PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Raymond Donde (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ty Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ty Cruz is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Donde
vs
Cruz

180 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
21
145 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Raymond Donde!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ty Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Kenichi Hosakawa and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cruz lands a slapping body shot.
Donde tries to clinch there but Cruz circles away.
Cruz lands a two punch combo.

Cruz throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Donde tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Cruz is in Donde's guard.
Cruz is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Cruz postures up.
Donde preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Donde is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Donde tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Donde on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Donde tries to get out of the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cruz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Donde is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Cruz with a nice head shot there.
Cruz lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Cruz lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Donde preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Cruz's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Cruz stopping the sweep attempt from Donde.
Donde tries to strike from the bottom.
Cruz connects with a couple of short punches.
Donde looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cruz works over Donde with some ground and pound from guard.
Donde tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Donde striking off his back but it's not causing Cruz any problems.
Cruz throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Donde works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Donde is looking to clinch but Cruz is avoiding it.

Cruz looking to score a takedown here. Donde is defending well but Cruz drives through and ends up in Donde's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cruz working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Cruz is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Donde bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cruz's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donde throws a strike but Cruz rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Cruz is fighting to break Donde's control of his arms but Donde is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Donde looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cruz is one step ahead there.
Cruz in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Cruz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Cruz preventing the sweep.
Cruz missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Donde is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Cruz working some strikes from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz lands a couple of digs.
Cruz has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Donde wants to sweep but no luck.
Cruz working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Donde's head.
Donde trying to control the position.
Donde striking off his back but it's not causing Cruz any problems.
Cruz postures up and lands a big shot to Donde's brow.
Donde lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Cruz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is trying to control the position but Donde postures up.
Donde is fighting to break Cruz's control of his arms but Cruz is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Cruz is trying to keep Donde in close.
Cruz trying to control the position here.
Donde throwing strikes from guard but Cruz blocks nicely.
Donde throwing strikes but missing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cruz is trying to keep Donde in close.
We've been informed that Cruz has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Donde with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Donde shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Donde showed some decent athleticism there.
Cruz tries to get to full guard but Donde has control of the leg.
Donde thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Donde throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Donde throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Donde looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Donde is looking to stall here but Cruz recovers full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz keeping full guard, as Donde tries to pass.
Donde throws a strike but Cruz rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cruz drops back, looking for a kneebar! Donde looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Donde looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Donde!

Donde misses with the ground and pound.
Cruz sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Cruz slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Donde throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cruz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Donde trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Donde is looking to work some ground and pound but Cruz has wrist control.
Cruz is looking to stand up but Donde isn't so interested in that idea.
Cruz keeping full guard, as Donde tries to pass.
Donde loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donde trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Donde preventing the sweep.
Donde throwing strikes from guard but Cruz blocks nicely.
Donde postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Donde in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Donde throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cruz has Donde pulled in close to control his posture.
Cruz avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Donde throws a big elbow that misses.
Cruz is trying to keep Donde in close.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Donde is looking to clinch but Cruz is avoiding it.
Cruz swats away the attempt to clinch by Donde.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Donde looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Donde gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Cruz to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Cruz being controlled here momentarily.
Cruz is looking to work some ground and pound but Donde has wrist control.
Donde looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cruz is one step ahead there.
Ty Cruz has got the better of the ground game so far.
Cruz throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Donde works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz works over Donde with some ground and pound from guard.
Donde wants to sweep but no luck.
Cruz landing with the ground and pound.
Donde wants to sweep but no luck.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Donde is on top in guard.

Cruz has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Donde wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Raymond Donde 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. This is the final round!

Cruz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Donde fails with an attempt to clinch.

Cruz gets a double leg takedown into Donde's guard.
Cruz lands a couple of elbows.
Donde wants to sweep here but Cruz controlling him for the moment.
Donde throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Donde striking off his back but it's not causing Cruz any problems.
Cruz connects with a couple of short punches.
Donde working a defensive guard here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz distracts Donde with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz works over Donde with some ground and pound from guard.
Donde looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cruz is one step ahead there.
Donde is working hard here to advance position.
Cruz lands a couple of digs.
Donde looking for a sweep. Not yet Donde, not yet.
Cruz scoring with punches to the head and body.
Donde is trying to control the position from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Donde tries to clinch but Cruz is having none of it.
Donde doesn't manage to clinch there - Cruz circles away.
Cruz lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Donde drives through and clinches with Cruz against the cage.

Cruz gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Cruz is thwarting Donde's attempts to control the position.

Cruz is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Donde is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Donde slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Donde working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donde tries to strike from the bottom.
Donde wants to sweep but no luck.
Cruz postures up and lands a big shot to Donde's brow.
Donde is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Donde manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Cruz manages to get himself to full guard.

Donde postures up in Cruz's guard and throws a big left but Cruz blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Donde throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cruz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Donde wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
Cruz is trying to control the position but Donde postures up.
Cruz looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Donde trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cruz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Cruz drives through with a takedown into Donde's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Donde tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Cruz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ty Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Cruz 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 28:29
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ty Cruz!