PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Dan Skog (ranked 3375 p4p, 394 weight class) and Red Cup (ranked 6220 p4p, 554 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Skog
vs
Cup

178 cm
35
178 lbs
20 - 14 - 0

190 cm
32
183 lbs
7 - 13 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

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 20 - 14 - 0, fighting out of New York, Dan Skog!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Red Cup!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Daniel Franklin and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Skog fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Cup appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Cup connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Skog slips under a jab.
Skog connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cup. Skog does a little dance to reset his feet.
A good leg kick by Skog.
A shot to the liver by Skog. Beautiful body shot.
Cup cracks Skog with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Skog throws a good cross that connects.
Cup moves in looking to clinch but Skog pushes him off.
Cup misses with a lunging right hand
and Cup takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cup just misses with a punch to the body.
Skog uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Cup.
Skog takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Cup throws a looping overhand right but Skog ducks down to avoid it.
Cup throws a body kick, spinning off balance

so Skog counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Skog trying to control the position from guard on top but Cup is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Skog stops Cup from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Skog landing with the ground and pound.
Cup is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Skog controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Cup wants to stand but Skog is controlling the position.
Cup can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Skog controls the pace.

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.
Skog stops Cup from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Skog tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Cup throws a poor cross that misses
and Skog counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Skog moves away from the strike by Cup.
An attempted straight right counter from Skog misses the target.
Cup throws a nice looking combination but Skog bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Skog avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Good exchange - Cup coming out on top.
Skog slaps away a takedown attempt from Cup, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Skog throws a good cross that connects.
Red Cup seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cup misses with a wild body shot.
Skog dips to his left and cracks Cup with an uppercut!
A nice inside leg kick there by Skog. That's going to slow Cup down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cup closes the distance and pushes Skog back into the cage.
Cup wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Skog has him pressed against the cage.
Cup tries to break free but Skog pushes him back against the cage.
Cup blocks an uppercut.
Skog scores with a shot to the side of Cup's head.
Skog scores with a nice hook to the head.
Skog lands a nice uppercut.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Skog.
Skog lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Cup backwards.

Cup breaks from the clinch.
Cup throws a push kick but Skog slaps the foot to one side.
Skog moves out of range of the strikes.
It looked like Skog was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Cup throws a chopping leg kick but Skog manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Skog misses with a straight right.
Cup looks to land a right hand but Skog moved out of range.
Skog scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A shot to the body from Cup misses
enabling Skog to counter with a crisp jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cup takes a shot right to the bread basket.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cup connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Cup misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Cup swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Cup throws a combination that misses
letting Skog counter with a right hand.
Cup fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Decent striking displayed by Skog there.
Skog dodges the punch combination from Cup.

Skog decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Cup pushes Skog off but Skog dives into side control.
Skog in side control lands a decent elbow.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Skog is looking to take a break and control but Cup is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
An elbow from Skog crashes against the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Skog throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Cup throws a lazy uppercut
and Skog counters with a straight right hand.
Cup misses with the combination.
Skog bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Cup's head backwards.
Skog lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Cup is rocked!
Dan Skog is winning the standup battle so far.
A jab from Skog does it's job there.
Cup is still on wobbly legs! Can Skog finish him?

Cup tries to sprawl but Skog drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Cup scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Skog manages to mount him!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Skog avoids the attempt from Cup to control.
Cup seems to have recovered his senses.
Cup is trying to stand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Skog.
Skog looking to control but Cup is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Skog raining down shots from the mount!
Skog looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Skog with a couple of short strikes.
Cup wants to get back to his feet.
Cup is squirming around, avoiding Skog's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Skog lands a big shot there that rocks Cup but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Cup is wriggling around trying to escape.
Skog lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Cup hang on?
Cup tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Skog controlling the pace for now.
Cup is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Cup is trying to escape the mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cup wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Skog tries to control but Cup wriggling away.
Skog fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Skog unloading with bombs!
Skog landing strikes from the mount.
Skog trying to control but Cup is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cup tries to lock up and control but Skog gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Skog controlling from the full mount.
Cup felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Skog landing shots from mount.
Skog avoids the attempt from Cup to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Skog steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Cup.
Cup takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Cup tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Skog paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Skog changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Cup feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Skogs jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Skog tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cup was well out of range. Poor timing from Skog.
Cup throws a body shot but no joy.
Skog lands a lovely overhand right.
Cup takes one on the button.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cup. Skog does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cup throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Skog tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cup was well out of range. Poor timing from Skog.
Red Cup is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Skog moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

Cup closes the distance and pushes Skog back into the cage.
Cup is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Skog lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A short right from Skog on the inside.
Skog misses with a hook from the clinch.
Skog is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cup can do to turn this around?
Cup working hard to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Skog.
A frustrated look appears on Cup's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Cup is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Cup jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Skog walks away with a smile on his face. Cup gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Skog's jab looks to have found its range, popping Cup under the eye.
Cup ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Skog keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cup.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Skog.
A jab from Cup does it's job there.
Skog slips a jab and a cross from Cup.
Cup throws a poor cross that misses
and Skog cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Skog keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Skog lands with a good body shot.
Cup pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Skog back to the cage. Cup follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Cup takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Skog cracks Cup with a big right hand that sends him to the floor! Cup looks wobbly but he's sprung back up to his feet straight away… can Skog finish him?
Skog keeps Cup at a distance using the push kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Skog showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Cup.
Skog tries to counter with a takedown but Cup is quick to defend against it.
Skog scores with a nice right hand.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Skog.
Cup is looking for a sweep.
Skog is looking to take a break and control but Cup is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Cup looks to move to half guard but instead Skog has passed into mount! Damn!
Skog with a couple of short strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cup is desperately trying to improve his position but Skog has a good base and remains in mount.
Skog trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Cup is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Skog trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Dan Skog overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cup in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Skog cracks Cup with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dan Skog!
Red Cup spoke after the fight, saying 'That wasn't fun.'.