PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mace Raven (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Henry Cooper (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Henry Cooper told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Raven
vs
Cooper

180 cm
25
264 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

215 cm
19
295 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

Broken Halo Pride Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mace Raven!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henry Cooper!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Gwen Towbar and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooper fails to land the takedown.

Raven moves into range and clinches up with Cooper.
Raven displaying some good clinch control by pressing Cooper up against the cage.
Raven pushes off an throws an elbow but Cooper leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Raven lands a damaging elbow.

It looks like Henry Cooper has been cut.
Cooper prevents a takedown attempt there.
Raven lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Raven throws an elbow but misses.
Raven lands an elbow inside that Cooper shrugs off.
Raven stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Raven lands an elbow that stopped Cooper in his tracks for a moment.
Raven comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

Raven is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Cooper can't fight it off and eventually Raven manages to take the fight to the floor. Cooper looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Cooper working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Raven.
Raven is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raven postures up in Cooper's guard and throws a big left but Cooper blocks it.
Raven pushes down on Cooper's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Raven is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Raven moves nicely into side control.
Raven wants to control but Cooper is keeping him busy.
Cooper is looking for a sweep.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooper is letting Raven control him for a moment.
Raven trying to control the position but Cooper is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Raven.
Cooper is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Cooper defending against the ground and pound.
Cooper struggling a bit here.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Cooper can do anything to dispel that myth.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Cooper fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cooper circles away from the clinch attempt.
Raven misses the shot to the body.
Raven scores with a leg kick.

Raven gets a takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raven works his way into full mount!
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
A nice elbow there by Raven.
Raven lands a nice shot to the head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Raven with good strikes from the mount here!
Raven tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Raven putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Raven lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Raven pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooper is in all sorts of trouble here.
Raven unloading with bombs!
Cooper working to try and regain half guard.
Raven looking to finish Cooper with some ground and pound. This is bad for Cooper!
Raven looking to control but Cooper is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Raven landing strikes, looking to finish!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Raven lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Cooper hang on?
Raven looking to control but Cooper is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Cooper takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mace Raven dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Henry Cooper's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Cooper misses with a takedown

and Raven counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Cooper!

Raven working for a guillotine from mount but Cooper is in no mood to give up.
Raven breaks from Cooper's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Raven controlling the position easily from mount.
Raven lands a heavy elbow.
Raven trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Raven postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Cooper looks a forlorn figure.
Raven dominating with strikes here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raven looking to control but Cooper is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Raven with a couple of short strikes.
Raven tries to control but Cooper wriggling away.
Cooper in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Raven lands a heavy elbow.
Cooper takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Mace Raven overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
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!
Raven in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Cooper tries to hold on but Raven postures up.
Raven punishing his opponent with strikes.
Raven has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Raven looking to control but Cooper is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Raven landing shots from mount.
Raven wants to control the pace but Cooper is squirming around nicely.
Raven has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cooper's face.
Raven can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Cooper is looking to escape.
Raven is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cooper can do to turn this around?
Cooper tries to lock up and control but Raven gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Raven postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Cooper looks a forlorn figure.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raven has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cooper's face.
Raven lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Raven has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cooper's face.
Cooper is working to get back to half guard.
Raven sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Raven unloading with bombs!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cooper working to try and regain half guard.
Raven controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raven trying to control but Cooper is having none of it.
Cooper really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Raven. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Raven controlling from the full mount.
Cooper is desperately trying to improve his position but Raven has a good base and remains in mount.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Raven has hold of Cooper's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Cooper manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mace Raven dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Henry Cooper's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

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

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Mace Raven.
Cooper fails with the takedown

and Raven counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Raven.
Raven throws a big right hand that misses.
Raven working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Raven controlling from the top position.
Raven lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Raven slips nicely into half guard.
Cooper is staying active underneath Raven, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raven is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Cooper is trying to maintain the position but Raven is very close to passing his half guard.
Raven wants to take a breather but Cooper is having none of it.
Raven scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Raven passes to side control.
Raven working the head and body with strikes.
Cooper is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Raven advances to full mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper is in a horrible position here. Raven smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Raven tries to control but Cooper wriggling away.
Raven in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
BOOM! Raven connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Raven tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Raven can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Cooper is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper is trying desperately to improve position.
Henry Cooper has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mace Raven is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Raven tries to control but Cooper wriggling away.
Raven controlling from mount.
Raven landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raven unloading with bombs!
Raven with good strikes from the mount here!
Raven lands a big elbow.
Raven takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Raven's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The referee warns Cooper that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Raven controlling from mount.
Raven looking to finish Cooper with some ground and pound. This is bad for Cooper!

And that's the end of the fight!
Mace Raven showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Raven has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 30:24
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:24
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:24

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mace Raven!