PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Shaman Weaver (ranked 2076 p4p, 1598 weight class) and Cuba Gooding (ranked 202 p4p, 164 weight class). Weaver comes to the cage accompanied by Close Your Eyes by Acen. Gooding is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Everything is Right (ft. Devilish Trio) - Skeler. Cuba Gooding acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Weaver
vs
Gooding

178 cm
23
160
6 - 3 - 0

184 cm
23
167
2 - 6 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Bondi MMA 🏝️
Conquer

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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Shaman Weaver!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Cuba Gooding!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Alyssa Summers and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Weaver thows a left - swing and a miss!
Weaver fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Gooding! But no joy.
Gooding connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Weaver has his takedown stuffed
letting Gooding counter with a right hand.
Weaver throws out a loose jab but Gooding uses good head movement to avoid it.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Gooding! But no joy.
Weaver bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Gooding's head backwards.
Gooding scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Gooding with a nice cross.
Weaver takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Weaver throws a right and a left that Gooding avoids nicely.
Weaver looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Weaver throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gooding sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A jab from Weaver does it's job there.

Weaver scores with a takedown into Gooding's guard.
Weaver tries to free his leg and advance position but Gooding is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gooding pulls Weaver in close to prevent any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gooding controls Weaver momentarily but Weaver frees himself.
Weaver wants to control from the top but Gooding keeps moving.
Gooding is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Gooding keeping moving, preventing Weaver from controlling successfully.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Weaver looking to sit in guard and control but Gooding gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Weaver looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Gooding must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Weaver looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Gooding stopping the sweep attempt from Weaver.

Weaver is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Gooding wants to pass the guard but Weaver is keeping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weaver not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Weaver is looking for a triangle but Gooding pushes his legs off easily.

Weaver looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Gooding passes into half guard.
Weaver is looking to control Gooding's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Weaver avoid being mounted?
Gooding trying to advance position but Weaver counters by regaining guard.
Weaver looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gooding trying to control the position from guard on top but Weaver is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Weaver is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Weaver pulls Gooding in close to prevent any damage.
Gooding content to stall in guard here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gooding works over Weaver with some ground and pound from guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Shaman Weaver will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Weaver closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Gooding throws a body punch but Weaver moves out of range.
Weaver scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

It looks like Cuba Gooding has been cut.
Weaver fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Weaver throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Gooding counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Weaver throws a shot from downtown. Gooding moves away and avoids it.
Gooding takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Gooding lands a nice shot to the body.
Gooding cracks Weaver with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Weaver lunges at Gooding with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Gooding's hand.
Weaver lands a really nice looking cross but Gooding seems unphased.
Gooding uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Jab, jab by Gooding - just one landing.
Gooding gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Weaver.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Weaver misses with a body shot
and Gooding counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gooding moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Weaver throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gooding sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Gooding tries to sprawl but Weaver drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Gooding wants to get back to full guard.
Gooding taking some punishment here, with Weaver in his half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gooding tries to get to full guard but Weaver has control of the leg.
Weaver moves into full mount! Gooding won't be happy about that!
Weaver lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Weaver scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gooding regains half guard.
Gooding really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Weaver. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Weaver is looking to take a break and control but Gooding is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Weaver frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
BOOM! Weaver connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Weaver cracks Gooding with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Weaver can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Gooding is looking to escape.
Gooding is in a horrible position here. Weaver smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Weaver working for a guillotine from mount but Gooding is in no mood to give up.
Weaver is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gooding can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weaver is landing with some decent strikes but Gooding is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Weaver lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Gooding hang on?
Gooding working to try and regain half guard.
Weaver looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Weaver punching from mount but Gooding doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Gooding really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Weaver working the ground and pound effectively.
Weaver wants to control the pace but Gooding is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gooding bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Gooding postures up.
Weaver is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Weaver manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gooding manages to get himself to full guard.

We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Weaver wants to control from the top but Gooding keeps moving.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Shaman Weaver dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Cuba Gooding's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Gooding lands a really nice looking cross but Weaver seems unphased.
Cuba Gooding has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gooding fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Weaver looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Shaman Weaver seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gooding slips under a jab.
Gooding throws out a counter right but Weaver avoids it with no problem.
Weaver missing with a left hand there. Gooding was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Weaver scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Gooding wants to improve his position but Weaver is controlling well.
Gooding blocking the ground and pound attempt from Weaver.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gooding wants to get back to full guard.
Shaman Weaver overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Weaver trying to control the action but Gooding is working from the bottom.
Weaver lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Gooding can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Weaver is looking to advance position but Gooding won't allow it.
Weaver is taking a breather. Gooding says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Weaver 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.
Gooding is refusing to be controlled, as Weaver sits in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Weaver missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Weaver slows the pace down in half guard.

Weaver is looking for a kimura here.
Gooding is trying is best to control the position here.
Weaver controlling the action here.
Gooding tries to get to full guard but Weaver has control of the leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gooding is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Weaver scores with a couple of nice shots.

Weaver is looking for a kimura here.
The fighters are battling for position here. Gooding manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Weaver trying to control the position from guard on top but Gooding is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.
Weaver postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gooding wants to sweep here but Weaver controlling him for the moment.
Weaver works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Weaver is working for a submission here. He's got hold of the far side arm and he's looking for a kimura. He's cranking on the arm and he's got it! Gooding is tapping out! Ouch, that looked like it hurt!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:47 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Shaman Weaver!
During a confident post fight interview, Shaman Weaver thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.