PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Grover Cohen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dion Fitzwater (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fitzwater comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Headstrong kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Cohen
vs
Fitzwater

201 cm
18
150 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Can Moonwalk

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Grover Cohen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dion Fitzwater!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Eddie Farnsworth and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Fitzwater instigates a clinch.

Cohen gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Fitzwater regains guard.
Fitzwater pulls Cohen in to control the position.

Fitzwater had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Cohen defends it easily.
Cohen would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Cohen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fitzwater controls Cohen momentarily but Cohen frees himself.
Cohen is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Cohen accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Cohen shoots in and gets a takedown into Fitzwater's guard.

Cohen decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Fitzwater, up you get!
Cohen really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Fitzwater shoots in for a takedown but Cohen shows good takedown defense.
Cohen appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.

Cohen clinches with his opponent.

Cohen jumps guard.
Fitzwater postures up in Cohen's guard and throws a big left but Cohen blocks it.
Cohen wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Fitzwater is now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cohen is looking to escape.
Fitzwater thows a huge punch but Cohen dodges it nicely.
Cohen is staying active underneath Fitzwater, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Fitzwater throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Fitzwater is trying to control the action in half guard but Cohen is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Fitzwater is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cohen drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Fitzwater keeping his opponent close.
Fitzwater is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Cohen asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Cohen working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Cohen tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Fitzwater can't do much from the bottom here.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Cohen controls the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Grover Cohen dominated that round.
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.

Fitzwater gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Cohen has clasped his hands together around Fitzwater's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Fitzwater tries to buck Cohen off but Cohen is having none of it.
Fitzwater is trying to control Cohen's posture but Cohen avoids it.

Cohen decides to stand back up.
Fitzwater is looking to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cohen tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Fitzwater paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Fitzwater is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Fitzwater gets tackled into the cage by Cohen. Cohen maintains the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cohen tightens his grip and picks Fitzwater up, before dumping him to the ground. Fitzwater manages to land in guard.
Cohen tries to stand but Fitzwater is controlling from the bottom.

Fitzwater looking for a guillotine here but Cohen defends easily.
Cohen throws a strike but Fitzwater rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Fitzwater drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Cohen dives on top into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Fitzwater has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Cohen can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Fitzwater is trying to control the position but Cohen postures up.
Fitzwater keeping moving, preventing Cohen from controlling successfully.
Fitzwater has a closed guard, preventing Cohen from standing up.
Cohen wants to control from the top but Fitzwater keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Fitzwater has his foot on Cohen's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Cohen works his way back into a safe position though.
Cohen keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Fitzwater's head.
Grover Cohen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Cohen stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Cohen is looking to clinch but Fitzwater is avoiding it.
Cohen tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Fitzwater fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Cohen, pushing him back against the cage.
Cohen tries to circle away but Fitzwater has him pinned against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cohen has picked Fitzwater up - he's going for a ride! Cohen dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Cohen wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fitzwater keeps working.
Fitzwater blocking the ground and pound attempt from Cohen.

Fitzwater looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Fitzwater is breathing heavily.
Fitzwater moves into full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Cohen got a little sloppy there for a moment and Fitzwater has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Cohen has managed to get both his arms back between Fitzwater's legs - danger averted.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Grover Cohen dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Cohen moves into range and clinches up with Fitzwater.

Cohen breaks from the clinch.

Fitzwater closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cohen did well to prevent Fitzwater getting side control.
Cohen is trying to stand back up but Fitzwater is controlling him

Fitzwater wants to work for an arm triangle but Cohen is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Fitzwater missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Fitzwater is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Fitzwater takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Cohen is trying to stand up here but Fitzwater is controlling him well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cohen looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Fitzwater is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Cohen trying to control from the bottom.

Fitzwater is working for a kimura but Cohen is defending it quite comfortably.
Fitzwater wants to control but Cohen is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Cohen trying to control from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Fitzwater wants to clinch up but Cohen keeps it at a distance.
Cohen looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
The fight stays on the outside here - Fitzwater looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Cohen moves into the clinch.
Fitzwater misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Cohen.
Cohen looking to slow down the pace here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fitzwater tries to pull guard but Cohen forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Dion Fitzwater has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Cohen pulls guard successfully.

Fitzwater drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Cohen manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Fitzwater has Cohen in his guard.

Cohen wants to get up but he can't break Fitzwater's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Fitzwater is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Cohen keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cohen is defending against the submission attempts here by Fitzwater.
Cohen is concentrating on defense, preventing Fitzwater from advancing position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Fitzwater is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cohen sees it coming and defends easily.

Fitzwater is looking for a kimura but Cohen is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Fitzwater to get the leverage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dion Fitzwater comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Cohen has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Lou da Vinci scores the fight 29:28
Judge Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 29:28
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Grover Cohen!