PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jacques Cousteau (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brad Marchand (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cousteau comes to the cage accompanied by 20000 Leagues Under the Sea - The Monster Attacks . Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Brad Marchand enters the cage!

Cousteau
vs
Marchand

173 cm
23
166 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

175 cm
23
168 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Affordable Quality + Reliable Laundry

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jacques Cousteau!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Brad Marchand!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Gwen Towbar and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cousteau avoids a punch combination nicely.
Cousteau moves away from the strike by Marchand.
Cousteau's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Marchand connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Cousteau scrambles back to his feet.
Cousteau bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Marchand throws a shot from downtown. Cousteau moves away and avoids it.
Cousteau has been working on his boxing with his coaches at LOD: Top Team in the buildup to the fight.
Marchand misses with a two punch combination.
A jab from Marchand does it's job there.
Marchand swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Cousteau looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Marchand is fending him off so far but Cousteau persists. Nope, Marchand circles away and we're back to standing.
A left and a right from Marchand both land. Nice combination.
Marchand connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Cousteau's hands.
Cousteau is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cousteau slips under a jab.
Cousteau with a lazy takedown attempt
and Marchand counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Cousteau misses with a takedown
and Cousteau takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jacques Cousteau. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cousteau circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marchand throws a hook to the side of Cousteau's head but Cousteau sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Marchand misses with a body shot.
Cousteau moves out of range of the strikes.
Jab by Marchand.
Marchand tries to clinch but Cousteau is having none of it.
Cousteau keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Marchand looks to land a right hand but Cousteau moved out of range.
Cousteau throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Marchand's waist but Marchand gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Cousteau off to one side.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Cousteau. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
Marchand throws a lazy right hand but Cousteau sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Marchand stuffs the takedown.
Marchand fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Brad Marchand seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cousteau looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Marchand throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Marchand is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Cousteau.
Marchand swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marchand works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Cousteau fails with a takedown attempt.
Cousteau fails to land the takedown.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cousteau shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Marchand as he jumps to the side.
Marchand takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Marchand throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Marchand throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Marchand shoots in for a double leg but Cousteau sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Marchand is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Cousteau had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Marchand throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Marchand will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A big right from Marchand misses.
Marchand might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cousteau bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Marchand is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cousteau is controlling him well.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

Cousteau tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Cousteau has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Marchand 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.

Cousteau thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Cousteau working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Cousteau working away.
Marchand is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Cousteau misses with the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marchand tries to control but Cousteau manages to take his back.

Cousteau working for the choke.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cousteau lands strikes to the head.
Marchand is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Cousteau off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.
Marchand is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cousteau avoiding Marchand 's attempts to control his hands.
Marchand wants to escape the position.

Cousteau patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?

Cousteau is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Marchand has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.

Cousteau is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Marchand defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Marchand controlling Cousteau 's hands.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Brad Marchand will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Marchand lands a jab-cross combination.
Cousteau shoots in but no luck this time.
Marchand missing with a left hand there. Cousteau was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cousteau with a lazy takedown attempt
and Marchand counters with a nice uppercut.
Jab, jab by Marchand - just one landing.
Cousteau takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cousteau shoots in for a takedown but Marchand shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jacques Cousteau. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cousteau gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
A telegraphed right hand from Marchand misses the target.
Marchand falls off balance throwing a combination

and Cousteau counters by moving into the clinch.
Cousteau blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Marchand lands an elbow just above Cousteau 's eye.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cousteau tries to pull guard but Marchand won't allow it.

Cousteau wants the takedown. Marchand is fighting it off but Cousteau persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Marchand's guard against the cage.
Cousteau won't allow Marchand to get back to his feet.
Marchand tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Cousteau looking to pass the guard.
Cousteau wants to control from the top but Marchand keeps moving.
Cousteau postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Cousteau 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.
Cousteau stops Marchand from standing up.
Cousteau working some strikes from top position.
Marchand 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.
Cousteau throwing strikes from guard but Marchand blocks nicely.
Marchand wants to stand up but Cousteau is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cousteau tries to free his leg and advance position but Marchand is retaining full guard.
Cousteau throws a big right hand that misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Cousteau has gone for a leg lock! Marchand slips out almost immediately though and dives into Cousteau's guard.
Marchand wants to control from the top but Cousteau keeps moving.
Marchand postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Cousteau is trying to control the position but Marchand postures up.

Cousteau is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Cousteau looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Marchand advances position into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cousteau can't do much from the bottom here.
Marchand misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Marchand taking a breather here.
Cousteau is looking to regain half guard here but Marchand keeps moving and retains side control.
Marchand lands a decent elbow from side control.
Jacques Cousteau overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cousteau is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Marchand trying to control the action but Cousteau is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cousteau tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Marchand wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Cousteau is working hard here to advance position.
You can see the frustration on Cousteau's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Cousteau wings away with a couple of strikes but they don't land.
Cousteau wants to control but Marchand postures up.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Marchand wants to control but Cousteau is keeping him busy.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cousteau regains half guard.
Marchand trying to control from Cousteau's half guard. Cousteau has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brad Marchand showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Marchand misses with an uppercut.
Marchand defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Cousteau.
Marchand throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Marchand misses with a lunging right hand
letting Cousteau counter with a right hand.
Cousteau moves out of range as Marchand strikes.
Marchand throws an overhand right that lands on Cousteau's shoulder, as Cousteau tries to avoid the shot.

Cousteau closes the distance and pushes Marchand back into the cage.
Cousteau tries to score a body lock takedown but Marchand shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Cousteau manages to pull guard.
Marchand stays in close to Cousteau's body and controls the position.

Cousteau is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Cousteau wants to sweep here but Marchand controlling him for the moment.

Cousteau has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Marchand can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marchand is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Marchand passes Cousteau's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Marchand is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Cousteau is staying active underneath Marchand, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Marchand tries to pass to full mount but Cousteau defends it.
Marchand is thwarting Cousteau's attempts to control the position.
Marchand is keen to just control but Cousteau is a slippery customer.

Marchand seems to be looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cousteau is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Marchand pulls his head out easily.
Cousteau flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Cousteau moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Marchand is looking to pass into half guard but Cousteau pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Cousteau is in guard.
Marchand is trying to control the position but Cousteau postures up.
Marchand is looking to stand up but Cousteau isn't so interested in that idea.
Cousteau wants to pass the guard but Marchand is keeping the position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cousteau passes Marchand's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Cousteau seems like he's working for an arm triangle here. He's freed his trapped foot and he's rotating nicely. Marchand is in big trouble! He's tapping out! This one is aaaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Jacques Cousteau!
Our winner, Jacques Cousteau, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.