PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between John O Dowd (ranked 5529 p4p, 4482 weight class) and Dominick Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cruz has chosen Face The Pain as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Dominick Cruz is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

O Dowd
vs
Cruz

170 cm
18
145
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
25
135
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

PWNAGE Elite - $25 Tees
PWNAGE™

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 Las Vegas, John O Dowd!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Dominick Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Robert Twigg and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cruz takes the fight into the clinch.

Cruz has hold of one of O Dowd's legs. O Dowd is fighting the takedown attempt but Cruz gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Cruz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Cruz sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Cruz trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Cruz loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cruz trying to control the position from guard on top but O Dowd is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Cruz's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz wants to control from the top but O Dowd keeps moving.
Cruz loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cruz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz postures up in O Dowd's guard and throws a big left but O Dowd blocks it.
Cruz advances position into side control!
Cruz has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Cruz taking a breather here.
Cruz working the head and body with strikes.

Cruz is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. O Dowd knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Cruz tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
O Dowd tries to improve position but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is putting a hurting on O Dowd here, landing some big shots from side control.
Cruz is looking to take a break and control but O Dowd is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Cruz wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by O Dowd, who protects the arm well.
Cruz cracks O Dowd with a big elbow.
Cruz is working O Dowd over with some ground and pound from side control.
Cruz in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.

Cruz looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz lands a few punches from side control.
Cruz looking to punish the body of his opponent here but O Dowd is avoiding damage well.
Cruz trying to control the action but O Dowd is working from the bottom.
Cruz moves into full mount!

Cruz working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Cruz is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. O Dowd can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Cruz raining down shots from the mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cruz working for a guillotine from mount but O Dowd is in no mood to give up.
Cruz sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Cruz looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Cruz punishing his opponent with strikes.
Cruz postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. O Dowd looks a forlorn figure.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cruz lands a heavy elbow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dominick Cruz dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

O Dowd gets a takedown into half guard.

Cruz pushes O Dowd off and gets back to his feet.

Cruz darts in and lands a nice takedown into 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!
Cruz lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Cruz drops an elbow to the side of O Dowd's head.
O Dowd knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Cruz on the ground.

Cruz is working for a kimura but O Dowd is defending it quite comfortably.
Cruz is trying to control the action in half guard but O Dowd is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
O Dowd is trying to control but can't.
Cruz lands with a punch from half guard.
O Dowd trying to get back to full guard but Cruz takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!

O Dowd is flailing around, obviously not happy about being mounted. Cruz locks hold of one of his arms and spins for an armbar. He's got it! O Dowd is forced to tap!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Dominick Cruz!
Dominick Cruz seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.