PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Cuba Gooding (ranked 4524 p4p, 4116 weight class) and Vitor Velasquez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Vitor Velasquez acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Gooding
vs
Velasquez

190 cm
18
191
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
25
185
1 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Cuba Gooding!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Vitor Velasquez !
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Radbod Blank and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gooding just misses with a punch to the body.

Velasquez forces Gooding back against the cage and clinches.
Gooding tries a body shot but Velasquez blocks it.
Gooding misses with the head strike.

Velasquez breaks from the clinch.
Velasquez scores with a shot to the body.
Gooding throws a right hand that misses
and Velasquez counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

It looks like Cuba Gooding has been cut.
Gooding misses with a takedown attempt

and Velasquez counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Velasquez throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Velasquez scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Gooding looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Velasquez not doing much here.
Velasquez really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gooding. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Velasquez looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gooding with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gooding looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Velasquez throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Velasquez is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Velasquez lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Velasquez is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

Gooding actively working from the bottom here.
Velasquez takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gooding is pressing down on Velasquez 's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Gooding looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Velasquez is defending well. Gooding quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Velasquez has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Gooding celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:23 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Cuba Gooding!
An out of breath Cuba Gooding thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.