PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Tico Cortez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Haiki Masatupo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Cortez
vs
Masatupo

173 cm
26
149 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

180 cm
32
158 lbs
17 - 16 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

ADCC Champion
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

xXx - Voodoo Labs - 159+ Energy
xXx - Voodoo Labs - 159+ Energy

Steel Penn's Laundry 93%

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Tico Cortez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Haiki Masatupo!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Jeff Smith and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cortez lands a jab to Masatupo's midsection.
Masatupo lands a nice hook to Cortez's body. Cortez takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Cortez displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Masatupo.
Masatupo closes the distance and clinches up with Cortez, looking for a takedown. Masatupo pushes Cortez against the cage but Cortez circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Haiki Masatupo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cortez tries to close the distance and clinch up but Masatupo swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cortez scores with a hook to the body. Masatupo takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Cortez misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Masatupo.
A slow jab from Masatupo misses its intended target.
Cortez thows a body shot but no joy.

Cortez gets caught flat footed, as Masatupo shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Cortez looking for a sweep. Not yet Cortez, not yet.
Cortez not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Cortez tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cortez preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Masatupo stopping the sweep attempt from Cortez.
Masatupo wants to pass the guard but Cortez is keeping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cortez bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Masatupo's guard.
Cortez wants to control from the top but Masatupo keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Tico Cortez just wasn't active enough.

Cortez gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Masatupo effectively controlling the action here.
Masatupo has a couple of punches blocked by Cortez.
Cortez misses with a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cortez takes a knee right on the jaw!

Cortez escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Masatupo shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Cortez is trying to defend but Masatupo finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Cortez throws a strike from the bottom but Masatupo passes into side control!

Masatupo thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Masatupo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Masatupo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cortez manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Tico Cortez wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Masatupo fails to land with a series of punches.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Cortez lands a head kick. Masatupo smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

Cortez rushes Masatupo and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cortez lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Masatupo or not.
Masatupo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Masatupo looking to slow down the pace here.
Cortez scores with a nice hook to the head.
Cortez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Masatupo tries to break free but Cortez pushes him back against the cage.
Nice body punch from Cortez.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Masatupo tries to land a knee to the head but Cortez blocks with his arms.
Cortez blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Cortez works on Masatupo's body with a couple of short punches.

Cortez manages to break the clinch.
Donk. Cortez catches Masatupo right on the button with a cross.

Masatupo scores with a takedown into Cortez's guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cortez working a defensive guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tico Cortez dominated that round.
That's time! Cortez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Masatupo throws a sloppy head kick
and Cortez counters with a good low kick that Masatupo was not able to check.
Masatupo shoots in looking for a takedown but Cortez manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Masatupo's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Cortez drops Masatupo with a big left hand! Masatupo is injured, injured bad! Cortez jumps in and finished him with strikes! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:14 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tico Cortez!
Tico Cortez seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.