PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Firnanda Talha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Cronos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Talha comes to the cage accompanied by radioactive -Imagine Dragon. Cronos has chosen Sandstorm as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Talha
vs
Cronos

170 cm
29
143 lbs
16 - 14 - 0

178 cm
24
145 lbs
9 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Fury Nutrition Inc.

Sex Panther! (160q recovery $149)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Firnanda Talha!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jose Cronos!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Steve Smith and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Talha shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Cronos pinned against the cage. Cronos gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Cronos stuffs the takedown attempt from Talha. Talha gets slowly back to his feet.
Talha shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Cronos pinned against the cage. Cronos gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Firnanda Talha. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cronos misses with a looping right.
Talha wants to clinch
letting Cronos counter with a right hand.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Cronos has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Cronos's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Cronos duly obliges.

Talha is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Talha shoots in looking for a takedown. Cronos tries to sprawl out of it but Talha keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Cronos manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Talha misses with a shot to the body
and Cronos counters with a three punch combo that has Talha backing up. Talha nods at Cronos to acknowledge the strikes.
Oh Talha is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!

Cronos fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Talha to the ground. Cronos is now in Talha's guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

Cronos got a little sloppy there for a moment and Talha has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Cronos has managed to get both his arms back between Talha's legs - danger averted.
Talha seems to have got his legs back now.

Talha looking for a guillotine here but Cronos defends easily.
Cronos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Talha swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Talha looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Cronos passes into side control.
Cronos controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Cronos thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
It looks like Cronos might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Talha is looking to reverse the position.
Cronos trying to control the action but Talha is working from the bottom.

Cronos tries for a kimura but Talha is defending well.
Talha tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Cronos wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Talha is working hard here to advance position.
Cronos wants to lay and pray for a moment but Talha keeps working.
Talha sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Talha manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Talha is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Cronos is aware though and is defending well.

Talha looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

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

Cronos drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Cronos jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Cronos trying to control the position from guard on top but Talha is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Talha has his foot on Cronos's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Cronos works his way back into a safe position though.
Cronos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Cronos won't allow Talha to sweep him here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cronos wants to control from the top but Talha keeps moving.
Cronos is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Talha seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Talha looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cronos is one step ahead there.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Jose Cronos was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Cronos works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Cronos dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Talha shoots in for a double leg but Cronos sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Talha misses with a two punch combination.
Talha will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Cronos takes a swing at Talha's ribcage but misses.
Cronos swinging wildly here.
Sloppy strikes from Cronos. Those never looked like landing.

Talha feints and as Cronos raises his hands in defense, Talha changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Talha tries to free his leg and advance position but Cronos is retaining full guard.
Cronos keeping moving, preventing Talha from controlling successfully.
Talha is working Cronos over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cronos looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Talha is defending well. Cronos quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Talha has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Cronos celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Jose Cronos!
Jose Cronos took to the mic after the fight and begged the organizational hierarchy for a shot at the title.