PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Kale Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ike Turner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cruz comes to the cage accompanied by Welcome to the Jungle. Kale Cruz could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ike Turner's chin.

Cruz
vs
Turner

168 cm
41
163 lbs
42 - 29 - 0

175 cm
29
169 lbs
16 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 42 - 29 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kale Cruz!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ike Turner!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yukihiro Shimada and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Cruz shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Turner is trying to defend but Cruz finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Turner is trying to stand up here but Cruz is controlling him well.
Cruz not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Cruz is trying to control the action in half guard but Turner is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cruz thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Turner's head.
Cruz throwing shots but Turner is blocking nicely.
Cruz thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Ground and pound from Cruz.
Cruz is trying to control. Turner wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Turner to regain full guard.
Cruz throwing strikes from guard but Turner blocks nicely.
Cruz controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Turner working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cruz.
Cruz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Turner keeping moving, preventing Cruz from controlling successfully.
Cruz is really struggling to control Turner but he's trying to hold on to the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Kale Cruz wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Turner uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Cruz.
Cruz misses the shot to the body.
Cruz throws a body punch but Turner moves out of range.
Cruz fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Turner avoids it really well and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz throws a big shot that misses.
Nice defenses there by Turner.
Cruz misses with a right hand
and Turner connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

It looks like Kale Cruz has been cut.
Cruz misses with a wild combination.
Cruz swings for the body but Turner moves out of range.
Cruz lands with an overhand left.
Turner takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Cruz thows a body shot but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz lands with a hook. Turner tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Turner keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Turner throws a low kick but Cruz moves out of range easily.
Cruz tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Turner defends well and Cruz ends up having to push Turner into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kale Cruz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Cruz breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Cruz throws a left and a right that both miss
and Turner counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Cruz misses with a wild body shot.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Turner slips a jab and a cross from Cruz.
Turner slips under a jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kale Cruz dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Kale Cruz'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.

A telegraphed takedown attempt from Cruz is defended easily by Turner.
Turner takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cruz swings away with a body shot that misses
and Turner makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Cruz lands a right hook to the body.
Cruz misses with a straight right.
Kale Cruz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cruz shoots in looking for a takedown but Turner manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Cruz's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Horrible takedown attempt by Cruz or perhaps it was just good defense by Turner, which made it look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kale Cruz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cruz connects with a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz looks to throw the jab but Turner is out of range.
Cruz misses the shot to the body.
Cruz misses with a left hand
and Turner counters with a straight right hand.
Cruz throws a poor cross that misses
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Cruz throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Turner displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Cruz is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Turner's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Cruz takes a swing at Turner's ribcage but misses.
Cruz misses with a body shot.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Cruz scores with a takedown into Turner's guard.
Cruz postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cruz is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Cruz stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Turner swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Turner wants to stand but Cruz is controlling the position.
Cruz seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Turner wants to stand and escape but Cruz is having none of it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cruz accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cruz advances position into side control!
Cruz working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Cruz is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Turner has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The strikes coming from Cruz are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Cruz looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Turner is avoiding damage well.
Cruz works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.

Turner is rocked!
Cruz scores with a big shot from side control... and another... and another! Oh Turner is done here - save him referee! More strikes land and eventually the ref does step in and Cruz can finally stop beating on his defenseless opponent!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kale Cruz!
Kale Cruz retains his lightweight title!
A relieved looking Kale Cruz thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.