PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Heath Mercer (ranked 6028 p4p, 0 weight class) and Guilherme Cruz (ranked 24591 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Mercer
vs
Cruz

209 cm
18
177 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
19
160 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Heath Mercer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Guilherme Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Edson Gomes and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mercer closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Cruz to the mat! Cruz manages to get full guard.
Cruz wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Mercer manages to pass to side control.
Cruz looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!

Mercer working Cruz over with strikes.
Mercer trying to control from half guard but Cruz is working away.
Mercer has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Mercer is working for a submission of some sort.
Mercer controlling the action here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mercer working Cruz over with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mercer is working for a submission of some sort.
Cruz wants to improve his position but Mercer is controlling well.
Mercer stalling.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mercer drops an elbow to the side of Cruz's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Mercer working the head and body with strikes.
Mercer is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Nice strikes from Mercer there.
Nice strikes from Mercer there.

Mercer is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Cruz defends it well.
Cruz is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Mercer scores with a couple of nice shots.
Mercer working the head and body with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mercer escapes and gets back to his feet.
Mercer shoots in for a takedown but Cruz shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Mercer manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Cruz on his heels. He'll look to pass Cruz's guard now, I'm sure.
Mercer working some strikes from top position.

Mercer gets to his feet. Cruz looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Mercer really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Mercer manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Cruz on his heels. He'll look to pass Cruz's guard now, I'm sure.
Cruz trying to control the position.
Mercer is looking to work some ground and pound but Cruz has wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercer postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mercer with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mercer landing some decent shots from guard.
Mercer postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Our spies down at at Cozad MMA Rio inform us that Cruz has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Mercer lands a couple of elbows.
Mercer content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Mercer works over Cruz with some ground and pound from guard.
Mercer postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Mercer is in close to Cruz's body, working some short punches and elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heath Mercer dominated that 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.

Mercer scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Cruz is refusing to be controlled, as Mercer sits in half guard.
Cruz has hold of Mercer's hands but Mercer slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Mercer lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Mercer is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cruz can do to turn this around?

Cruz looking for submissions off his back.
Cruz is breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mercer takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mercer is looking for a kimura here.
Mercer working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

Mercer is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Mercer takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Heath Mercer overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Mercer is working for a submission of some sort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mercer working the head and body with strikes.
Mercer looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Cruz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mercer. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cruz trying to control from the bottom.
Mercer working over Cruz with some ground and pound. Cruz looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Mercer takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Mercer is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Cruz sees it coming and defends easily.

Mercer is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Cruz is just riding it out for now. Mercer eventually gives up the hold.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is trying to maintain the position but Mercer is very close to passing his half guard.

Mercer is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Mercer slips a nice elbow through Cruz's hands, connecting with Cruz's forehead.

That's four 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.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Mercer connects with a nice short shot to Cruz's temple.
Mercer drops an elbow to the side of Cruz's head.
Mercer looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Cruz with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Mercer is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Mercer looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heath Mercer dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Mercer goes for a double leg but Cruz avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Cruz continues to drive forward.
Mercer pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Cruz tries to keep at a distance but Mercer has taken the fight into the clinch.
Cruz managing to block the knees to the body from Mercer.
Cruz lands a left hand that snaps the head of Mercer backwards.
Cruz can't get the takedown.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz is trying to push Mercer away but Mercer has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Mercer goes for a takedown in the clinch but Cruz prevents it.

Mercer pulls Cruz into guard.
Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Mercer swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Mercer controlling Cruz's posture.
Mercer working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cruz.
Cruz being controlled here momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Cruz wants to control from the top but Mercer keeps moving.

Mercer wriggles free and stands up.

Mercer scores with a takedown into Cruz's guard.
Cruz is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Mercer dives into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Mercer is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Cruz is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercer scoring with punches and elbows.
Mercer lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Cruz down.
Mercer remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Mercer in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Guilherme Cruz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Heath Mercer is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Heath Mercer showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Mercer, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Heath Mercer!