PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Denzel Rain Man (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Cohen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that John Cohen was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Rain Man
vs
Cohen

167 cm
24
135 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

175 cm
19
135 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Denzel Rain Man!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, John Cohen!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Nard Betker and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rain Man fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Cohen is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Cohen looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Rain Man closes the distance and clinches.
Rain Man trying to land knees to the body.

Rain Man jumps into guard, dragging Cohen to the mat.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Cohen trying to control but Rain Man is working from the bottom.
Cohenis looking to pass into half guard but Rain Man pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Rain Man is in guard.
Rain Man trying to control the position from guard on top but Cohen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rain Man wants to stand but Cohen has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cohen lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Rain Man!
Rain Man tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Rain Man is squirming around, avoiding Cohen's attempts to control the action.
Rain Man is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Cohen breaks from Rain Man's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Cohen sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
You get the feeling that Rain Man really doesn't like being in this position too much.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rain Man wants to control but Cohen is having none of it.
Rain Man keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cohen lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Cohen trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Rain Man is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Cohen lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Cohen goes for an armbar but Rain Man turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Rain Man.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cohen is pulling down on Rain Man's head. It's preventing any offense from Rain Man, at least for the moment.
Cohen tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Cohen working a defensive guard but Rain Man passes into half guard.
Cohen is doing well to control the position and prevent Rain Man from advancing to side control.
Cohen tries to get to full guard but Rain Man has control of the leg.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cohen slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cohen has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Rain Man can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Rain Man throws a big elbow that misses.

Cohen is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Cohen controls Rain Man momentarily but Rain Man frees himself.
Rain Man prevents Cohen from getting back to his feet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Cohen working for a triangle but Rain Man defends it easily.
Cohen is controlling Rain Man's posture.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Cohen dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rain Man clinches with his opponent.
Cohen working hard to break the clinch.
Cohen is looking to break free of the clinch but Rain Man has double underhooks.
Rain Man wants to stall.
Rain Man can't get the takedown.
Cohen misses with a short punch on the inside.
Cohen stops a takedown attempt from Rain Man.
Cohen prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Denzel Rain Man. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cohen tries to pull guard but Rain Man forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Cohen throws a knee to the head but misses.

Cohen breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cohen blocks a low kick nicely.
Rain Man shoots in for a takedown but Cohen shows good takedown defense.

Cohen gets a takedown into half guard.
Cohen wants to pass to mount but Rain Man is defending the position.

Cohen gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Rain Man tries to sprawl but Cohen drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Cohen is looking to advance position but Rain Man won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cohen trying to control from half guard but Rain Man is working away.
Rain Man is looking for a sweep. Cohen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Cohen trying to control the action but Rain Man is working from the bottom.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

John Cohen has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Rain Man tries for a takedown but Cohen circles away easily

and Cohen counters with a shoot takedown. Rain Man fights it but they end up in guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Rain Man is working an open guard so Cohen takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Cohen tries to close the distance and clinch but Rain Man swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Rain Man is looking to clinch but Cohen is avoiding it.
Rain Man with a poor takedown

and Cohen holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cohen breaks the clinch.

Cohen drives through with a takedown into Rain Man's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Cohen engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Cohen pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rain Man is keeping the position for now.
Cohen working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Rain Man's head.

Cohen gets to his feet - Rain Man follows without any prompting.
Cohen misses with a leg kick.
Rain Man fails to land the takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cohen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rain Man paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Cohen fails in his attempt to clinch.

Cohen looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Cohen is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Cohen working over Rain Man with some ground and pound. Rain Man looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cohen lands with a punch from half guard.
Rain Man is in trouble now - Cohen has advanced to mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Cohen showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Cohen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

Cohen is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Rain Man has escaped the position, nice work there.
Cohen trying to control the action but Rain Man is working from the bottom.

Cohen goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Rain Man has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Cohen but great work by Rain Man.
An elbow from Rain Man crashes against the mat.
Cohen tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Rain Man wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Cohen regains half guard, as Rain Man was trying to land strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cohen moves into full guard.
Cohen working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Rain Man.

Cohen working for submissions but it's allowed Rain Man to get to half guard.
Cohen is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Cohen is positioning himself well to prevent Rain Man advancing to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cohen wants to control but Rain Man is keeping busy.
Rain Man seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Cohen manages to get to full guard.
Cohen trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Cohen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Cohen had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Rain Man defends it easily.
Cohen manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Rain Man manages to get himself to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cohen looking to sit in guard and control but Rain Man gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Cohen looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Cohen looking to control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Cohen can do anything to dispel that myth.

Cohen has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rain Man off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Cohen tries a head kick but it misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cohen looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rain Man fails with the takedown.
Rain Man with a lazy takedown attempt

and Cohen counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Rain Man's guard now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cohen wants to control from the top but Rain Man keeps moving.
Cohen postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cohen sitting in guard here, content to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Cohen comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Cohen has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Paul Aken scores the fight 27:30
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 27:30
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Cohen!