PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mustapha Shiit (ranked 1490 p4p, 182 weight class) and Samuel Cooke (ranked 1020 p4p, 135 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Cooke's choice of entrance music: Harm's Way - Warriors Will Reign. Mustapha Shiit had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Shiit
vs
Cooke

178 cm
38
169 lbs
14 - 11 - 1

184 cm
26
161 lbs
13 - 8 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

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 14 - 11 - 1, fighting out of New York, Mustapha Shiit!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Samuel Cooke!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Ivan Kurochkin and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooke keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Shiit will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Cooke thuds his shin into the meat of Shiit's side.
Cooke throws a head kick but Shiit moves out of range.
Shiit dives in and grabs Cooke's left leg, looking for a takedown. Cooke pushes down on Shiit's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mustapha Shiit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shiit with a lazy takedown attempt
and Cooke connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cooke lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Shiit checks a leg kick nicely.
Cooke goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Shiit looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Cooke is fending him off so far but Shiit persists. Nope, Cooke circles away and we're back to standing.
Cooke lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Shiit avoids the head kick by Cooke.
Shiit is looking to clinch.
Cooke throws a front kick that sends Shiit stumbling back into the cage.
Cooke stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Cooke wants it to stay on the feet.
Cooke flicks out a counter leg kick but Shiit steps away.
Shiit tries for a takedown but Cooke circles away easily
and Cooke counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shiit shoots in and drives through. Cooke sprawls well.
Shiit moves out of range as Cooke throws a body kick.
Cooke smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Shiit will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Cooke works Shiit's body with a nice hook.
Cooke looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Shiit scores with a nice right hand.
Cooke misses with an uppercut.
Cooke looks to score with a jab to the body but Shiit is just out of range.
Cooke misses with a double jab.
Shiit attempts a counter takedown but Cooke avoids it well and moves away.
Cooke does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Shiit scores with a jab to the jaw.

Shiit feints and as Cooke raises his hands in defense, Shiit changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cooke keeping moving, preventing Shiit from controlling successfully.
Cooke looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shiit trying to control but Cooke is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooke wants to stand up but Shiit is controlling him.
Shiit pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cooke is keeping the position for now.
Shiit's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Cooke looking to hit a scissor sweep but Shiit is one step ahead there.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Shiit takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Shiit clobbers Cooke with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Cooke misses with a wild body shot.
A big right from Cooke misses.
Shiit tries to clinch but Cooke is having none of it.
Crunch! Cooke slams his shin into Shiit's torso.
Cooke throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Shiit changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
A head kick misses from Cooke.
A head kick from Cooke lands but Shiit takes it in his stride.
Samuel Cooke is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shiit throws a lazy uppercut
and Cooke counters with an inside leg kick.

Shiit closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cooke did well to prevent Shiit getting side control.
Cooke keeping control of the position.
Cooke is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Shiit wants to work for an arm triangle but Cooke is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shiit wants to pass to mount but Cooke is defending the position.

Shiit looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Cooke wants to control but Shiit is keeping busy and won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Cooke dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Nice sprawl there from Cooke as Shiit shoots in.
Cooke raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Cooke misses with the body kick

and Shiit decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Cooke's guard.

Cooke kicks Shiit off and gets to his feet.
Shiit avoids a kick to the body.
Shiit fails to land the takedown.
Cooke lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Cooke loads up on a big right hand but Shiit slips the punch.
Shiit checks the leg kick.
Shiit appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Cooke throws a half hearted mid kick.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Cooke.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cooke keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mustapha Shiit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cooke scores with a spinning back kick!
Shiit fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke slaps away a takedown attempt from Shiit, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Cooke scores with a nice body kick.
Cooke's jab looks to have found its range, popping Shiit under the eye.
Shiit with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Cooke to score with a decent uppercut.
Shiit takes one to the side of the head.
We've been informed that Cooke has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Samuel Cooke seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Cooke throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Shiit shoots for a takedown but Cooke saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
A countering left hand to the body from Cooke misses.

Shiit scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Mustapha Shiit overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cooke sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Cooke tries to get to full guard but Shiit has control of the leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shiit is trying to control. Cooke wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Shiit prevents Cooke from improving his position.
Cooke is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Shiit is looking to take a break and control but Cooke is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Shiit is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Cooke has managed to free his arm - good work.
Cooke wants to control but Shiit is keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke tries to roll over but Shiit keeps him under control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shiit seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Cooke does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Cooke tries to get to full guard but Shiit has control of the leg.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Shiit manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Cooke on his heels. He'll look to pass Cooke's guard now, I'm sure.
Cooke manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Shiit manages to get himself to full guard.

Shiit has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Cooke can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Cooke trying to control but Shiit is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooke with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Cooke must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Shiit is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Cooke lands a couple of elbows.

Shiit looking for a guillotine here but Cooke defends easily.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Shiit keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Cooke showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Shiit fails to land the takedown.
Cooke misses with an uppercut.
Shiit changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Cooke throws a hook but Shiit avoids it easily.

Shiit gets the takedown into side control.
Cooke is looking to reverse the position.
Cooke manages to get back to half guard.
Cooke is trying to get back to full guard.

Shiit seems to be looking for submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke tries to get to full guard but Shiit has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke is refusing to be controlled, as Shiit sits in half guard.
Cooke trying to hold on to Shiit's head to control him but Shiit postures up.
Cooke has hold of Shiit's hands but Shiit slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Cooke is pressing down on Shiit's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Cooke looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Shiit has picked Cooke up and slammed him! Cooke can't keep hold of the triangle and Shiit manages to pass to side control!
Cooke parries the strikes from Shiit easily there. Shiit is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Cooke to escape.
Shiit looking to control but instead Cooke has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

Shiit is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooke preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

Shiit is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Cooke defends it well.
Cooke tries to get to full guard but Shiit has control of the leg.

Shiit is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shiit not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Cooke works his way to full guard. Good work.
Cooke wants to sweep here but Shiit controlling him for the moment.
Shiit looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Cooke trying to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

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.
Cooke lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Mustapha Shiit has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cooke misses with a head kick.
Shiit misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Shiit shoots in for a takedown but Cooke shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mustapha Shiit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cooke defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Shiit.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cooke throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Samuel Cooke is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Mustapha Shiit seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cooke scores with a nice body kick.
Nice sprawl there from Cooke as Shiit shoots in.
Cooke scores with a kick to the body.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cooke moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Cooke has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Shiit avoids a kick to the body.
Sloppy strikes from Shiit. Those never looked like landing.
Cooke looks like he wanted to counter with a high kick but didn't throw it.
Shiit looks to land a right hand but Cooke moved out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Samuel Cooke comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Cooke winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Samuel Cooke!
A victorious Samuel Cooke thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.