PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Paul Buchanan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Randall Cunningham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Buchanan
vs
Cunningham

183 cm
21
201 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

188 cm
23
201 lbs
8 - 1 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Legion of Pain Nutrition

Brute

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Paul Buchanan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 1 - 1, fighting out of New York, Randall Cunningham!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Robert Douchet and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice defenses there by Cunningham.
Cunningham lands with a hook. Buchanan tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Cunningham chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Buchanan shoots in and gets a takedown into Cunningham's guard.
Cunningham pulls Buchanan in close to his closed guard and prevents Buchanan from doing any damage or advancing position.
Buchanan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Buchanan postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
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!
Cunningham keeping moving, preventing Buchanan from controlling successfully.
Buchanan tries to free his leg and advance position but Cunningham is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cunningham preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Buchanan tries to free his leg and advance position but Cunningham is retaining full guard.
Cunningham keeping moving, preventing Buchanan from controlling successfully.
Buchanan throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Buchanan trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Cunningham really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Buchanan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cunningham is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Cunningham utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Buchanan throws a big elbow that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cunningham preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Buchanan trying to control but Cunningham is working from the bottom.
Buchanan throwing strikes but missing.
Buchanan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Buchanan wants to pass the guard but Cunningham is keeping the position.
Cunningham avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Buchanan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Cunningham utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Buchanan distracts Cunningham with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

Buchanan is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Buchanan 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.

Buchanan thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Buchanan wants to control from the top but Cunningham keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cunningham controls Buchanan momentarily but Buchanan frees himself.
Buchanan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Buchanan tries to free his leg and advance position but Cunningham is retaining full guard.
Buchanan wants to control from the top but Cunningham keeps moving.
Buchanan throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cunningham works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Buchanan working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Buchanan keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Cunningham's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Buchanan dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Buchanan swings widly with a right hand
and Cunningham counters with an outside leg kick.
Cunningham connects with a good right hand that stumbles Buchanan. Buchanan circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Buchanan throws a body punch but Cunningham moves out of range.
Some bone on bone action there as Buchanan checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Cunningham.
Buchanan throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Buchanan throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Cunningham was covering up waiting for the punch and Buchanan finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Buchanan landing some decent shots from guard.
Cunningham looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Buchanan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Buchanan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Cunningham trying to keep a closed guard but Buchanan is proving a slippery customer.
Cunningham keeping moving, preventing Buchanan from controlling successfully.
Cunningham is trying to control the position but Buchanan postures up.

Buchanan thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Buchanan loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Buchanan thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Buchanan connects with a couple of short punches.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Buchanan accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Buchanan wants to pass the guard but Cunningham is keeping the position.
Buchanan throwing strikes from guard but Cunningham blocks nicely.
Buchanan is looking to work some ground and pound but Cunningham has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cunningham keeping moving, preventing Buchanan from controlling successfully.
Buchanan distracts Cunningham with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

Buchanan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Buchanan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Buchanan drops back looking for a leg! Cunningham is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Cunningham manages to kick Buchanan off! Buchanan jumps back into Cunningham's guard.
Buchanan throwing strikes but missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Buchanan trying to control the position from guard on top but Cunningham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Buchanan throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cunningham works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cunningham wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Buchanan throws a big right hand that misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Buchanan tries to free his leg and advance position but Cunningham is retaining full guard.

Buchanan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Buchanan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Buchanan dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Cunningham looks for the body kick but Buchanan saw that one coming.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Cunningham, right into the meat.
Cunningham tries to land a front kick but Buchanan steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Cunningham lands a slapping body shot.
Buchanan fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cunningham misses with a low kick.

Buchanan darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Buchanan thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Cunningham is staying active underneath Buchanan, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Paul Buchanan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Buchanan is working for an americana but Cunningham has been sneaky and has managed to get back to half guard, whilst Buchanan was thinking about the submission.

Buchanan drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Buchanan jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Buchanan wants to control from the top but Cunningham keeps moving.
Cunningham controls Buchanan momentarily but Buchanan frees himself.
Buchanan trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Randall Cunningham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Buchanan trying to control the position from guard on top but Cunningham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Buchanan throws a big elbow that misses.
Buchanan is looking to work some ground and pound but Cunningham has wrist control.
Buchanan trying to control but Cunningham is working from the bottom.
Buchanan in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Buchanan postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cunningham is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Buchanan misses with a body shot.
Paul Buchanan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Buchanan attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
A chopping leg kick lands by Cunningham.

Buchanan shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Buchanan throwing shots but Cunningham is blocking nicely.

Buchanan is working for a kimura but Cunningham is defending it quite comfortably.

Buchanan is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Paul Buchanan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Buchanan controlling the pace.
Buchanan missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Buchanan working over Cunningham with some ground and pound. Cunningham looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Buchanan thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paul Buchanan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Buchanan, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paul Buchanan!
Paul Buchanan gave a mention to Legion of Pain Nutrition in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).