PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Melvin Cronkite (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rolando Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cronkite comes to the cage accompanied by Croc song!. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Cronkite
vs
Gracie

175 cm
22
250 lbs
12 - 4 - 0

166 cm
28
298 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Dragon

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Melvin Cronkite!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rolando Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Matheus Silva and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cronkite shoots in and bounces Gracie off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Cronkite controlling from the top position.
Cronkite tries to free his leg and advance position but Gracie is retaining full guard.
Cronkite passes Gracie's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Gracie is looking for a sweep. Cronkite is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Cronkite is keen to just control but Gracie is a slippery customer.
Cronkite controlling the pace.
Cronkite is pressing down on Gracie's thigh, looking to free his foot. Gracie is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie tries to get to full guard but Cronkite has control of the leg.
Cronkite passes to full mount!
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Gracie tries to improve his position but instead Cronkite has taken his back!
I really don't envy Gracie right now.

Gracie showing good submission defense here.
Gracie grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gracie defends a prolonged rear naked choke attempt and turns nicely into his opponent's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cronkite is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cronkite is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Cronkite is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gracie preventing the sweep.

Cronkite looking for a guillotine here but Gracie defends easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite looking for a sweep. Not yet Cronkite, not yet.
Cronkite manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gracie manages to get himself to full guard.
Cronkite pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracie is keeping the position for now.
Gracie looking to control.
Cronkite is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Cronkite sitting in guard here, content to control.
Cronkite lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Cronkite pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracie is keeping the position for now.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cronkite accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cronkite pushes down on Gracie's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Cronkite looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Melvin Cronkite dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Cronkite gets a takedown into half guard.
Gracie wants to control but Cronkite is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Cronkite is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Cronkite looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Cronkite seems to be working for a kimura but Gracie defends the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Melvin Cronkite overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gracie trying to control but Cronkite postures up.
Cronkite trying to control the action but Gracie is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite tries to pass to full mount but Gracie defends it.
Gracie is looking to improve his position.
Cronkite perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Cronkite trying to control from half guard but Gracie is working away.
Gracie wants to improve his position but Cronkite is controlling well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Melvin Cronkite.

Cronkite closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Gracie did well to prevent Cronkite getting side control.
Cronkite controlling the action here.

Cronkite is working for a kimura but Gracie is defending it quite comfortably.
Cronkite throwing shots but Gracie is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Gracie is trying to maintain the position but Cronkite is very close to passing his half guard.
Gracie won't allow Cronkite to pass to mount.
Cronkite is just content to waste time from the top position. Gracie takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Cronkite passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Cronkite just content to control the position.
Gracie tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Melvin Cronkite dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Cronkite shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Gracie actively working from the bottom here.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Cronkite trying to control the action but Gracie is working from the bottom.

Cronkite is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Gracie defends it well.
Gracie is looking to control Cronkite's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Gracie avoid being mounted?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cronkite is taking a breather. Gracie says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Gracie trying to control here.
Cronkite with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Cronkite is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

Cronkite has hold of Gracie's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Gracie manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite content just to control the position here.
Gracie wants to hold on but Cronkite pushes him away.
Cronkite landing strikes, looking to finish!

Cronkite is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Gracie to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Gracie shrugs it off.
Cronkite is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gracie can do to turn this around?

Cronkite is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Gracie to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Gracie shrugs it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Gracie?
Cronkite looking to control and managing it successfully.
Gracie tries to reverse the position but Cronkite maintains control.
Cronkite working Gracie over with strikes here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cronkite trying to control but Gracie is having none of it.
Cronkite controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cronkite with shots to the head and body - Gracie looks very uncomfortable down there.
Cronkite looking to control and managing it successfully.
Cronkite wants to control the pace but Gracie is squirming around nicely.
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but Cronkite has a good base and remains in mount.
Rolando Gracie has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cronkite raining down shots from the mount!
Melvin Cronkite is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cronkite takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Melvin Cronkite showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Cronkite has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight for Melvin Cronkite!
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight for Melvin Cronkite!
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight for Melvin Cronkite!

Melvin Cronkite wins by unanimous decision!
Melvin Cronkite thanked the fans post fight for their support.