PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jonathan Payet (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mark Cunnings (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Payet
vs
Cunnings

173 cm
24
164 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

171 cm
24
162 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Good knees
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jonathan Payet!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mark Cunnings!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Timothy Bukovac and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cunnings throws a right hand that Payet ducks under and follows up with a left that Payet also avoids with ease.
A left and a right from Cunnings both land. Nice combination.

It looks like Jonathan Payet has been cut.
Cunnings connects with the punch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A chopping leg kick lands by Payet.

Payet has managed to clinch.
Cunnings wants to get back to striking at distance but Payet won't allow it.
Payet leaning his opponent against the cage.
Cunnings prevents a body shot from Payet.
Payet tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cunnings blocking some punches.
Payet misses with a punch on the inside.

Cunnings breaks from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cunnings avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Payet slips a jab and a cross from Cunnings.
Cunnings misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Payet.
Cunnings closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Cunnings lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Payet circles away quickly and effectively.
Cunnings throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Payet swings widly with a right hand
and Cunnings counters with a series of strikes. Payet will be more careful next time no doubt.

Payet rushes Cunnings and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Payet scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Payet holding his opponent close, against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Payet tries to throw a body punch but Cunnings avoids it by throwing Payet back against the cage.
Payet goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Payet tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Payet doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A head punch on the inside from Payet fails to land.
Cunnings prevents a body shot from Payet.
Cunnings is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Payet lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Payet tries a body shot but Cunnings blocks it.
Payet misses with a punch on the inside.
Payet tries a body shot but Cunnings blocks it.
Payet has Cunnings pushed against the cage.
Cunnings blocks a body shot from Payet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Payet scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Payet throws a punch but it's blocked by Cunnings.
Cunnings is trying to push Payet away but Payet has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Payet misses with a hook to the ribs.
Payet tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Payet throws a punch but it's blocked by Cunnings.
A body shot lands from Payet.
Payet struggles to land a body shot inside as Cunnings controls his hands.
Cunnings can't break the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Payet - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Payet misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Payet is working Cunnings over against the cage.
Payet can't find room to land a body shot as Cunnings controls the action.
Payet doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Payet lands an uppercut.
Payet avoiding damage.
Payet prevents Cunnings from breaking the clinch.
Payet tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cunnings is trying to push Payet away but Payet has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Cunnings is trying to break free.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Cunnings blocks an uppercut.
Payet misses with a punch on the inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jonathan Payet will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Jonathan Payet's cut.
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.

Payet takes one to the chin there.
Payet throws a hook but Cunnings avoids it easily.
A jab from Cunnings finds it's way through Payet's defenses.
Payet misses the shot to the body.
Payet throws a body punch but Cunnings moves out of range.
Payet misses with a wild combination.
Cunnings has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Payet finds it's way round the side to connect with Cunnings's head.
Cunnings misses with a wild combination.
Cunnings misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Cunnings misses with a few strikes there.
Payet lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Cunnings circles away quickly and effectively.
A combination from Cunnings does no damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A good leg kick by Payet.
Payet swings for the body but Cunnings moves out of range.
Cunnings lands a nice looking body shot.
Cunnings throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Payet connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cunnings throws a right and a left that both miss.
Payet lands with a nice body punch.
Cunnings rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Payet moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Payet throws a leg kick but Cunnings sees it coming and moves out of range.
Payet misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Payet showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Cunnings.
Cunnings waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Payet.
Cunnings walks into a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Cunnings. Those never looked like landing.
Mark Cunnings seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Payet throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mark Cunnings seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Cunnings lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cunnings misses with a wild combination.
Cunnings falls off balance throwing a combination
and Payet counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Cunnings thinking.
Cunnings is breathing heavily.
Payet misses with a double jab.
A chopping leg kick lands by Payet.
Cunnings uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Payet.
Cunnings lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Payet circles away quickly and effectively.
Cunnings falls off balance throwing a combination
and Cunnings takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
No joy there for Cunnings, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Payet moves into the clinch successfully.
Cunnings wants to get back to striking at distance but Payet won't allow it.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Payet creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Payet lands a hook to the side of the head.
Jonathan Payet has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Payet's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Payet misses with a hook to the ribs.
Payet stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Cunnings wants to get back to striking at distance but Payet won't allow it.
Payet leaning against his opponent.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Jonathan Payet.

Payet has managed to clinch.
Still in the clinch, Payet scores with a nice short uppercut.
Payet lands a nice shot to the body.
A frustrated look appears on Cunnings's face as he tries to break the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Payet.
Cunnings prevents a body shot from Payet.
Payet misses with a hook to the ribs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jonathan Payet dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jonathan Payet's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Cunnings misses with a jab, cross combination.
Cunnings with a hook.
Some wild striking there from Cunnings.
Cunnings misses with a few strikes there.

Payet closes the distance and pushes Cunnings back into the cage.
Payet stalls.
A body shot lands from Payet.
Cunnings has had enough of the clinch but Payet keeps him there for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Payet.
Cunnings is trying to push Payet away but Payet has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Cunnings blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Payet struggles to land a body shot inside as Cunnings controls his hands.
Payet lands a right hand that snaps the head of Cunnings backwards.
Payet goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Payet throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Cunningss head.
Payet stalling in the clinch.
Payet tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Cunnings's elbow.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Payet.
Cunnings prevents a body shot from Payet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Payet misses with the head strike.
Payet throws a punch but it's blocked by Cunnings.
Payet fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Payet taking a breather.
Payet misses with a punch to the body.
Payet misses with a short punch on the inside.
A frustrated look appears on Cunnings's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Payet doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Payet tries to throw a body punch but Cunnings avoids it by throwing Payet back against the cage.

Cunnings pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A left and a right from Cunnings both land. Nice combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cunnings misses with a two punch combination.
No joy there for Cunnings, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Payet with a nice cross.
Payet moves out of range as Cunnings strikes.
Cunnings fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Payet wants to clinch up but Cunnings keeps it at a distance.
Payet misses with a wild body shot.
Payet staying out of range there.
Jonathan Payet is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Payet is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Mark Cunnings has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Payet is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Payet thows a body shot but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cunnings lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
The fight stays on the outside here - Payet looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cunnings ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Payet moves away.
Payet lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A swing and a miss from Cunnings.
Payet looks to score with a jab to the body but Cunnings is just out of range.
Payet dodges the punch combination from Cunnings.
Jonathan Payet is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Payet throws a sloppy head kick and Cunnings moves out of range easily.
Payet is looking to wear down Cunnings with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Payet displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Cunnings throws out the jab.
Cunnings avoids the head kick by Payet.
Payet uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Cunnings.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jonathan Payet showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Payet, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jonathan Payet!
A very excited looking Jonathan Payet made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.