PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Alphonso Rakes (ranked 4691 p4p, 6763 weight class) and Jay Cuchello (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Rakes
vs
Cuchello

176 cm
25
135
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
18
136
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Alphonso Rakes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Jay Cuchello!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Sam Margolis and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rakes closes the distance and clinches.
Cuchello taking a breather.

Rakes breaks the clinch.
Rakes throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A nice inside leg kick there by Rakes. That's going to slow Cuchello down.

Rakes darts in and clinches Cuchello up against the cage.
Cuchello wants to take the fight to the mat but Rakes manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Cuchello is trying to pull guard but Rakes has him pressed against the cage.

Rakes's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Cuchello lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.

Rakes instigates a clinch.
Cuchello takes a knee to the side of the body.

Cuchello pulls guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Rakes gets to his feet. Cuchello looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Rakes ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cuchello moves away.
Jay Cuchello seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cuchello misses with a combination
and Rakes counters with a series of strikes. Cuchello will be more careful next time no doubt.
Cuchello fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cuchello misses the shot to the body.
Rakes with the inside leg kick.
Nice sprawl there from Cuchello as Rakes shoots in.
Rakes showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Cuchello.
A right-left combo lands from Cuchello.

Rakes fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Cuchello to the ground. Rakes is now in Cuchello's guard.
Rakes throws a big right hand that misses.
Rakes content to stall in guard here.

Rakes thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rakes controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rakes really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Rakes stops Cuchello from standing up.
Cuchello looks winded!
Rakes with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakes slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Rakes misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

Rakes thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
A lull in the action here.
Rakes is putting a hurting on Cuchello here, landing some big shots from side control.
Rakes throws an elbow but Cuchello slips to the side and avoids it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rakes controls the position.
Rakes in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Rakes controlling from side mount.
The ground and pound from Rakes seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Rakes misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
An elbow from Rakes crashes against the mat.
Rakes slows the pace down.

Rakes wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Cuchello, who protects the arm well.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alphonso Rakes dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Rakes clinches with his opponent.
Cuchello wants to break the clinch but can't.
Nice elbow from Rakes.
Cuchello throws a punch but it's blocked by Rakes.
Rakes pressing his opponent against the cage.
Rakes using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Rakes breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A left and a right from Cuchello both land. Nice combination.
Rakes throws a right and a left that both miss.
Cuchello misses with a double jab.

Rakes clinches up against the cage.

Rakes pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakes dodges the punch combination from Cuchello.
Rakes seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Cuchello throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Rakes counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Cuchello thinking.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Rakes.
Cuchello misses with the combination.
Cuchello is breathing heavily.
Good leg kick by Rakes.
Rakes lands a head kick!

It looks like Jay Cuchello has been cut.
Cuchello lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rakes circles away quickly and effectively.
Rakes throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cuchello's waist but Cuchello gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Rakes off to one side.

Rakes moves into the clinch successfully.
Cuchello is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Rakes takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rakes manages to pull guard.
Cuchello won't allow Rakes to sweep him here.
Cuchello wants to get up but he can't break Rakes's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Rakes bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cuchello's guard.

We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Rakes slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rakes gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Rakes takes the fight into the clinch.

Rakes jumps guard.
Cuchello is looking to stand up but Rakes won't let him.

Rakes has scooted to the edge of the canvas and used the cage to get back to his feet. Cuchello has stuck on his opponent and is forcing him back against the cage.
Cuchello takes an elbow to the forehead.
Rakes pressing his opponent against the cage.
Rakes is looking to take this one to the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alphonso Rakes. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Rakes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rakes feints a jab promting Cuchello to slip. Rakes then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Cuchello slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Cuchello rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rakes moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Alphonso Rakes is winning the standup battle so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cuchello misses with a double jab.
As Cuchello looks to move away, Rakes throws a big counter combo but Cuchello just gets out of the way.
Rakes tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Cuchello swivels and escapes.
Rakes fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Cuchello avoids it really well and circles away.
No joy there for Cuchello, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Rakes lands a leg kick that knocks Cuchello off balance momentarily.
Rakes throws a nice outside leg kick.
Jay Cuchello is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rakes slips a jab and a cross from Cuchello.
Alphonso Rakes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rakes shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Cuchello defends it nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Alphonso Rakes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jay Cuchello's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Rakes clinches up against the cage.

Rakes pulls guard successfully.
Cuchello tries to stand but Rakes is controlling from the bottom.
Rakes wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rakes looking for a guillotine here but Cuchello defends easily.

Cuchello decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Rakes, up you get!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rakes moves into the clinch successfully.
Cuchello tries to pull guard but Rakes holds him up against the cage and eventually Cuchello drops back down to his feet.
Cuchello is trying to break the clinch but Rakes is controlling him.

Rakes breaks the clinch.
A combination from Cuchello does no damage.
Cuchello takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rakes dives in for a single leg takedown but Cuchello sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Rakes keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Cuchello's efforts to push away.
Cuchello is pressed up against the cage. Rakes has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Cuchello down to the mat. Cuchello avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Danga de danga de dang - Cuchello scores with a four punch combination!
Cuchello ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cuchello. Rakes does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A slapping leg kick lands for Cuchello.
Cuchello shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Rakes eats them both and turns towards Cuchello to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.

Rakes drives through and clinches with Cuchello against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice body punch from Rakes.

Rakes breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Rakes closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Rakes drags the fight down to the ground.

Rakes is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Cuchello is aware though and is defending well.
Cuchello really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rakes. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Rakes is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Rakes's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Rakes fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Rakes avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakes lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Cuchello backs up against the cage.

Rakes moves into the clinch successfully.

Rakes breaks from the clinch.
Rakes is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cuchello can do to turn this around?
A shot to the liver by Rakes. Beautiful body shot.
Cuchello is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Rakes.
Rakes shoots in but Cuchello avoids the takedown attempt easily.
As Rakes backs off Cuchello throws a huge counter combo but Rakes manages to avoid it all.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alphonso Rakes. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cuchello throws a front kick aimed at Rakes's knee but Rakes avoids it well.
As Cuchello tries to get set, Rakes tries to push him back and clinch up but Cuchello manages to avoid the attempt.
Cuchello looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Rakes seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Cuchello defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Rakes.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Rakes.
Cuchello has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rakes on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Cuchello misses with a double jab.
Rakes went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Rakes closes the distance and clinches.
Rakes pushes Cuchello back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.

Rakes jumps guard and drags Cuchello to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Rakes trying to control the position here.

Rakes is working an open guard so Cuchello takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Jay Cuchello has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Alphonso Rakes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cuchello rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rakes moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alphonso Rakes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rakes, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 William Gold scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alphonso Rakes!
The defeated Jay Cuchello had this to say: 'He was the better man tonight, all respect to him, i will be back for more.'.