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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alex Graves (ranked 2399 p4p, 308 weight class) and Charles Cooper (ranked 4399 p4p, 493 weight class). Graves comes to the cage accompanied by London Calling. Cooper comes into a darkened arena with his song building. s.mouse - slap my elbow 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.
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| 190 cm
43
198 lbs
23 - 28 - 0 |
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178 cm
46
190 lbs
38 - 36 - 1 |
Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Very strong |
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BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Granite chin |
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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
23 - 28 - 0, fighting out of London, Alex Graves!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
38 - 36 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Charles Cooper!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Nard Betker and Radbod Blank.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooper clinches up with Graves and pushes him back against the cage.
Cooper lands a nice elbow.
It looks like Alex Graves has been cut.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Graves doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Cooper is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Cooper managing to block the knees to the body from Graves.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Graves as Cooper tries to tie him up.
Cooper gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Cooper'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.
Nice elbow from Cooper.
Cooper blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Graves avoids a wild elbow strike from Cooper.
Graves avoids a wild elbow strike from Cooper.
Graves has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Cooper is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A shot in the inside from Graves.
Nice elbow from Cooper.
Graves has picked Cooper up - he's going for a ride! Graves dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graves content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Graves is trying to work for a kimura but Cooper is defending well.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooper is staying active underneath Graves, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Graves wants to pass the guard but Cooper is defending well.
Graves is working for an americana but Cooper has been sneaky and has managed to get back to half guard, whilst Graves was thinking about the submission.
Graves controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Cooper has his feet on Graves's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Cooper instigates a clinch.
Graves trying to stall but Cooper improves his position.
Cooper is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Graves is keeping busy.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Graves presses Cooper against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Cooper pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Cooper gets underhooks to prevent Graves's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Graves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cooper lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Graves blocks the elbow strike.
Cooper throws an elbow but it's blocked.
A head punch on the inside from Cooper fails to land.
Cooper creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Graves blocks an elbow strike.
Cooper tries to stall but Graves uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Cooper cracks Graves with a nice body shot.
Cooper throws an elbow that misses.
Graves is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Cooper is defending well.
Graves blocks an elbow strike.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cooper gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
A right hand to the body from Cooper.
Cooper lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Cooper just misses with a elbow thrown towards Graves's brow.
Cooper scores with a shot to the side of Graves's head.
Cooper lands an elbow inside.
Graves wants a takedown but no success here.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper pushes off an throws an elbow but Graves leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Graves dodges an elbow strike from Cooper.
Cooper can't find room to land a body shot as Graves controls the action.
Cooper prevents the takedown attempt.
Cooper pushes off an throws an elbow but Graves leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Cooper lands an elbow just above Graves 's eye.
Cooper pushes Graves back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Cooper pushes off an throws an elbow but Graves leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Cooper throws an elbow that misses.
Cooper lands an elbow inside that Graves shrugs off.
Cooper tries to stall but Graves uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Cooper wants to stall.
Cooper gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Graves.
Cooper lands an elbow inside.
Graves lands a left hand.
Cooper working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Cooper lands an elbow inside that Graves shrugs off.
Graves tries to land knees in the clinch but Cooper avoids the damage to the body.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooper lands a damaging elbow.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cooper misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Graves lands a nice uppercut.
Cooper dodges an elbow strike from Graves.
Graves throws an elbow that misses.
Cooper gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Graves has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Cooper is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Graves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Cooper is defending well for now.
Graves tightens his grip and picks Cooper up, before dumping him to the ground. Cooper manages to land in guard.
Graves won't allow Cooper to get back to his feet.
We've been hearing good reports from Graves's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Graves trying to control but Cooper is working from the bottom.
Graves wants to pass the guard but Cooper is keeping the position.
Graves is working hard here to advance position.
Graves has gone for a leg lock! Cooper slips out almost immediately though and dives into Graves's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Charles Cooper dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Alex Graves's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!
Cooper lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Graves closes this distance looking for a takedown but Cooper circles away.
Cooper wants to counter with a clinch but Graves pushes him away.
Cooper drives through and clinches with Graves against the cage.
Cooper looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Cooper gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Graves.
Cooper throws an elbow but it misses.
Graves avoids a wild elbow strike from Cooper.
Cooper lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Graves is working for takedown but Cooper is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Graves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Graves missing with knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooper lands an elbow inside.
Cooper struggles to land a body shot inside as Graves controls his hands.
Graves blocking some punches.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Graves.
Graves pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Graves is trying to drag Cooper to the mat but Cooper just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Cooper lands an elbow just above Graves 's eye.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves is trying to maintain a safe position but Cooper gets an underhook and turns Graves into the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Cooper throws an elbow but misses.
Graves turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Graves tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Cooper is trying to improve his position.
Graves thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Graves is trying to get an arm triangle but Cooper is defending well.
Graves thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Graves tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Graves swings around for an armbar but Cooper sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Graves's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Graves has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Cooper can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Graves manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Cooper manages to get himself to full guard.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves drops back, looking for a kneebar! Cooper looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Cooper looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Cooper!
Cooper just content to control the position.
Graves is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Cooper decides to stand up, so the ref orders Graves to his feet.
Cooper has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Horrible takedown attempt by Graves or perhaps it was just good defense by Cooper, which made it look bad.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooper clinches up against the cage.
Cooper tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Graves's elbow.
Graves tries a knee to the head but Cooper blocks it.
Cooper gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Graves.
A short right from Cooper.
Cooper is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Charles Cooper seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Nice body punch from Cooper - that landed with a thud.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cooper digs a right hand into Graves's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Graves's gas tank.
Cooper lands a nice elbow.
Alex Graves's cut is getting worse.
Cooper throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Cooper creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Graves's defenses.
Cooper lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cooper misses with an elbow over the top.
Cooper is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Graves is looking to take this one to the mat.
Cooper trying to stall but Graves improves his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Charles Cooper showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Alex Graves's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!
Cooper rushes Graves and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Cooper pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Cooper lands a damaging elbow.
Cooper lands a nice elbow.
Graves is rocked!
Cooper lands a nice elbow.
Oh Graves is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Clinched against the cage, Cooper lands a big elbow that drops Graves! The ref dives in to save him from more shots - Graves is complaining that he's OK but he was done.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:22 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Charles Cooper!
A less than humble Charles Cooper misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.
Alex Graves was interviewed post fight and said 'This isn't over. That was luck and we will be back to breaking arms and spirits very soon!'.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
61% |
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