PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Kale Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Quan Raiden (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cruz comes to the cage accompanied by Welcome to the Jungle. Raiden is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Boss Battle. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Cruz
vs
Raiden

168 cm
27
163 lbs
18 - 9 - 0

179 cm
23
167 lbs
15 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
KO power

Decent wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

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 18 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Kale Cruz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Quan Raiden!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Dillan Fox and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Raiden misses with a low kick as Cruz jumps back.
Raiden buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Cruz missing with a left hand there. Raiden was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Quan Raiden seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Raiden scores with a jab to the body.
Cruz misses with a hook. Raiden ducked under it nicely.
Cruz tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
A cross from Raiden lands.
Cruz throws a big shot that misses.
Cruz looks to score with a jab to the body but Raiden is just out of range.
Raiden fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Cruz checks it well.
Raiden wants to land a leg kick but Cruz is out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Cruz loads up on a big right hand but Raiden slips the punch.
Cruz uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Raiden.
Raiden sizes up Cruz with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Cruz throws a jab when Raiden was well out of range.
A big left from Cruz misses.
A slow jab from Raiden misses its intended target.
Cruz is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Raiden's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Raiden attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Cruz misses with a shot to the body
and Raiden counters with a stiff right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Raiden dodges the punch combination from Cruz.
Some bone on bone action there as Cruz checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Cruz misses with a looping right.
Cruz slips a straight right by Raiden.
Raiden is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Raiden misses with a body shot.
The fight stays on the outside here - Raiden looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cruz throws a hook but Raiden blocks it.
Raiden connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Cruz momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raiden uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Cruz.
Raiden jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Cruz bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Raiden's head.
Raiden fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Cruz missing with a left hand there. Raiden was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cruz misses with a wild combination.
Raiden with a hook.
Cruz misses with a hook. Raiden ducked under it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raiden stuns Cruz with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Raiden throws a big shot that misses.
Cruz throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Raiden sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Cruz ducks under a wild hook from Raiden.
Cruz takes one to the chin there.
Raiden connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Raiden throws a head kick that Cruz semi-blocks.
Raiden on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Cruz throws a big shot that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

A left lands for Cruz.
Cruz throws a combination that misses
and Raiden counters with a slapping leg kick.
Good exchange - Raiden coming out on top.
Cruz is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Cruz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Cruz fails with the takedown
enabling Raiden to counter with a crisp jab.
Cruz takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Raiden avoids the body shot from Cruz.
The fighters circling - Cruz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Raiden moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Raiden.
Raiden wants to slow Cruz down by chopping away at his legs.
Raiden throws a front kick aimed at Cruz's knee but Cruz avoids it well.
Raiden throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
The fight stays on the outside here - Raiden looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A punch lands to the side of Cruz 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Raiden is looking to clinch but Cruz is avoiding it.
Raiden bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Cruz throws a series of punches but Raiden avoids them all with ease.
Cruz closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Raiden looks to throw the jab but Cruz is out of range.
Raiden looks to score with a jab to the body but Cruz is just out of range.
Raiden takes one to the chin there.
Both fighters circling a little - Raiden finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Cruz throws a shot from downtown. Raiden moves away and avoids it.
Cruz moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Nice defenses there by Raiden.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Raiden counters with a right hand to the body.
Cruz looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Raiden - that will leave a mark!
Raiden moves out of range as Cruz strikes.
Raiden connects with a crisp jab.
Raiden attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Cruz listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Cruz connects with a body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Raiden slips under a jab.
Cruz throws a sloppy body shot
and Raiden counters with an outside leg kick.
Quan Raiden is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cruz slips a straight right by Raiden.
Cruz with a lazy takedown attempt
and Raiden counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Raiden tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cruz was well out of range. Poor timing from Raiden.
Cruz takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Raiden lands a really nice looking cross but Cruz seems unphased.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Raiden bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Raiden misses with an uppercut. Cruz saw that one coming.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Kale Cruz 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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Nice cross by Cruz.
Raiden throws a lazy right hand but Cruz sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Raiden tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Quan Raiden seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A swing and a miss from Cruz.
Cruz misses with a looping right.
Raiden misses with a hook. Cruz ducked under it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Raiden lands a glancing blow to the side of Cruz's head.
Cruz misses with a body punch
and Raiden counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Raiden displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cruz throws out the jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Raiden moves out of range of the strikes.
Raiden fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Cruz.
Raiden bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Cruz's head backwards.
Cruz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Raiden.
Cruz loads up on a big right hand but Raiden slips the punch.
Raiden tried to score with a low kick but Cruz checks it.
Raiden throws out a leg kick but Cruz moves out of range and Raiden only half commits.
Raiden misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Cruz checks a leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Raiden looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Raiden cracks Cruz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Raiden lands with an overhand left.
Cruz looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Raiden chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Raiden has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Raiden chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Cruz misses with a hook.
Raiden bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Raiden tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Cruz is able to avoid easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Raiden throws a quick inside leg kick.
Raiden misses with a straight right.
Cruz walks into a left hand.
Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Raiden tries to clinch up but Cruz circles away and keeps his distance.
Raiden scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Raiden takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Cruz is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Raiden fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Cruz manages to avoid it.
Raiden avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz misses with a wild combination.
Cruz misses with a straight left.
Cruz takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Cruz scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Cruz dives in and grabs Raiden's left leg, looking for a takedown. Raiden pushes down on Cruz's head and hops out.
Raiden digs a good body shot into Cruz's ribs.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Cruz checks a leg kick.
Cruz moves out of range of the leg kick from Raiden.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Quan Raiden.
Well Raiden has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ian Loll scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 29:29
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Quan Raiden!