PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Millard Cohen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xi Peng (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Cohen
vs
Peng

181 cm
24
178 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

180 cm
21
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Hates pizza

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Tends to cut

Damnfield clothing

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Millard Cohen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Xi Peng!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Peng pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Cohen avoids a punch combination nicely.
Peng tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cohen swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Peng throws a left and a right that both miss
and Cohen counters with a nice low kick that buckles Peng's knee momentarily.
Peng rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Cohen moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Peng dives in and scores a takedown into Cohen's guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Peng sitting in guard here, content to control.
Cohen keeping full guard, as Peng tries to pass.
Peng slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Peng is looking to work some ground and pound but Cohen has wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Peng wants to control from the top but Cohen keeps moving.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Xi Peng hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Cohen throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A nice leg kick lands there from Peng.
Peng works Cohen's body with a nice hook.
A head kick by Peng misses
and Cohen counters with a big head kick but Peng shrugs it off.

Peng tries to keep at a distance but Cohen has taken the fight into the clinch.
Cohen tries to score a body lock takedown but Peng shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Peng tries to land knees in the clinch but Cohen avoids the damage to the body.

Cohen gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Peng controlling the position.
Peng wants to stand up but Cohen is controlling him.
Peng is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Peng looking for a guillotine here but Cohen defends easily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cohen throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Peng works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Peng manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Cohen manages to get himself to full guard.
Cohen throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Peng wants to stand but Cohen is controlling his posture from full guard.
Cohen trying to control the position.
Peng throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Peng postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Cohen looking for a sweep. Not yet Cohen, not yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Peng stands up and waves to Cohen to follow him.

Peng shoots in and bounces Cohen off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Peng tries to free his leg and advance position but Cohen is retaining full guard.
Peng wants to stand but Cohen is controlling his posture from full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Cohen decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Cohen misses with a head shot. Peng uses the momentum to regain guard.
Peng has Cohen pulled in close to control his posture.

Peng wriggles free and stands up.
Xi Peng seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Cohen gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Cohen jumps guard but Peng turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cohen is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Peng to keep the fight standing.
Cohen leaning against his opponent.

Cohen pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Peng misses with a kick to the body.
Peng lands a jab-cross combination.

Peng closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cohen did well to prevent Peng getting side control.
Cohen punching from the bottom.
Peng keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Peng passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Cohen!

Peng is standing up, even though he is in mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Peng misses with an attempted mid kick.
Peng misses with a double jab.
Peng moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.

Peng shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Peng is breathing heavily.
Cohen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Peng wanted to stand there but Cohen had control of the position.
Peng trying to control the position from guard on top but Cohen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cohen wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Peng postures up.
Cohen looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cohen keeping moving, preventing Peng from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Xi Peng.
Peng tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Peng throws a series of punches but Cohen moves out of range.
Cohen moves out of range as Peng throws a body kick.
Peng closes the distance but Cohen moves to the side
and Cohen counters with an outside leg kick.
Cohen dodges the punch combination from Peng.
Peng throws a sloppy head kick

and Cohen counters by moving into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Peng tries to break the clinch but Cohen is controlling the position.
Peng gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Cohen.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Millard Cohen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cohen has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Peng avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Cohen fails to pull guard.
Cohen is looking to take this one to the mat.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Cohen breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Peng throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Cohen.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xi Peng showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Peng throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Peng misses with a jab, cross combination.
Peng moves in looking to clinch but Cohen pushes him off.
Cohen avoids the head kick by Peng.
Sloppy strikes from Peng. Those never looked like landing.
A head kick by Peng misses
and Cohen counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Cohen avoids the head kick by Peng.
Cohen throws a body punch but Peng moves out of range.

Peng dives in and scores a takedown into Cohen's guard.
Peng seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Cohen 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.
Peng takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Peng trying to stand up but can't free himself from Cohen's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Peng looking to sit in guard and control but Cohen gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Peng not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Cohen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Cohen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Xi Peng has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cohen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Peng tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Cohen loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Peng wants to get back to his feet but Cohen passes into half guard.
Cohen scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Peng is trying to control but Cohen manages to pass to mount!
Cohen looking to finish Peng with some ground and pound. This is bad for Peng!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Peng tries to lock up and control but Cohen gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Cohen is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Peng can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Peng avoids a series of strikes thrown by Cohen.
Cohen pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Peng is working to get back to half guard.
Cohen pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Cohen raining down shots from the mount!
Peng sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Cohen 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cohen takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Peng looks like he's trying to stand up.
Peng wants to control but Cohen is keeping busy and won't allow it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cohen drops an elbow to the side of Peng's head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cohen throwing shots but Peng is blocking nicely.
Millard Cohen has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Xi Peng is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

Cohen is looking for a kimura here.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Millard Cohen.
I think Peng has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xi Peng!
Xi Peng really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Damnfield clothing logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.