PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Maik Taison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antonio Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Antonio Cruz is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Taison
vs
Cruz

179 cm
25
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
20
168 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Maik Taison!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Antonio Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Johanna Lukiainen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Taison swings for the body but Cruz moves out of range.
Taison throws a lazy uppercut
and Cruz makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Taison catches Cruz with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

It looks like Antonio Cruz has been cut.
Cruz keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cruz takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Taison throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A jab from Taison misses.
Taison throws a hook but Cruz blocks it.
Cruz is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Cruz slips a straight right by Taison.
Cruz throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A punch lands to the side of Taison 's head but he takes it in his stride.
A looping hook to the body misses from Taison. Cruz does a little dance to reset his feet.
Taison throws a jab when Cruz was well out of range.
Cruz displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Taison throws out the jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz ducks under a wild hook from Taison.
Cruz uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Taison.
Taison throws a lazy uppercut
and Cruz counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Taison misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Cruz counters with a stiff right hand.
A shot to the body from Taison misses
and Cruz counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Taison is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Cruz's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Cruz scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
The fighters circle momentarily. Taison darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Taison throws a push kick but Cruz slaps the foot to one side.
No joy there for Taison, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Taison swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
A shot to the body from Taison misses
and Cruz counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Taison misses with an uppercut
enabling Cruz to counter with a crisp jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taison throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Cruz sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Taison slips a jab and a cross from Cruz.
Cruz throws a series of punches but Taison moves out of range.
Taison lands a really nice looking cross but Cruz seems unphased.
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!
Taison throws out a loose jab but Cruz uses good head movement to avoid it.
Taison looks to land a right hand but Cruz moved out of range.
Taison throws an off balance right hand
and Cruz counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Taison looks for a takedown but Cruz sprawls well.
Cruz ducks under a wild hook from Taison.
Maik Taison seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Taison throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Cruz sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taison throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Cruz lands a nice looking body shot.
Taison throws a lazy uppercut
and Cruz counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Taison throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Cruz is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Taison rather than just go for the knockout.
Good standup being displayed there by Cruz as he connects with a hook.
A jab from Taison misses.
Cruz bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Cruz lands a right hook to the body.
Cruz lands the left hand.
Cruz shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Cruz stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taison misses with a hook to the body
and Cruz counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Taison slips a jab and a cross from Cruz.
Taison throws a sloppy body shot
and Cruz counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Taison fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Cruz manages to avoid it.
Taison misses with an uppercut
and Cruz counters with a right hand to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Taison thows a body shot but no joy.
Taison swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Cruz counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Taison misses with a looping left.
Taison misses with a hook
and Cruz connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cruz is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Taison had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Taison loads up on a big right hand but Cruz slips the punch.
Cruz bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Taison loads up on a big right hand but Cruz slips the punch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maik Taison dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Antonio Cruz's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Taison misses with a straight left.
Cruz staying out of range there.
Cruz uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Taison.
Cruz keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Taison.
Cruz has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Taison throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Taison throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Cruz counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Taison bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Cruz's head backwards.
Cruz lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Taison throws a big shot that misses.
Taison misses with a straight left.
Cruz takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Cruz takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Maik Taison is winning the standup battle so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taison has a takedown stuffed.
Taison stuns Cruz with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Cruz lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
A big right from Taison misses.
Taison throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Antonio Cruz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A looping hook to the body misses from Taison. Cruz does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cruz staying out of range there.
Taison swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Taison misses with an uppercut
and Cruz counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Cruz bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz lands with a good body shot.
Taison scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Cruz misses with a double jab.
Taison takes one to the side of the head.
Cruz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Taison missing with a left hand there. Cruz was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Taison throws a predictable looking body shot
and Cruz counters with a nice uppercut.
Taison throws out a loose jab but Cruz uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cruz paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
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!
Taison throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Cruz connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Taison throws out a loose jab but Cruz uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz swinging wildly here.
Taison just misses with a punch to the body.
Jab by Cruz.
Cruz on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Taison looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Cruz digs a good hook to Taison's body.
Taison looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Taison motions for Cruz to come forward. Taison throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Cruz lands a jab.
Taison throws a lazy right hand but Cruz sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Cruz slips under a jab from Taison.
Taison connects with a good right hand that stumbles Cruz. Cruz circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Danga de danga de dang - Cruz scores with a four punch combination!
Cruz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Taison misses with a series of wild punches.
Cruz is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Taison displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cruz throws a series of punches but Taison moves out of range.
Cruz walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maik Taison dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Antonio Cruz's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Taison shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Taison lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Taison working Cruz over with strikes here.
Taison fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

Cruz is rocked!
Cruz takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Cruz is still in real trouble! Can Taison finish him?
Taison 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.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Taison postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Cruz in real trouble here! The ref calls for Cruz to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:43 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Maik Taison!