PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Samuel Cooke (ranked 1663 p4p, 181 weight class) and Beta Knox (ranked 694 p4p, 81 weight class). Cooke comes to the cage accompanied by Harm's Way - Warriors Will Reign. Knox comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Anthrax | Fight Em Till You Can't kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Cooke
vs
Knox

184 cm
29
161 lbs
17 - 14 - 0

172 cm
34
161 lbs
15 - 14 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Samuel Cooke!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Beta Knox!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Dmitry Maklakov and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cooke fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Knox checks it well.
Knox misses with a lunging right hand
and Cooke counters with a nice body kick.
Knox blocks a low kick nicely.
Cooke takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Knox blocks the body kick.
Cooke moves out of range of the strikes.
Cooke throws a predictable looking body shot
and Knox counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Cooke fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Knox looks to land a combination. Cooke sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Cooke uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Knox.

Cooke looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Knox gets back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox 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.
Knox bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cooke's guard.

Knox stopping the sweep attempt from Cooke.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Cooke is on top in guard.

Knox keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.
Knox is controlling Cooke's posture.
Knox keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.
Cooke stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Knox swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooke stopping the sweep attempt from Knox.
Cooke trying to control the position from guard on top but Knox is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Knox has Cooke pulled in close to control his posture.
Cooke has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Knox keeping moving, preventing Cooke from controlling successfully.
Knox looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cooke is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Knox ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cooke moves away.
It looked like Cooke wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Knox misses with a wild body shot.
Knox is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Cooke.
Knox throws a jab but it's blocked by Cooke.
Cooke throws a head kick that misses.
Cooke staying out of range there.
Cooke bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

Cooke closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Knox did well to prevent Cooke getting side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cooke is trying to control. Knox wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cooke looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Knox wants to get back to full guard.
Cooke trying to control from half guard but Knox is working away.
Knox keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Knox trying to hold on to Cooke's head to control him but Cooke postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Samuel Cooke will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Cooke misses with a wild body shot.
Cooke ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Knox misses with a body shot.
Nice defenses there by Cooke.
Cooke throws a big counter combination but Knox scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Knox takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Cooke blocks a jab.
Knox scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Cooke.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knox takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

Cooke closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Knox to the mat! Knox manages to get full guard.
Cooke won't allow Knox to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knox keeping full guard, as Cooke tries to pass.
Knox is looking to sweep but instead, Cooke has passed into half guard.
Knox is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Cooke scores with a couple of nice shots.
Cooke thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Knox's head.
Knox wants to get back to full guard.

Cooke seems to be working for a kimura but Knox defends the submission attempt.
Knox tries to get to full guard but Cooke has control of the leg.
Cooke is thwarting Knox's attempts to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooke is trying to control. Knox wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Knox wants to control but Cooke is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Knox preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Cooke tries to pass the half guard into mount. Knox knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Knox wants to get back to full guard.
Cooke seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Knox does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Knox wants to get back to full guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knox tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Cooke was well out of range. Poor timing from Knox.
Cooke ducks right into an uppercut from Knox.

Cooke is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Knox's half guard.
Knox is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Cooke performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Samuel Cooke overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Knox is trying to get back to full guard.
Cooke trying to control from half guard but Knox is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Knox trying to hold on to Cooke's head to control him but Cooke postures up.
Cooke will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Cooke trying to control the action but Knox is working from the bottom.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Knox tries to get to full guard but Cooke has control of the leg.
Knox keeps control of the position for the meantime.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nice shot lands for Cooke.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Knox misses with a looping right.
Nice defenses there by Cooke.
Cooke tries to clinch but Knox moves away
and Knox connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Cooke fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Knox on the side of the head.
A solid body kick from Cooke.
Cooke throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
It seemed like Knox was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.

Cooke closes the distance and clinches.
Knox takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Beta Knox has been cut.
Knox tries to break the clinch but Cooke is controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cooke lands a knee to the head.
Cooke lands a nice uppercut.
Cooke connects with a nasty looking knee right to Knox's face.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Cooke can't get the takedown.

Knox escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Knox throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Cooke throws a body punch but Knox moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooke avoids the body shot from Knox.
Knox defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Cooke.
Cooke avoids the body shot from Knox.
Cooke is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Knox can do to turn this around?
Cooke lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Knox circles away quickly and effectively.
Beta Knox seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Knox checks a low kick from Cooke.
Cooke moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Knox clobbers Cooke with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Knox avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

Knox manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Cooke on his heels. He'll look to pass Cooke's guard now, I'm sure.
Cooke manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Knox manages to get himself to full guard.

Cooke postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Beta Knox has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knox wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Cooke looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Cooke missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knox pulls Cooke in close to prevent any damage.
Cooke wants to control from the top but Knox keeps moving.
Knox seems keen to control Cooke's posture.
Cooke stopping the sweep attempt from Knox.
Cooke forces his way into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Knox controlling the position for now.
Cooke is thwarting Knox's attempts to control the position.
Cooke wants to pass to mount but Knox is defending the position.
Samuel Cooke is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Knox tries to roll over but Cooke keeps him under control.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Cooke throws a push kick but Knox slaps the foot to one side.
Knox let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Knox staying out of range there.
Knox lands a slapping body shot.
Knox ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Cooke moves away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Samuel Cooke showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cooke, 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Samuel Cooke!
Our winner, Samuel Cooke, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.