PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frank Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Blackwell (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.

Cruz
vs
Blackwell

190 cm
22
186 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
22
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Dangerous GnP
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

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 London, Frank Cruz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Matt Blackwell!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, Daniel Bishop and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Blackwell has a takedown stuffed.
Cruz throws a sloppy head kick and Blackwell moves out of range easily.
No luck for Blackwell with that takedown attempt.
Cruz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Blackwell circles away.
Matt Blackwell seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Cruz breaks from the clinch.
Cruz just misses with a punch to the body.
Cruz tries to clinch but Blackwell moves out of range.
Cruz tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Blackwell swivels and escapes.

Cruz shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Blackwell is in a horrible position here. Cruz smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Blackwell tries to lock up and control but Cruz gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Blackwell avoids a series of strikes thrown by Cruz.
Blackwell really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blackwell in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Blackwell is trying desperately to improve position.
Cruz lands a nice shot to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cruz is landing with some decent strikes but Blackwell is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Blackwell is wriggling around trying to escape.
Cruz landing strikes from the mount and Blackwell is in trouble!
Cruz landing punches.
Cruz controlling from the full mount.
Blackwell tries to lock up and control but Cruz gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz lands with some strikes.
Blackwell is desperately trying to improve his position but Cruz has a good base and remains in mount.
Cruz controlling the pace for now.
Blackwell really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Cruz dominating with strikes here.
Blackwell tries to reverse the position but Cruz maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell regains half guard.
Blackwell gets back to full guard.
Blackwell lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Cruz!
Cruz tries to reverse the position but Blackwell maintains control.
Blackwell lands a big elbow.
Cruz is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Cruz is breathing heavily.
Cruz is in a horrible position here. Blackwell smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell looking to control but Cruz is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Cruz taking shots to the head.
Cruz is in all sorts of trouble here.
Blackwell blocks Cruz's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Blackwell fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Blackwell with good strikes from the mount here!
Cruz tries to hold on but Blackwell postures up.
Blackwell has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cruz's face.
Cruz is looking to improve his position but Blackwell isn't that keen on the idea.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Blackwell feints and as Cruz raises his hands in defense, Blackwell changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Cruz kicks Blackwell off and gets to his feet.

Blackwell shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Blackwell showed some decent athleticism there.
Cruz tries to get to full guard but Blackwell has control of the leg.
Cruz is pressing down on Blackwell's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Cruz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Blackwell postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Cruz preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blackwell has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Cruz is proving hard to escape from.
Blackwell postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Blackwell controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Cruz looking to control but Blackwell passes into half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Cruz on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Cruz tries to get out of the position.
Blackwell passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Cruz!
Cruz is trying to escape the mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Blackwell can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Cruz is looking to escape.
Blackwell with a couple of short strikes.
The referee warns Cruz that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Blackwell raining down shots from the mount!
Cruz is squirming around, avoiding Blackwell's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell working the ground and pound effectively.
Blackwell pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Blackwell looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Cruz wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Blackwell working the ground and pound effectively.
Blackwell landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Cruz can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Blackwell looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Cruz in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Blackwell is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Cruz can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Blackwell looking to finish Cruz with some ground and pound. This is bad for Cruz!
Cruz is in a horrible position here. Blackwell smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Cruz is rocked!
Cruz is in a horrible position here. Blackwell smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Oh Cruz is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Blackwell landing shots from mount.
Blackwell has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cruz's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Blackwell showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Blackwell lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Cruz backs up against the cage.
Cruz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Blackwell counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Blackwell.
Blackwell trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Blackwell loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Cruz is working an open guard so Blackwell takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

Blackwell decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Blackwell works his foot free and advances to mount.
Cruz seems to have got his legs back now.
Cruz tries to hold on but Blackwell pushes him away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blackwell unloading with bombs!

Blackwell looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Blackwell pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Cruz is bucking up trying to escape but Blackwell cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Cruz tries to lock up and control but Blackwell gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Blackwell landing shots from mount.
Cruz is in a horrible position here. Blackwell smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Blackwell prevents Cruz from getting the reversal.
Blackwell lands a heavy elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell landing shots from mount.
Blackwell lands with some strikes.
Blackwell postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Cruz looks a forlorn figure.
Blackwell has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Blackwell scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Cruz is wriggling around trying to escape.
Blackwell has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cruz's face.
Blackwell landing shots from mount.
Cruz is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Cruz is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Blackwell is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Blackwell lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Cruz tries to lock up and control but Blackwell gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Cruz is in all sorts of trouble here.
Blackwell wants to control the pace but Cruz is squirming around nicely.
Cruz keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Cruz is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
BOOM! Blackwell connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Blackwell landing punches.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Blackwell cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The referee warns Cruz that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Cruz is wriggling around trying to escape.
Cruz is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Blackwell lands a big shot there that rocks Cruz but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Cruz keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matt Blackwell comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Blackwell has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 27:29
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 27:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matt Blackwell!