PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Samuel Cooke (ranked 1946 p4p, 222 weight class) and Antonio Salieri (ranked 3809 p4p, 382 weight class). Cooke kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Harm's Way - Warriors Will Reign. Salieri has chosen DMX - Ain’t No Sunshine as his entrance music. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Antonio Salieri was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Cooke
vs
Salieri

184 cm
24
165 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

179 cm
24
162 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Good low kicks
Good gas tank

Juggernaut And Gladiators(90% 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 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Samuel Cooke!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Antonio Salieri!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Columbo Gatti and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Salieri fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Salieri jabs Cooke to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Salieri is looking to land body kicks.

Cooke shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Salieri is trying to defend but Cooke finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Cooke wants to control but Salieri is keeping him busy.
Cooke moves nicely into side control.
Cooke remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke wants to control but Salieri is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salieri tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Cooke wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The strikes coming from Cooke are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Cooke working the head with strikes.
Cooke working away.
Cooke trying to control the position but Salieri is working away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
You can see the frustration on Salieri's face as Cooke controls the position.
Cooke working the head and body with strikes.
Salieri tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Cooke working the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooke trying to control the position but Salieri is working away.
Salieri prevents Cooke from improving position.

Cooke is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Salieri knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Salieri is looking to reverse the position.
Cooke trying to control the action but Salieri is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Salieri's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Salieri might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Cooke haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Cooke working the ground and pound but Salieri is defending the strikes.
Cooke is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Salieri's shoulder. That is not cool.
Salieri is not content to let Cooke control the position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Salieri prevents Cooke from improving position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Salieri is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Cooke off and has taken his back!
Cooke tries to break free.
Cooke turns into Salieri and is now in his guard.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Salieri keeps moving.
Our spies down at at Lovelair Muay Thai/MMA inform us that Salieri has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cooke is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Salieri is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Cooke dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Salieri swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Cooke counters with a nice leg kick.
Salieri connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

Cooke takes the fight into the clinch.
Cooke is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Salieri is defending well for now.

Cooke's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Salieri feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Cookes jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Salieri showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Cooke.
Nice defenses there by Cooke.
Cooke throws a solid leg kick but Salieri takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Cooke.
Cooke connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Cooke rushes Salieri and presses him up against the cage.

Salieri manages to break the clinch.

Salieri gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Salieri tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Cooke with a flurry of punches that miss.
Salieri looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cooke is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Salieri can do to turn this around?
Cooke trying to control the position from guard on top but Salieri is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Samuel Cooke overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Salieri controlling Cooke's posture.
Cooke stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Salieri swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Cooke slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Cooke is trying to get an arm triangle but Salieri is defending well.
Cooke with the ground and pound but Salieri regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Cooke 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.
Salieri slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Salieri working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salieri pulls Cooke in to control the position.
Cooke pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Salieri is keeping the position for now.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Salieri keeps moving.
Salieri is pulling down on Cooke's head. It's preventing any offense from Cooke, at least for the moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Cooke throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Salieri connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Cooke stuns Salieri with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Cooke throws a lazy head kick

and Salieri counters with a shoot takedown. Cooke fights it but they end up in guard.
Salieri looking to sit in guard and control but Cooke gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Salieri keeping full guard, as Cooke tries to pass.
Cooke is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Cooke passes into half guard.
Cooke uses his free foot to push down on Salieri's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Salieri.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Cooke dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. 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.

Salieri fails to land with a series of punches.
Salieri looks to land a combination but Cooke avoids it well.
Decent striking displayed by Cooke there.
Salieri swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Salieri throws a right and a left that Cooke avoids nicely.
Cooke scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Salieri throws a looping overhand right but Cooke ducks down to avoid it.
Antonio Salieri seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Salieri lands a lovely overhand right.
Salieri avoids a kick to the body.
Cooke throws a leg kick which misses Salieri's front leg but catches the back leg as Salieri tries to avoid it.
Salieri connects with a leg kick. Cooke looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Salieri throws a looping overhand right but Cooke ducks down to avoid it.
Cooke thinks about countering with a head kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cooke displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Salieri throws out the jab.
Cooke with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Salieri throws a push kick but Cooke slaps the foot to one side.
Cooke drops down looking for a counter takedown but Salieri sprawls and moves away.
Salieri throws a right and a left that Cooke avoids nicely.
Cooke throws a big counter combination but Salieri scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cooke drives through with a takedown into Salieri's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Salieri looking to control.
Salieri keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.
Salieri looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cooke is looking to pass into half guard but Salieri pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Salieri is in guard.

Salieri trying to control the position from guard on top but Cooke is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cooke is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Salieri throws a big right hand that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salieri postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Salieri looking to sit in guard and control but Cooke gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Cooke is stalling in the full guard.
Salieri seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Cooke trying to control the position from guard on top but Salieri is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cooke pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Salieri is keeping the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salieri looking to control.
Cooke wants to pass the guard but Salieri is keeping the position.
Cooke trying to control the position from guard on top but Salieri is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Antonio Salieri has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Cooke looking to pass the guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Cooke misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Salieri swings for the body but Cooke moves out of range.
Cooke throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Cooke with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Cooke pushes Salieri up against the cage in a clinch.
Salieri trying to land knees to the body.
I was talking to Cooke's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Cooke working Salieri over with knees to the body.

Cooke's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Salieri swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Samuel Cooke is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cooke uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Salieri.
Salieri on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Cooke fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Cooke uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Salieri.
Salieri misses with a hook. Cooke ducked under it nicely.
Cooke throws a head kick but Salieri moves out of range.
Cooke throws a right hand that Salieri ducks under and follows up with a left that Salieri also avoids with ease.
Salieri swings away with a leg kick that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Samuel Cooke showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Cooke has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 30:27
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Samuel Cooke!
Our winner, Samuel Cooke, 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.