PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Antwan Craig (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marlone Junior (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marlone Junior acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Craig
vs
Junior

177 cm
24
215 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

192 cm
25
265 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Antwan Craig!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Marlone Junior!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Shigeki Sano and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Craig scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Junior looks like he's trying to stand up.
Craig controlling the action here.
Junior taking some punishment here, with Craig in his half guard.
Craig works his foot free and advances to mount.
Craig controlling from mount.
Craig tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Craig misses with a head shot.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Junior can do anything to dispel that myth.
Craig takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Craig looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

Craig with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Craig throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Craig looking to finish with strikes here!
Junior tries to buck Craig off but he can't manage it.

Craig wants to finish this one by submission but Junior is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Craig.
Junior is trying to stand up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Craig tries to control but Junior wriggling away.
Craig controlling from the full mount.
Junior is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Craig pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Junior has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.
Craig gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Junior really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Craig. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Craig is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Junior up.
Craig trying to control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Craig is really struggling to control Junior but he's trying to hold on to the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antwan Craig dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Junior fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Junior is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Craig throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Craig ducks under a wild hook from Junior.
Craig dives in and grabs Junior's left leg, looking for a takedown. Junior pushes down on Craig's head and hops out.

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

Junior is defending against the submission attempts here by Craig.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Craig lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Junior pushes Craig off but Craig dives into side control.
Craig prevents Junior from escaping the position.

Craig tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Craig has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Junior is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Craig slows the pace down.
Junior is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Craig working the ground and pound but Junior is defending the strikes.
Craig tries to stand but Junior is controlling his head.
Junior should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Craig prevents Junior from escaping the position.
Craig working the body and head with strikes.
Craig tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Junior is pushing Craig's head away, looking to escape. Craig manages to hold on to the position though.
Craig working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Junior tries to escape but Craig is in control.
Antwan Craig overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Craig has worked his way into a potential kimura here. Junior is trying to get out of the position but his squirming has just got him deeper into trouble. Craig yanks on the arm and Junior is forced to tap due to a very painful looking submission! Nice work by Craig.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Antwan Craig!