PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nigel Burkshire (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chino Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Burkshire comes into the arena with It's a Fight - Three 6 Mafia blaring out of the sound system. Chino Cruz will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Burkshire
vs
Cruz

198 cm
21
220 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

225 cm
18
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

[JMFC] Slaughterhouse Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Nigel Burkshire!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Chino Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cruz fails to land with a series of punches.

Burkshire drives through with a takedown into guard.
Burkshire trying to control but Cruz is working from the bottom.
Cruz wants to stand up but Burkshire is controlling him.

Burkshire thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Burkshire won't allow Cruz to get back to his feet.
Burkshire throwing strikes from guard but Cruz blocks nicely.
Cruz wants to stand up but Burkshire is controlling him.

Burkshire decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Cruz, up you get!
Cruz tries to clinch up but Burkshire circles away and keeps his distance.
Cruz has his takedown stuffed

and Burkshire counters with a single leg into guard. Cruz didn't expect that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burkshire prevents Cruz from getting back to his feet.
Burkshire might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Cruz looks gassed!
Burkshire working some strikes from top position.
Cruz can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Burkshire controls the pace.
Cruz wants to stand and escape but Burkshire is having none of it.
Burkshire postures up and lands a big shot to Cruz's brow.
Cruz wants to stand but Burkshire is controlling the position.

Cruz has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Burkshire off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burkshire throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Cruz.
Cruz throws a combination that misses

and Burkshire counters by moving into the clinch.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Burkshire creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

Burkshire has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Cruz regains guard immediately.
Cruz is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Burkshire's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Burkshire scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Burkshire working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Cruz's head.
Burkshire postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Burkshire lands a couple of decent looking shots.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Burkshire working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Burkshire wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
Cruz wants to get back to his feet but Burkshire is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burkshire passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Burkshire controls the position.
Burkshire trying to control the action but Cruz is working from the bottom.

Burkshire thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Cruz seems a little lost for a moment, as Burkshire dominates the positioning.
Burkshire working the ground and pound.
Burkshire is putting a hurting on Cruz here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Burkshire's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Burkshire works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Burkshire has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Cruz wants to get back to his feet.
Cruz bucks up and tries to throw Burkshire off but instead Burkshire has got his back!
Burkshire cracks Cruz with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Cruz from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
Burkshire just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nigel Burkshire dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Burkshire has taken the fight to the clinch.

Burkshire gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Cruz regains guard.
Cruz is looking to stand up but Burkshire isn't so interested in that idea.
Burkshire passes Cruz's right leg, so he's now in 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. Burkshire connects with a nice short shot to Cruz's temple.
Nigel Burkshire overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Burkshire slips a nice elbow through Cruz's hands, connecting with Cruz's forehead.
Cruz has hold of Burkshire's hands but Burkshire slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Burkshire slows the pace down in half guard.
Burkshire is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Cruz is breathing heavily.
Cruz tries to kick Burkshire off but Burkshire keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Burkshire is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Burkshire is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Burkshire prevents Cruz from standing back up.
Burkshire works his way into side control.
Cruz is trying to buck Burkshire off.

Burkshire tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Burkshire has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Burkshire is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Cruz's shoulder. That is not cool.
Cruz is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Burkshire asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Burkshire cracks Cruz with a big right hand but Cruz just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Burkshire lands a nice forearm strike.
Cruz bucks up and tries to throw Burkshire off but instead Burkshire has got his back!
Burkshire lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Burkshire.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Burkshire really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Cruz.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Burkshire.

Burkshire is working on the RNC. He looks like he's got it but Cruz won't tap... Oh, he's out! The ref rips Burkshire off his unconscious opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:40 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Nigel Burkshire!
Nigel Burkshire is the new light heavyweight champion!