PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rocky Savage (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Cooke (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.

Savage
vs
Cooke

190 cm
18
199 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
16
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

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 New York, Rocky Savage!
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, Matt Cooke!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Jonathan Paton and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooke misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Savage.
Cooke wants to slow Savage down by chopping away at his legs.
A punch combination from Savage misses.

Savage has Cooke up against the cage in a clinch.
Savage stalls.
Cooke is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Savage is keeping busy.
Savage tries to work over Cooke's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cooke blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Cooke is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Savage stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Savage stalling against the cage.
Savage gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
Cooke wants to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Savage throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Cooke blocks it with crossed arms.
Savage blocks a body shot from Cooke.

Savage successfully pulls guard.
Cooke looking to sit in guard and control but Savage gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Cooke wants to hit a switch here but Savage passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Cooke there!
Savage sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cooke defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Savage.
Savage controlling his opponent.
Cooke swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.

Savage with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Savage controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Savage is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Cooke can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Cooke is just holding on here. Savage manages to take his back.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
I would not like to be Cooke right now.
Savage is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Savage gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Savage gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Savage apologises and we restart here on the feet.

Savage gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Cooke tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Savage lands a body punch.

Savage breaks the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Savage closes the distance and clinches.
Savage lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Savage.

Savage jumps guard and drags Cooke to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Savage controlling Cooke's posture.

Cooke avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
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!
Savage will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Savage looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Cooke is fighting to break Savage's control of his arms but Savage is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rocky Savage dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Cooke misses with a looping left.
Cooke throws a front kick aimed at Savage's knee but Savage avoids it well.

Savage takes the fight into the clinch.
Savage misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Cooke.
Savage manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Still in the clinch, Savage scores with a nice short uppercut.
Savage blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Savage content to slow the pace in the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Savage lands a shoulder strike.
Savage is leaning against Cooke and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Savage with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Savage lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Cooke on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke stalling in the clinch but Savage improves position.
Savage with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Savage is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cooke can do to turn this around?

Savage decides to pull guard.

Savage has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Cooke can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Cooke stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Savage swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cooke is looking to pass into half guard but Savage pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Savage is in guard.

Savage is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Savage's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Savage slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Cooke being controlled for a moment.
Savage lands a few punches from side control.

Savage working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Savage has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Savage moves into full mount!
Savage controlling from the full mount.
Cooke really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Savage. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Savage is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Rocky Savage overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Savage has hold of Cooke's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Cooke manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Savage postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Cooke looks a forlorn figure.
Savage tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Savage working the ground and pound effectively.
Savage content just to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rocky Savage dominated that second round.
That's time! Savage's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Cooke checks the leg kick nicely there.

Savage moves into the clinch successfully.
Savage holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Cooke looking to stall.
Savage tries to land knees in the clinch but Cooke avoids the damage to the body.
Savage lands a right hand that snaps the head of Cooke backwards.
Cooke taking a breather.
Savage'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.
Savage stalls.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke misses with a short punch on the inside.
Savage drops down looking for an ankle pick but Cooke pulls his leg out and moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Savage throws a right hand that Cooke ducks under and follows up with a left that Cooke also avoids with ease.
Rocky Savage is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Savage gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Cooke misses with a hook to the ribs.
Savage just leaning against Cooke, taking a breather.
Rocky Savage has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Savage escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cooke lands with a shot to the body.
Cooke throws a body shot but no joy.

Savage moves into the clinch.
Cooke gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Savage.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Matt Cooke has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Savage throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Cooke blocks it with crossed arms.
Savage slows down the pace here.
Savage using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Savage's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Savage has Cooke up against the cage in a clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Savage scores with a shot to the side of Cooke's head.
Cooke is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Savage will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Cooke up against the cage.
Cooke wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooke is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

Savage pulls Cooke into guard.
Savage pulls Cooke in close to prevent any damage.
Cooke must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Cooke got a little sloppy there for a moment and Savage has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Cooke has managed to get both his arms back between Savage's legs - danger averted.
Savage has Cooke pulled in close to control his posture.
Savage manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Cooke manages to get himself to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Savage controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Rocky Savage is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Cooke looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Savage passes into side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cooke looks to move to half guard but instead Savage has passed into mount! Damn!

And that's the end of the fight!
Rocky Savage showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Savage 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 30:25
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 30:25
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rocky Savage!