The Island Season 9, 155 lbs, Round 4 PBP Commentary

Co-main event

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Tan Zan (ranked 548 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juan Luna (ranked 406 p4p, 54 weight class). Luna has chosen Noypi by Bamboo as his entrance music. 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.

Zan
vs
Luna

172 cm
27
164 lbs
9 - 2 - 0

171 cm
26
162 lbs
11 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Tan Zan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Juan Luna!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Santiago Holmes and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Luna throws a jab when Zan was well out of range.
Jab, jab by Luna - just one landing.
Zan misses with a body shot.
Luna lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Zan fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Luna looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Luna throws a good cross that connects.
Luna misses with an uppercut.
Zan uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Luna.
Zan is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Luna takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Zan avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Luna misses with an uppercut
and Zan counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zan misses with a hook.
Luna tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Zan counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Luna throws a predictable looking body shot
enabling Zan to counter with a crisp jab.
Luna wants to clinch
and Zan counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Luna tries to clinch but Zan is having none of it.
A counter left hand to the body from Zan misses its target.
Luna wants to clinch up but Zan keeps it at a distance.
Good standup being displayed there by Zan as he connects with a hook.

It looks like Juan Luna has been cut.
Luna ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Zan moves away.
Luna clobbers Zan with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Luna uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Zan.
Zan bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Zan lands an uppercut out of nowhere! Luna falls backwards - clearly groggy! Zan dives in and finishes the fight with more strikes for a TKO finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tan Zan!
A victorious Tan Zan thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.
The defeated Juan Luna had this to say: 'A man can be destroyed but not defeated... I will pickup the pieces that I learned today and will grow from it.'.

C
A

C
B

energy
A | B

hype
A | B

pop
A | B

mgr
A | B

FIGHT
RATING
55%

Main event

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between James Smith (ranked 958 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ivan Blood (ranked 572 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Smith
vs
Blood

176 cm
27
164 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

165 cm
27
155 lbs
13 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, James Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ivan Blood!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Santiago Holmes and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sloppy strikes from Blood. Those never looked like landing.
Blood misses with a jab, cross combination.
Blood looks to land a combination but Smith avoids it well.
Blood displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

It looks like James Smith has been cut.

Smith fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Blood to the ground. Smith is now in Blood's guard.
Blood is looking to stand back up but Smith counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Blood.

We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Smith throwing shots but Blood is blocking nicely.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Smith lands with a punch from half guard.
Smith sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Blood defending well though.
Smith wants to control but Blood is keeping him busy.
Smith drops an elbow to the side of Blood's head.
Smith lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Blood on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Smith throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Smith throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Blood wants to improve his position but Smith is controlling well.
Smith passes to side control.
Smith connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Blood some visible discomfort.
Smith misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Smith will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Smith scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Blood to see if he's OK.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Blood parries the strikes from Smith easily there. Smith is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Blood to escape.
Smith lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Blood taking a bit of punishment here - Smith scoring with strikes.
Blood really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Smith. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Smith in side control lands a decent elbow.
Smith definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Blood can do anything to dispel that myth.
Blood can't do much from the bottom here.
The strikes coming from Smith are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Blood avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Smith.
Smith working the body and head with strikes.
Smith lands a nice forearm strike.
Smith controls the position.
Smith looks up at the clock and then as Blood takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Smith smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith grinds an elbow into Blood's temple.
An elbow from Smith crashes against the mat.
Smith in side control lands a decent elbow.
Blood seems a little lost for a moment, as Smith dominates the positioning.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Smith lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Blood down.
Smith advances to full mount.
Blood is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
BOOM! Smith connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Blood is rocked!
Smith drops a big elbow. That's hurt Blood! More shots from Smith and the ref steps in! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). James Smith!