PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between John Cross (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mauricio Cravez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Cross
vs
Cravez

185 cm
19
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
21
191 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Fast

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Cross!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Cravez!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Luis Engracia and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cross misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Cross closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Cross looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cross prevents Cravez from escaping the position.

Cross thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Cravez is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
A lull in the action here.
Cravez can't do much from the bottom here.
Cravez regains half guard, as Cross was trying to land strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Cravez keeps the fight on the outside.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Cravez - that will leave a mark!
Cross is breathing heavily.

Cross decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Cravez tries to kick Cross off but Cross keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Cravez kicks Cross off and gets back to his feet.
Cravez with a lazy takedown attempt

and Cross counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cross pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cravez is keeping the position for now.
Cravez is trying to control the position but Cross postures up.
Cross scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Cross cracks Cravez with a solid left hand.
Cross has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Cross won't allow Cravez to get back to his feet.

Cravez uses the cage to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Cravez.
Cravez throws a half hearted mid kick.
Cross tries for a takedown but Cravez sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Cross checks the leg kick nicely there.
Cross moves in looking to clinch but Cravez pushes him off.

Cross shoots in and bounces Cravez off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Cross wants to control from the top but Cravez keeps moving.
Cravez wants to get back to his feet but Cross is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Cross wants to control from the top but Cravez keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross connects with a couple of short punches.
Cross scoring with some ground and pound.
Cross wants to control from the top but Cravez keeps moving.
Cravez has momentary wrist control but Cross slips an elbow through the middle.
Cross working some strikes from top position.
Cross pushes down on Cravez's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Cravez taking some punishment here, with Cross in his half guard.
Cravez blocking the ground and pound attempt from Cross.
Cross looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Cravez with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Cross is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Cravez!
Cravez is trying to escape the mount.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cravez is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Cross fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Cross throws a sloppy strike and Cravez uses the opportunity to reverse the position! A bit of a scramble here and Cravez has ended up in Cross's guard.
Cravez wants to control from the top but Cross keeps moving.

Cravez gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cross tries for a takedown but Cravez sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Cross. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cravez throws a leg kick but Cross sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Cravez pivots, looking for a leg kick but Cross is out of range and Cravez settles back down.

Cross shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Cross showed some decent athleticism there.

Cross is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Cravez tries to kick Cross off but Cross keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cravez is trying to maintain the position but Cross is very close to passing his half guard.
Cravez is trying to get back to full guard.
Cravez trying to control but Cross postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Cravez throws a body kick the misses

and Cross counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Cravez keeping moving, preventing Cross from controlling successfully.
Cross postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Cross missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Cross postures up in Cravez's guard and throws a big left but Cravez blocks it.

Cravez has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Cross off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Mauricio Cravez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Cross closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Cravez is trying to stand back up but Cross is controlling him
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cross looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Cravez keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cravez is trying to stand up here but Cross is controlling him well.
Cross lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Cravez makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Cravez throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Cravez, right into the meat.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cross scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Cross landing a few strikes.
Cross landing a few strikes.
Cravez is trying to get back to half guard.
Cross wants to lay and pray for a moment but Cravez keeps working.
Cross cracks Cravez with a big right hand but Cravez just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Cravez is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Cross is controlling him well.
Cross working the ground and pound.

Cross tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Cross has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Cravez manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Cross landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cross tries to pass to full mount but Cravez defends it.
Cravez is trying to stand back up but Cross is controlling him
Cravez taking some punishment here, with Cross in his half guard.
Cross missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Cross throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Cross missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Cravez has Cross up against the cage in a clinch.
Cravez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Cross avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Cravez scores a nice knee to the body.
Cross lands a nice shot to the body.
Cravez stops a takedown attempt from Cross.
Cravez wants a takedown.
Cross tries to pull guard but Cravez holds him up against the cage and eventually Cross drops back down to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cravez lands a knee to the head.

It looks like John Cross has been cut.

Cravez successfully pulls guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross connects with a couple of short punches.
Cross wants to pass the guard but Cravez is keeping the position.
Cravez looking for a sweep. Not yet Cravez, not yet.
Cross lands a couple of elbows.
Cravez wants to get back to his feet but Cross is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Cravez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cross makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Cross trying to control but Cravez is working from the bottom.
Cross looking to pass the guard.
Cross is working hard here to advance position.
Cravez seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
John Cross overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Cross shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cravez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cross is one step ahead there.

Cravez is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Cross gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Cross is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Cross prevents Cravez from standing back up.
Cravez slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Cravez throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Cross won't allow Cravez to get back to his feet.
Cravez is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cross trying to get back to full guard but Cravez takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Cravez trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Cross working to try and regain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Cross dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on John Cross's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Cravez circles away from the clinch attempt
and Cravez counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Cravez stuffs the takedown.

Cross looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Cravez!
Cross thowing shots but they're missing.
Cravez can't escape the position.
Cross connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Cravez is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cross lands a heavy elbow.
Cross landing strikes from the mount and Cravez is in trouble!
Cravez's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Cross lands a nice shot to the head.
Cravez keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Cross.
Cravez bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

Cross throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Cravez trying to stand up but can't free himself from Cross's guard.
Cross wants to hit a switch here but Cravez passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Cross there!
Cross tries to reverse the position but Cravez maintains control.
Cross tries to hold on but Cravez pushes him away.

That's two 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.
Cross is trying desperately to improve position.
Cross is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Cross is trying desperately to improve position.
Cravez controlling the pace for now.
Cross tries to reverse the position but Cravez maintains control.
Cravez lands a heavy elbow.
Cravez lands a big elbow.
Cravez lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Cross hang on?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cross tries to reverse the position but Cravez maintains control.
Cravez content just to control the position here.
Cross keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Cravez controlling his opponent.
Cross keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

Cravez has isolated one of Cross's arms. Cross looking to fight him off but Cravez twists into an armbar. It's tight... Will he tap?? YES, he's tapped! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:48 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Mauricio Cravez!