PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Emir Dervisevic (ranked 2501 p4p, 2349 weight class) and Don Cortez (ranked 279 p4p, 263 weight class). Don Cortez acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Dervisevic
vs
Cortez

185 cm
28
230
6 - 7 - 0

185 cm
19
275
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Solid chin

Brooklyn Apothecary

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Emir Dervisevic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Don Cortez!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cortez slips a jab and a cross from Dervisevic.
Dervisevic fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Don Cortez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cortez shoots in and drives through. Dervisevic sprawls well.
Dervisevic lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Cortez circles away quickly and effectively.

Cortez closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Cortez connects with a nice short shot to Dervisevic's temple.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Cortez lands a nice short elbow.
Cortez takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Dervisevic is looking to improve his position.
Cortez lands with a punch from half guard.
Cortez seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ground and pound from Cortez.
Cortez is thwarting Dervisevic's attempts to control the position.
Cortez throwing shots but Dervisevic is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dervisevic is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Cortez scores with a couple of nice shots.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dervisevic wants to improve his position but Cortez is controlling well.
Nice strikes from Cortez there.
Still in half guard, Cortez seems content to control.
Let's hope that Cortez 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.
Dervisevic is looking to control Cortez's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Dervisevic avoid being mounted?
Cortez is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Dervisevic is trying to maintain the position but Cortez is very close to passing his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dervisevic tries to get to full guard but Cortez has control of the leg.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Cortez lands a nice short elbow.
Dervisevic wants to stand back up but Cortez manages to pass into side control.
Dervisevic can't do much from the bottom here.
Cortez scoring with punches from side control.
Cortez creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Cortez taking a breather here.
Cortez lands a nice forearm strike.
Cortez cracks Dervisevic with a big right hand but Dervisevic just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cortez slows the pace down.
Dervisevic is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Cortez advances to full mount.

Cortez looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Cortez looking to secure an arm triangle but Dervisevic defends it well.
Cortez unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Dervisevic wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Cortez celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Don Cortez!
In his post fight interview, Don Cortez started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.