PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Isaiah Cooley (ranked 470 p4p, 75 weight class) and Mohsin Zaidi (ranked 1114 p4p, 169 weight class). Isaiah Cooley has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cooley
vs
Zaidi

187 cm
22
212 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

187 cm
23
220 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Conviction

Voodoo Nutrition

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 10 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Isaiah Cooley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mohsin Zaidi!
The judges for this bout are Summer Carpenter, Bruno Hogan and Ron Honeybunn.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
We've got one fighter who appears to only be looking to counter and the other not looking particularly aggressive either, so we could be in for a dull fight.
Cooley scores with a jab.

It looks like Mohsin Zaidi has been cut.
Zaidi uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Cooley.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cooley. Zaidi does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cooley lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Cooley buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zaidi chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Cooley can pounce on him.
Cooley throws a body punch but Zaidi moves out of range.
Zaidi tries a quick counter leg kick but Cooley is wise to it.
Cooley has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooley fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Zaidi.
Cooley lands a jab to the head.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cooley. Zaidi does a little dance to reset his feet.
Zaidi now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Cooley shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Zaidi! But no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big left from Cooley misses.
Cooley throws a leg kick that is checked

and Zaidi decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Cooley's guard.
Cooley is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Zaidi is controlling him.
Zaidi trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zaidi working some strikes from top position.
Zaidi scoring with punches to the head and body.
Zaidi won't allow Cooley to get back to his feet.
Cooley preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Zaidi throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Zaidi postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Cooley bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Zaidi's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zaidi bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cooley's guard.

Zaidi loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Cooley keeping moving, preventing Zaidi from controlling successfully.
Zaidi chips away with some ground and pound.
Zaidi is looking to work some ground and pound but Cooley has wrist control.
Zaidi throwing strikes but missing.
Zaidi missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Zaidi won't allow Cooley to sweep him here.
Cooley trying to keep a closed guard but Zaidi is proving a slippery customer.
Zaidi throwing strikes from guard but Cooley blocks nicely.
Cooley preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zaidi throws a big right hand that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zaidi throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cooley looking for a sweep. Not yet Cooley, not yet.
Zaidi throws a big elbow that misses.
Zaidi with a flurry of punches that miss.
Zaidi trying to control but Cooley is working from the bottom.
Cooley tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Zaidi scoring with some ground and pound.
Zaidi cracks Cooley with a solid left hand.
Zaidi looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Zaidi working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Zaidi content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Zaidi trying to control the position from guard on top but Cooley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zaidi lands a couple of elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Mohsin Zaidi will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Mohsin Zaidi's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Cooley works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Cooley.
Cooley throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

and Zaidi counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Zaidi forces his way into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice strikes from Zaidi there.
Zaidi is just content to waste time from the top position. Cooley takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Mohsin Zaidi has got the better of the ground game so far.
Zaidi throws a strike but Cooley rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaidi is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Cooley pushes Zaidi off looking to stand but Zaidi dives back in and keeps control.
Cooley blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zaidi.
Cooley has hold of Zaidi's hands but Zaidi slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Zaidi drops an elbow to the side of Cooley's head.
Cooley blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zaidi.

Zaidi is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Cooley has managed to free his arm - good work.
Zaidi sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Cooley defending well though.
Zaidi throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Cooley trying to control but Zaidi postures up.
Cooley keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zaidi is nestled in close to Cooley, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

It looks like Isaiah Cooley has been cut.
Zaidi trying to pass the guard but Cooley defending well.
Zaidi working the head and body with strikes.
Zaidi seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Cooley is looking for a sweep. Zaidi is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Cooley keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cooley is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Zaidi scores with a couple of nice shots.
Zaidi throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Zaidi has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zaidi 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.
Cooley keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Zaidi working the head and body with strikes.
Cooley is positioning himself well to prevent Zaidi advancing to mount.
Cooley tries to kick Zaidi off but Zaidi keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zaidi landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Isaiah Cooley's cut is getting worse.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Isaiah Cooley's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:31 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Mohsin Zaidi!
Mohsin Zaidi thanked the fans post fight for their support.