PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Christian Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jeremy Cornish (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Howard
vs
Cornish

174 cm
26
166 lbs
12 - 6 - 0

180 cm
22
159 lbs
9 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Next Level Nutrition--158q for $60!!!

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 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Christian Howard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jeremy Cornish!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Ivan Kurochkin and Vladimir Khabensky.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cornish shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Howard as he jumps to the side.
Cornish throws a series of punches but Howard avoids them all with ease.
Howard falls off balance throwing a combination

so Cornish counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Cornish trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Howard scrambles and gets back to his feet.

Howard moves into the clinch.
Cornish prevents a takedown attempt there.
Cornish is pushing Howard up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Cornish taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cornish breaks from the clinch.
Howard looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Howard moves into the clinch.
Cornish has Howard pressed against the cage, preventing Howard from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Howard taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Cornish - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Cornish breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Howard moves into the clinch successfully.
Cornish wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Howard has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Cornish avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Howard is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Cornish pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Christian Howard. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Howard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Cornish is defending well for now.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Howard tries to clinch up but Cornish circles away and keeps his distance.
Nice sprawl there from Cornish as Howard shoots in.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard tries to clinch up but Cornish circles away and keeps his distance.
Howard shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Cornish but Cornish pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Howard lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Howard moves into the clinch.
Howard drops down looking for an ankle pick but Cornish pulls his leg out and moves away.
Christian Howard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cornish swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Cornish takes a swing at Howard's ribcage but misses.

Cornish shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howard is trying desperately to improve position.
Cornish landing strikes from the mount and Howard is in trouble!
Cornish lands a big shot there that rocks Howard but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Cornish lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Howard hang on?
Howard tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Cornish landing strikes from the mount and Howard is in trouble!
Howard wants to hold on but Cornish pushes him away.
Cornish throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Howard tries to lock up and control but Cornish gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Cornish lands with some strikes.
Howard throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Howard tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jeremy Cornish dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

The fight stays on the outside here - Howard looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Howard moves out of range of the leg kick from Cornish.

Howard looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Cornish is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Howard's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Howard's back!
Cornish trying to control momentarily.
Cornish misses with a punch to the head.
Cornish wants to control but Howard is keeping busy.
Cornish controlling well, preventing Howard from escaping the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cornish is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Howard knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Howard for a finish.
Cornish is breathing heavily.
Cornish keeps control of the position as Howard tries to break free.
Howard is trying to get back to his feet but Cornish has full control of the position and if anything, Howard has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Cornish looking to hold on to the position here but Howard rolls and ends up regaining guard.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Cornish scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Howard doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Cornish counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Howard is looking to land body kicks.

Cornish shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cornish is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Howard trying to control here.
Cornish is trying to control the action in half guard but Howard is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cornish throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Howard wants to improve his position but Cornish is controlling well.
Howard is looking to escape.
Cornish throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Howard is looking to clinch.
Cornish misses with an uppercut. Howard saw that one coming.
Cornish jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Cornish shoots in and bounces Howard off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Howard is on top in guard.
Howard looking to sit in guard and control but Cornish gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Cornish stays in close to Howard's body and controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cornish trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Cornish's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cornish preventing the sweep.
Cornish wants to control from the top but Howard keeps moving.
Howard trying to strike off his back.
Howard is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Howard bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cornish's guard.
Howard postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jeremy Cornish showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Howard walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Howard tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cornish swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cornish misses with a combination

and Howard counters with a nice double leg into side control. Cornish won't be happy with that.
Howard lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Howard tries to move to mount but Cornish blocks the move with his legs.
Howard wants to take a breather but Cornish manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Howard.
Cornish takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Howard in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard trying to control but Cornish is working from the bottom.
Howard has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Howard scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Howard throws a strike but Cornish rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Howard keeping moving, preventing Cornish from controlling successfully.
Cornish postures up in Howard's guard and throws a big left but Howard blocks it.

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.
Cornish postures up in Howard's guard and throws a big left but Howard blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cornish 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.

Howard looking for a guillotine here but Cornish defends easily.
Howard has a closed guard, preventing Cornish from standing up.
Christian Howard has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Howard bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cornish's guard.
Cornish is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howard drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Cornish dives on top into guard.
Howard keeping moving, preventing Cornish from controlling successfully.
Cornish throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Howard works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cornish won't allow Howard to sweep him here.
Howard doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Howard trying to keep a closed guard but Cornish is proving a slippery customer.
Cornish postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Howard looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

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.
Howard manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Cornish tries to lock up and control but Howard gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
BOOM! Howard connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Cornish has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Cornish is working to get back to half guard.
Howard is in the full mount, landing strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Christian Howard showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Cornish has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jeremy Cornish!