PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Merle Reilly (ranked 23558 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francisco Cruz (ranked 3600 p4p, 463 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Reilly
vs
Cruz

178 cm
26
215 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

190 cm
24
210 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Merle Reilly!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Francisco Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Russell Pearce and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Reilly stalls.

Cruz wants the takedown. Reilly is fighting it off but Cruz persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Reilly's guard against the cage.
Reilly could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Reilly keeping moving, preventing Cruz from controlling successfully.
Reilly is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cruz is stalling in the full guard.
Reilly 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz looking to sit in guard and control but Reilly gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Cruz pulls Reilly in close to prevent any damage.
Cruz manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Reilly manages to get himself to full guard.

Cruz passes Reilly's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Reilly wants to get back to full guard.

Cruz is looking for a kimura but Reilly is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Cruz to get the leverage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Reilly lands with a few short shots to the body.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Cruz in particular looking to stall.

Cruz decides to stand up.
Reilly tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cruz paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Cruz ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Cruz no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Reilly is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Reilly throwing strikes from guard but Cruz blocks nicely.
Reilly keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Cruz's head.
Reilly wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
Reilly has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Cruz utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Reilly dives into side control.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cruz is trying to improve his position.
Cruz manages to get back to half guard.
Reilly is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Reilly is keen to just control but Cruz is a slippery customer.
Cruz is looking for a sweep. Reilly is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Reilly is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Cruz is just riding it out for now. Reilly eventually gives up the hold.
Cruz looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Reilly is thwarting Cruz's attempts to control the position.
Cruz tries to get to full guard but Reilly has control of the leg.
Cruz is looking to control Reilly's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Cruz avoid being mounted?
Reilly tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Reilly throwing shots but Cruz is blocking nicely.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cruz controlling the position for now.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Reilly pushes Cruz up against the cage in a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Francisco Cruz dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Cruz gets a takedown into half guard.
Cruz wants to control but Reilly is keeping him busy.
Reilly is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Cruz scores with a couple of nice shots.
Cruz slows the pace down in half guard.
Cruz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Reilly keeps working.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz is looking to advance position but Reilly won't allow it.
Cruz looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Reilly with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Cruz throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Cruz lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Reilly trying to control but Cruz postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Cruz gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Cruz manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Reilly on his heels. He'll look to pass Reilly's guard now, I'm sure.
Cruz works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Cruz not doing much here.
Reilly keeping control of the position.
Still in half guard, Cruz seems content to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cruz seems to be looking for submissions.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Let's hope that Cruz has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Reilly trying to control but Cruz postures up.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Cruz postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Reilly to stand up.
Cruz throws a head kick that misses.

Cruz closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Cruz lands in his opponent's guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Reilly wants to sweep here but Cruz controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Francisco Cruz 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. This is the final round!

Cruz fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Reilly, pushing him back against the cage.
Reilly is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Cruz is defending well for now.
Reilly wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Cruz on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Cruz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Reilly looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Cruz jumps guard and drags Reilly to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Reilly won't allow Cruz to get back to his feet.
Cruz manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Reilly manages to get himself to full guard.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Cruz works over Reilly with some ground and pound from guard.
Francisco Cruz has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cruz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cruz is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Cruz.
Cruz wants to control from the top but Reilly keeps moving.

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.
Cruz is pushing down on Reilly's leg trying to pass to half guard. Reilly is fighting to maintain full guard but Cruz has managed to sneak the leg through.

Cruz has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can Reilly defend it? Cruz steps over the head and cranks it - Reilly is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Cruz!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:20 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Francisco Cruz!