants to control from the top but Cling keeps moving.
Jericho content to stall in guard here.
Jericho trying to control but Cling is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Jericho dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Mitch Cling's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Jericho gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Jericho lands a right hand that snaps the head of Cling backwards.

Cling jumps into guard, dragging Jericho to the mat.
Jericho 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.
Jericho stopping the sweep attempt from Cling.
Jericho content to stall in guard here.
Cling is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jericho throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cling works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Jericho sitting in guard here, content to control.
Jericho has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Cling throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Jericho is stalling in the full guard.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Chris Jericho just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Jericho doesn't manage to clinch there - Cling circles away.
Nice sprawl there from Jericho as Cling shoots in.
Crunch! Jericho slams his shin into Cling's torso.
Mitch Cling is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cling avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Jericho tries to close the distance and clinch but Cling swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Jericho fails with an attempt to clinch.
Jericho tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cling swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's two 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.

Jericho clinches.
Cling wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Jericho has him pressed against the cage.

Cling escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cling motions for Jericho to come forward. Cling throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Jericho is looking to clinch but Cling is avoiding it.
Jericho tries to close the distance and clinch but Cling swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Jericho tries to clinch but Cling moves out of range.
The crowd cheers as Cling lands an impressive looking overhand right. Jericho doesn't seem phased though.
Jericho moves in looking to clinch but Cling pushes him off.
Jericho fails with an attempt to clinch.
Jericho tries to clinch up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Jericho looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Jericho fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cling with a poor takedown

and Jericho counters by clinching up.
Cling prevents a takedown attempt there.
Cling fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Chris Jericho has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mitch Cling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A body shot lands from Jericho.
Jericho using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Cling has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Cling has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Jericho is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Jericho lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Cling fails to pull guard.
Jericho lands a nice elbow.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Jericho takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Jericho lands a knee to the head.
Stalling in the clinch from Jericho.
Jericho landing knees to the head.
Jericho throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Jericho avoiding damage.
Jericho unloads a knee to the mid-section. Cling lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Cling is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Jericho lands an elbow inside.
Cling tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Knees in the clinch landing for Jericho.
Cling changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Jericho fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Jericho tries to clinch up but Cling circles away and keeps his distance.

Jericho clinches up with Cling and pushes him back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jericho lands a left hand that snaps the head of Cling backwards.
Jericho lands a nice knee to the body.
Jericho landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Jericho content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Jericho lands a hook that snaps the head of Cling backwards.

Cling drags the fight down to the ground.
Jericho is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Cling is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Cling is thwarting Jericho's attempts to control the position.
Cling wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jericho keeps working.
Jericho avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Cling.
Jericho wants to get back to full guard.
Cling slips a nice elbow through Jericho's hands, connecting with Jericho's forehead.

Cling decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Jericho dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Mitch Cling's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Cling changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Jericho looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Jericho struggling a bit here.
Jericho manages to work his way to half guard, despite Cling's best efforts.
Jericho wants to control but Cling is keeping busy.
Jericho is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Cling is just content to waste time from the top position. Jericho takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Jericho is on top in guard.

Cling is looking for a triangle but Jericho pushes his legs off easily.
Cling takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Jericho forces his way into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jericho tries to pass the half guard into mount. Cling knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Cling is doing well to control the position and prevent Jericho from advancing to side control.
Cling has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Jericho is working away from the top position though.
Jericho is pressing down on Cling's thigh, looking to free his foot. Cling is holding on for now.
Jericho takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Cling has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Jericho is working away from the top position though.
Mitch Cling has got the better of the ground game so far.
Jericho wants to lay and pray for a moment but Cling keeps working.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Jericho doesn't manage to clinch there - Cling circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Jericho with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Jericho lands with a right to the head.
Cling blocks the elbow strike.
Jericho connects with a nasty looking knee right to Cling's face.
Jericho will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Cling up against the cage.
Jericho tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Jericho throws a knee to the head but misses.

Cling successfully pulls guard.
Cling can't keep his opponent in guard - Jericho advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Cling wants to control but Jericho is keeping busy.
Jericho lands with a punch from half guard.
Cling is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jericho frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Jericho landing strikes from the mount.
Cling is looking to get to half guard.
Jericho content just to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cling is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Jericho looking to control and managing it successfully.
Jericho wants to control the pace but Cling is squirming around nicely.
Cling is trying desperately to improve position.
Cling regains half guard.
Cling is staying active underneath Jericho, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Mitch Cling has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Cling looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chris Jericho showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Jericho, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chris Jericho!