PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Samuel Cooke (ranked 1669 p4p, 202 weight class) and Alexei Chernokov (ranked 1316 p4p, 161 weight class). Cooke comes into the arena with Harm's Way - Warriors Will Reign blaring out of the sound system. Chernokov comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Disaster strikes - Mushroom cloud kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Alexei Chernokov enters the cage!

Cooke
vs
Chernokov

184 cm
26
161 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

174 cm
32
165 lbs
20 - 14 - 2

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 12 - 8 - 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 20 - 14 - 2, fighting out of Helsinki, Alexei Chernokov!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Steve Montenegro and Alyssa Summers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cooke gets a double leg takedown into Chernokov's guard.
Cooke is working Chernokov over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Chernokov wants to sweep here but Cooke controlling him for the moment.
Cooke has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Cooke wants to pass the guard but Chernokov is keeping the position.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Chernokov keeps moving.

Chernokov is looking for a triangle but Cooke pushes his legs off easily.

Chernokov throws his legs up looking for a submission but Cooke uses it to pass to side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke wants to control but Chernokov is keeping him busy.
Cooke working away.
Cooke has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chernokov manages to work his way to half guard, despite Cooke's best efforts.
Cooke wants to control but Chernokov is keeping him busy.
Cooke seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Chernokov wants to improve his position but Cooke is controlling well.
Cooke with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Chernokov is refusing to be controlled, as Cooke sits in half guard.
Cooke trying to pass the guard but Chernokov defending well.
Cooke wants to take a breather but Chernokov is having none of it.
Chernokov felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

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.
Cooke throwing shots but Chernokov is blocking nicely.
Cooke wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chernokov keeps working.

Chernokov actively working from the bottom here.
Nice strikes from Cooke there.
Cooke wants to pass the guard but Chernokov is defending well.
Cooke lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Chernokov looking for submissions off his back.
Chernokov wants to control but Cooke is keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Cooke in particular looking to stall.

Chernokov looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Cooke trying to control the action but Chernokov is working from the bottom.

Cooke is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooke slows the pace down in half guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Cooke throws a sloppy head kick
and Chernokov counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

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.
Chernokov throws an overhand right that lands on Cooke's shoulder, as Cooke tries to avoid the shot.
The fighters circling - Chernokov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Chernokov misses with a few strikes there.
Cooke lands a right hook to the body.
Chernokov shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Cooke sprawls well. Cooke wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Chernokov gets slowly back to his feet.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Cooke.
Chernokov is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Cooke turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Chernokov lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Cooke at a distance.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Chernokov displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cooke throws out the jab.
Chernokov throws out a counter right but Cooke avoids it with no problem.
Chernokov avoids the head kick by Cooke.
Chernokov wants to counter the offense by Cooke and move into the clinch position.
Chernokov lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Chernokov uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Cooke.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Cooke dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Chernokov with a lazy takedown attempt
and Cooke counters with a nice uppercut.
Chernokov throws a hook to the side of Cooke's head but Cooke sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Cooke fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Chernokov throws a jab when Cooke was well out of range.
Cooke throws a head kick but Chernokov moves out of range.
Cooke throws a low kick, looking for Chernokov's leg but Chernokov calmly moves out of range.
Cooke misses with a leg kick

and Chernokov counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Chernokov lands strikes from half guard.
Chernokov drops an elbow to the side of Cooke's head.
Cooke makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Cooke.
Cooke looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Chernokov works over Cooke with some ground and pound from guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Chernokov throws a strike but Cooke rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Chernokov keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Chernokov keeps moving.
Chernokov can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Cooke controls the pace.

Chernokov throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

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.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Cooke's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Cooke wants to pass the guard but Chernokov is keeping the position.
Chernokov striking off his back but it's not causing Cooke any problems.

Chernokov working for a triangle but Cooke defends it easily.
Cooke with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Chernokov keeps moving.
Chernokov trying to control the position.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Chernokov keeps moving.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Cooke looks for the body kick but Chernokov saw that one coming.
Chernokov misses with a looping left.
Cooke takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cooke tries a head kick but it misses.
Cooke throws a wild body kick that Chernokov sees coming a mile off.
Chernokov takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Chernokov will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cooke takes a shot to the body in his stride.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chernokov fails to land with a series of punches.
Chernokov dips to his left and cracks Cooke with an uppercut!
Chernokov misses with a wild combination.
Chernokov jabbing away but nothing is landing.
And Cooke counters with a quick kick to the body but Chernokov blocks it.
Chernokov fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Cooke throws a half hearted mid kick.
Chernokov changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Chernokov throws a poor cross that misses
enabling Cooke to counter with a crisp jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Chernokov misses with a jab to the body
and Cooke counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Chernokov misses with a wild combination.
Cooke uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Chernokov.
Cooke shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Chernokov sprawls well. Chernokov wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Cooke gets slowly back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Chernokov showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Cooke's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Jab, jab by Cooke - just one landing.
Chernokov misses with a hook. Cooke ducked under it nicely.
Chernokov misses with a jab to the body
and Cooke makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Chernokov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cooke was well out of range. Poor timing from Chernokov.
Chernokov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Chernokov swinging wildly here.
Cooke avoids the body shot from Chernokov.
Chernokov throws an off balance right hand
and Cooke makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Chernokov really felt that one!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke slips a straight right by Chernokov.
Cooke slips a jab and a cross from Chernokov.
Chernokov throws a poor cross that misses
letting Cooke counter with a right hand.
Cooke tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Cooke takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A combination from Cooke does no damage.
The fighters circling - Cooke throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Nice cross by Cooke.
Cooke lands with a kick to the ribs.
Cooke just misses with a punch to the body.
Cooke lands with a straight right. Chernokov didn't see that one coming.
Cooke doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Chernokov's jab looks to have found its range, popping Cooke under the eye.
Cooke pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Chernokov lands a right hook to the body.
Chernokov takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Cooke is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Chernokov thows a left - swing and a miss!
Chernokov misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Cooke.
Cooke tries to clinch there but Chernokov circles away.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Chernokov jabs at Cooke's body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Chernokov misses.
Alexei Chernokov seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Cooke needs to keep his hands up - Chernokov had a free shot at his head there.
Chernokov scores with a hook to the body. Cooke takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Cooke misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Chernokov.
Cooke throws a head kick but Chernokov moves out of range.

Chernokov gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Cooke controlling from the top position.

Chernokov looking for a guillotine here but Cooke defends easily.
Chernokov wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke trying to control the position from guard on top but Chernokov is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Chernokov is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Cooke is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Cooke tries to free his leg and advance position but Chernokov is retaining full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Chernokov looking to control.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Cooke moves in looking to clinch but Chernokov pushes him off.
Chernokov is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.

That's four 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.
Chernokov misses with a few strikes there.
Alexei Chernokov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Cooke.
Chernokov is trying to strike from the bottom but Cooke has passed into full mount.
Cooke lands a big shot there that rocks Chernokov but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Chernokov throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Chernokov is squirming around, avoiding Cooke's attempts to control the action.
Cooke dominating with strikes here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Samuel Cooke showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Cooke has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Reed Andrews scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alyssa Summers scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Samuel Cooke!
During a confident post fight interview, Samuel Cooke thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.