PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Mario Pereira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ellie Cunningham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mario Pereira has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Pereira
vs
Cunningham

170 cm
23
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

155 cm
26
133 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Knockout power

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mario Pereira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ellie Cunningham!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Seu Braga and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cunningham keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Pereira swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Cunningham clinches up against the cage.
Pereira blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Cunningham breaks the clinch.
Pereira throws a right hand that Cunningham ducks under and follows up with a left that Cunningham also avoids with ease.

Cunningham looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Pereira!
Pereira is letting Cunningham control him for a moment.
Cunningham tries to move to mount but Pereira blocks the move with his legs.
Pereira wants to control but Cunningham postures up.
Pereira is being controlled here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cunningham in side control, throwing shots but Pereira defends.
Pereira is looking to regain half guard here but Cunningham keeps moving and retains side control.

Cunningham looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Cunningham trying to control the action but Pereira is working from the bottom.
Cunningham tries to stand but Pereira is controlling his head.
Pereira manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cunningham slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Cunningham is trying to control the position from the bottom.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Cunningham is on top in guard.

Pereira throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Cunningham working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Cunningham got a little sloppy there for a moment and Pereira has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Cunningham has managed to get both his arms back between Pereira's legs - danger averted.
Cunningham stays in close to Pereira's body and controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pereira is trying to control the position but Cunningham postures up.
Cunningham stopping the sweep attempt from Pereira.
Pereira keeping full guard, as Cunningham tries to pass.
Cunningham is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Pereira wants to sweep but no luck.

Pereira has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Cunningham can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Cunningham controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Pereira displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Cunningham moves into the clinch.
Cunningham tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Pereira's elbow.

Cunningham has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Pereira regains guard immediately.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ellie Cunningham will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Pereira avoids a punch combination nicely.
Pereira lands with a hook. Cunningham tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Pereira throws a series of punches but Cunningham avoids them all with ease.
A nice combination there by Pereira.

Cunningham is rocked!
Mario Pereira is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Pereira throws a 1-2 combo that connects squarely on Cunningham's jaw, knocking him onto his back! Pereira dives in looking to finish as Cunningham flails his arms in a desperate attempt to block Pereira's strikes! Pereira is raining down hammerfists and the ref stops it! Cunningham's desperate flailing just didn't constitute intelligent defence. Some people will probably question the ref's decision but Cunningham was definitely hurt and the ref saved him from taking unnecessary punishment. A fighter's safety is paramount in this sport.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mario Pereira!