PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Van Clark (ranked 6895 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shaun Cosgrove (ranked 5329 p4p, 0 weight class). Shaun Cosgrove will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Clark
vs
Cosgrove

159 cm
24
178 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

175 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Van Clark!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Shaun Cosgrove!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Colin Fotheringham and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Cosgrove.
Cosgrove really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Clark. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Cosgrove decides to stand back up. Cosgrove steps back and let's Clark get back to his feet.
Cosgrove moves into range and lands a nice body kick.

Clark manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Cosgrove on his heels. He'll look to pass Cosgrove's guard now, I'm sure.
Clark throwing strikes from guard but Cosgrove blocks nicely.
Clark is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Clark trying to stand up but can't free himself from Cosgrove's guard.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cosgrove working a defensive guard but Clark manages to pass into side control anyway.
Clark controls the position.
Cosgrove is trying to work for a sweep but Clark has mounted him!
Clark could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Clark controlling from the full mount.

Clark looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cosgrove working to try and regain half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clark controlling from the full mount.

Clark stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.

Cosgrove looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Cosgrove is looking to stall here but Clark recovers full guard.
Clark bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cosgrove's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Clark stands and steps away. Cosgrove gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Cosgrove closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Cosgrove looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Clark is avoiding damage well.
Cosgrove trying to control the position but Clark is working away.
Cosgrove tries to stand but Clark is controlling his head.
Clark sneaks back into half guard.
Clark is controlling Cosgrove's position as best he can from this difficult position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clark moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Clark pulls Cosgrove in close to his closed guard and prevents Cosgrove from doing any damage or advancing position.
Clark lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Clark stops Cosgrove from standing up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Van Clark dominated that round.
That's time! Clark's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Clark takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cosgrove stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Cosgrove wants it to stay on the feet.
Cosgrove goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

Cosgrove closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Clark's guard.
Cosgrove looking to sit in guard and control but Clark gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Cosgrove controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clark sitting in guard here, content to control.

Clark stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Cosgrove feints and as Clark raises his hands in defense, Cosgrove changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clark is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Van Clark overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Clark throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Cosgrove slips nicely into half guard, despite the strikes coming from Clark.
Clark keeping hold of Cosgrove's head, controlling as best he can.
Clark wants to improve his position but Cosgrove is controlling well.

That's two 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.
Clark works his way to full guard. Good work.
Cosgrove preventing the sweep.
Clark pulls Cosgrove in to control the position.
Cosgrove trying to control the position from guard on top but Clark is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Clark has Cosgrove pulled in close to control his posture.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Cosgrove thows a leg kick but Clark checks it

and Clark decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Cosgrove's guard.
Clark postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cosgrove throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Clark escapes and throws Cosgrove's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Cosgrove is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Clark looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Cosgrove with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Clark is controlling the pace.
Clark passes into side control, despite Cosgrove's attempt to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cosgrove tries to improve position but can't.

Clark is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Cosgrove knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Cosgrove is trying to work for a sweep but Clark has mounted him!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Clark raining down shots from the mount!
Cosgrove wants to hold on but Clark pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Van Clark dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Cosgrove closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Clark's guard.
Clark is pulling down on Cosgrove's head. It's preventing any offense from Cosgrove, at least for the moment.
Clark is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cosgrove can do to turn this around?
Cosgrove must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Cosgrove throws an elbow that misses. Clark uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Cosgrove's guard. Nice move by Clark!

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clark slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Clark postures up in Cosgrove's guard and throws a big left but Cosgrove blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cosgrove is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Cosgrove looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Cosgrove looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Clark passes into half guard.
Clark 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Clark slows the pace down in half guard.
Clark lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Cosgrove is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Clark scores with a couple of nice shots.

Clark stands up and beckons Cosgrove to join him on the feet.

Clark closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Cosgrove to the mat! Cosgrove manages to get full guard.
Cosgrove is trying to hold Clark in close to prevent damage but Clark has managed to pass into half guard.
Cosgrove wants to control the action here but instead Clark manages to pass to full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clark controlling his opponent.
Cosgrove tries to improve his position but instead Clark has taken his back!
Clark has good solid back control here.
Cosgrove trying to get back to his feet but Clark is in full control for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Cosgrove is really stuck here.
Cosgrove takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Clark is working on the RNC. He looks like he's got it but Cosgrove won't tap... Oh, he's out! The ref rips Clark off his unconscious opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:47 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Van Clark!