PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Sahraim Alib (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Casey Cullen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Alib
vs
Cullen

170 cm
24
170 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

177 cm
24
184 lbs
12 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Good gas tank

[JMFC] 160!
[JMFC] 160!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sahraim Alib!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Casey Cullen!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Matheus Silva and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cullen cracks a nice hook into Alib's ribs.
Alib tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cullen was well out of range. Poor timing from Alib.
Cullen throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Cullen misses the shot to the body.
Cullen dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Cullen lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Cullen connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Alib momentarily.
Alib scores with a punch to the head.
Cullen tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Alib was well out of range. Poor timing from Cullen.
Cullen misses with a body shot
and Alib makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

Alib looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Cullen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Alib trying to control the position from guard on top but Cullen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cullen preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Alib accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Alib working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Alib showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Alib cracks Cullen with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alib trying to control but Cullen is working from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Sahraim Alib.
Cullen smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Cullen throws a series of punches but Alib avoids them all with ease.
Cullen scores with a jab to the body.
Alib steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Cullen.

Cullen gets in close and instigates a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cullen throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Alib prevents a body shot from Cullen.
Cullen misses with the head strike.
Cullen gets underhooks to prevent Alib's takedown attempt.
Cullen tries to throw a body punch but Alib avoids it by throwing Cullen back against the cage.
Alib managing to block the knees to the body from Cullen.
Cullen goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Alib holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Alib avoids a wild elbow strike from Cullen.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cullen throws a punch but it's blocked by Alib.
Cullen trying to land knees to the body.
Cullen fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Alib goes for a takedown in the clinch but Cullen prevents it.
Cullen blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Alib displaying some good clinch control by pressing Cullen up against the cage.

Alib breaks from the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Alib moves into the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Casey Cullen will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Cullen falls off balance throwing a combination
and Alib counters with an outside leg kick.
Cullen misses the shot to the body.
Cullen misses with a jab to the body
and Alib counters with a thumping low kick.
Alib walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Cullen fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Alib manages to avoid it.
Cullen tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Alib was well out of range. Poor timing from Cullen.
Cullen wants to clinch but Alib slips to the side

and Alib counters with a single leg into guard. Cullen didn't expect that.
Alib postures up in Cullen's guard and throws a big left but Cullen blocks it.
Alib stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Cullen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Alib in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alib trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Alib with a flurry of punches that miss.
Cullen looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Alib throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cullen works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Alib working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Cullen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Alib throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alib trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Cullen trying to control the position.
Alib wants to control from the top but Cullen keeps moving.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Alib chips away with some ground and pound.
Alib makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Alib looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cullen utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Alib trying to control but Cullen is working from the bottom.
Alib missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Alib working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Cullen holds on and takes a little breather.
Alib trying to control but Cullen is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alib loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Alib 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.
Alib trying to control but Cullen is working from the bottom.
Alib missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cullen ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Alib moves away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Alib misses with a body shot.
A slow jab from Cullen misses its intended target.
Alib on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sahraim Alib dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Cullen lands with a nice combination. Alib backs away looking to recover.
Cullen throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Alib throws a series of punches but Cullen avoids them all with ease.
Alib avoids the body shot from Cullen.
Alib throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cullen's waist but Cullen gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Alib off to one side.
Cullen moves into range and connects with a jab.
Alib shoots in for a double leg but Cullen sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
A punch combination from Cullen misses.
Alib fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sahraim Alib. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A slow jab from Cullen misses its intended target.

Alib closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cullen missing with knees to the body.
Cullen lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like Sahraim Alib has been cut.
Alib tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alib scores with a shot to the side of Cullen's head.
Cullen working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Alib trying to stall but Cullen improves his position.
Alib misses with a short punch on the inside.
Alib blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Cullen.
Cullen has Alib pressed against the cage, preventing Alib from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alib wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Cullen has him pressed against the cage.
Cullen misses with an elbow strike.
Alib is trying to break free.
Alib looking for a takedown.
Cullen creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Cullen lands an elbow inside.
Alib is stalling here.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Alib.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alib is trying to force a seperation but Cullen has the dominant position.
Cullen creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Alib's defenses.
Cullen lands an elbow inside that Alib shrugs off.

Sahraim Alib's cut is getting worse.
Cullen working aggressively here.
Cullen lands an elbow inside that Alib shrugs off.
Cullen is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alib is defending well for now.
A left hand lands to the body for Cullen.
Cullen tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Cullen looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Cullen pushes Alib back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alib looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Alib scores with a nice hook to the head.
Alib tries for a takedown. No joy.
Alib misses with a short punch on the inside.
A short body shot lands from Cullen as the two fighters clinch.
Alib swings wildly with an uppercut but Cullen uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cullen scores with an uppercut up the middle.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cullen can't find room to land a body shot as Alib controls the action.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cullen working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Casey Cullen comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Cullen has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 28:29
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Casey Cullen!