PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Conan Cross (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Phan Tran Le (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Le has chosen Dukes of Hazard Theme Song - Waylon Jennings as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Conan Cross has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cross
vs
Tran Le

174 cm
29
150 lbs
14 - 7 - 1

179 cm
27
182 lbs
17 - 8 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Conan Cross!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Phan Tran Le!
The judges for this bout are Alyssa Summers, John Kavanagh and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Le misses with a hook

so Cross counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Le wants to sweep here but Cross controlling him for the moment.
Cross trying to control but Le is working from the bottom.

Le is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Le looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cross is one step ahead there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cross won't allow Le to get back to his feet.
Cross working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Le 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.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Cross's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Cross loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Le is adopting a defensive guard.
Cross 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.
Le keeping moving, preventing Cross from controlling successfully.
We've been hearing that Cross has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Cross is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Le is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Cross with a nice head shot there.
Cross looking to pass the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le keeping moving, preventing Cross from controlling successfully.
Cross passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Cross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Le keeps working.
Le taking punishment in the form of punches.
Cross throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cross trying to control the position but Le is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Cross's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Cross throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Le is trying to get back to half guard.
Cross grinds an elbow into Le's temple.
Le is looking to regain half guard here but Cross keeps moving and retains side control.
You can see the frustration on Le's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Cross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Le keeps working.
Cross tries to advance to mount but Le denies him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cross scores with punches from side control.
Le is not content to let Cross control the position.
Cross laying and praying for a moment but Le takes advantage and regains half guard.
Le told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Le is refusing to be controlled, as Cross sits in half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Le is looking to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conan Cross dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Le throws a jab but it's blocked by Cross.
Cross throws out a powerful jab.
Cross throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Le cracks Cross with a good jab.
Cross scores with a decent looking hook.
Cross circles away from the clinch attempt.
Le misses with a hook to the body

and Cross counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Le keeping moving, preventing Cross from controlling successfully.
Le wants to control but Cross passes easily into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cross working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Le trying to hold on to Cross's head to control him but Cross postures up.
Cross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Le keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross moves into full mount! Le won't be happy about that!
Cross content just to control the position here.
Le really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Cross controlling from mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cross pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cross is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Le can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Le is wriggling around trying to escape.
Le's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Le is trying to escape the mount.
Cross lands a heavy elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cross lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Cross tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Cross putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross avoids the attempt from Le to control.
Cross lands with some strikes.
Le is squirming around, avoiding Cross's attempts to control the action.
Cross takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Cross with the ground and pound from mount.
Le is desperately trying to improve his position but Cross has a good base and remains in mount.
Cross avoids the attempt from Le to control.
Le working to try and regain half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cross lands a heavy elbow.
Cross putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Le is desperately trying to improve his position but Cross has a good base and remains in mount.
Cross scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Cross with shots to the head and body - Le looks very uncomfortable down there.
Cross punishing his opponent with strikes.
Le is squirming around, avoiding Cross's attempts to control the action.
Cross with a couple of short strikes.

Le is rocked!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cross takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Cross pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conan Cross dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Le throws a head kick that misses

and Cross counters with a shoot takedown. Le fights it but they end up in guard.
Le utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Le working a defensive guard here.
Le keeping moving, preventing Cross from controlling successfully.
Le has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Cross has passed into side control.
Cross throws an elbow but Le slips to the side and avoids it well.
Le is trying to control Cross's posture but Cross avoids it.
Le is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cross is controlling him well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cross working the ground and pound from side control.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Cross here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Cross working away.
Cross is looking to take a break and control but Le is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Cross cracks Le with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Cross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Le keeps working.
Le tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Cross presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Cross breaks from Le's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Le is still in real trouble! Can Cross finish him?
Cross looking to finish Le with some ground and pound. This is bad for Le!
Conan Cross is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Le tries to hold on but Cross postures up.
Le is wriggling around trying to escape.
Le seems to have recovered his senses.
Cross content just to control the position here.
Le wants to hold on but Cross pushes him away.
Phan Tran Le has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cross is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Le can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Le is looking to get to half guard.
Cross wants to control the pace but Le is squirming around nicely.
Cross prevents Le from getting the reversal.
Cross content just to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Cross controlling from the full mount.
Cross looking to control but Le is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cross sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Conan Cross showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cross, 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 Alyssa Summers scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Conan Cross!