PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Dominick Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Luke King (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Luke King will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Cruz
vs
King

173 cm
25
134 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

187 cm
23
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Dominick Cruz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Luke King!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Dmitry Maklakov and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
King shoots and misses

and Cruz counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in King's guard now.
Cruz slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Cruz'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.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Cruz would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

We're going to have a standup here because Dominick Cruz wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Cruz closes the distance looking to clinch

so King counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cruz controlling King's posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
King trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz wants to sweep here but King controlling him for the moment.
Cruz keeping moving, preventing King from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Luke King.

King moves into range and clinches up with Cruz.

King breaks from the clinch.
Cruz keeps the fight on the outside.

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

King gets caught napping as Cruz dives in and scores a takedown. King manages to retain guard.
Cruz works a leg free and moves into half guard.
King trying to control from the bottom.
King really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Cruz. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
King is looking to improve his position.

King is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Cruz pulls his head out easily.
King is staying active underneath Cruz, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Cruz stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows King to get to his feet.
King doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Cruz counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
King looks gassed!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King wants to control but Cruz passes easily into half guard.
Cruz working the head and body with strikes.
Cruz trying to mount his opponent but King defends it.
Cruz is taking a breather. King says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cruz wants to control but King is keeping him busy.
King trying to hold on to Cruz's head to control him but Cruz postures up.
Cruz takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

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.

King looking for submissions off his back.
Cruz content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Dominick Cruz has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Cruz drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Cruz stands up from guard. Let's bang!
King misses with a takedown attempt
and Cruz counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Dominick Cruz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Luke King.
Cruz ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

King gets a clinch.

King breaks the clinch.

Cruz shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in King's guard.
King trying to keep a closed guard but Cruz is proving a slippery customer.

King is working an open guard so Cruz takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Cruz shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. King defends it nicely.
King shoots in but Cruz avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Cruz gets a double leg takedown into King's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cruz avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Cruz cracks King with a solid left hand.
Cruz is pushing down on King's leg trying to pass to half guard. King is fighting to maintain full guard but Cruz has managed to sneak the leg through.
King trying to hold on to Cruz's head to control him but Cruz postures up.
Cruz is looking to take a break and control but King is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
King is looking to control Cruz's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can King avoid being mounted?

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.

Cruz is trying to work for a kimura but King is defending well.
King punching from the bottom.
Cruz takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
King is looking to get back to full guard here but Cruz has managed to pass to side control instead.
Cruz working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
King tries to bench press Cruz off him but Cruz keeps the position.
You can see the frustration on King's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
King tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Cruz presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
King is trying to reverse the position but instead Cruz has taken his back - oops!
King looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.

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.
King staying busy and making it hard for Cruz to control.
King is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
King is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Cruz scores with strikes from the back.

King tries to escape but he's let his defenses down in doing so and Cruz has slipped in the rear naked choke! Oh, that's tiiiiiiiiight! King is tapping! This one is aaaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:47 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Dominick Cruz!