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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Atticus Finch (ranked 1185 p4p, 2378 weight class) and Zaid Al Balushi (ranked 139 p4p, 258 weight class). Finch comes to the cage accompanied by Ghetto Bird- Ice Cube. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!
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| 178 cm
24
156
7 - 4 - 0 |
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180 cm
24
155
2 - 0 - 0 |
Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible |
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Decent wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank |
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Atticus Finch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Zaid Al Balushi!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Finch checks a leg kick nicely.
Finch ducks under a wild hook from Al Balushi.
Al Balushi throws a leg kick that misses.
Finch throws a counter high kick but Al Balushi was just alert enough to avoid it.
A telegraphed right hand from Al Balushi misses the target.
Finch swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Al Balushi staying out of range there.
Al Balushi tries to clinch but Finch moves away
and Al Balushi takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Finch tries to clinch there but Al Balushi circles away.
Al Balushi throws a shot from downtown. Finch moves away and avoids it.
Al Balushi throws a leg kick which misses Finch's front leg but catches the back leg as Finch tries to avoid it.
The fighters circling - Finch throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Al Balushi needs to keep his hands up - Finch had a free shot at his head there.
Finch fails in his attempt to clinch.
A nice side step and Al Balushi releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Al Balushi wants to slow Finch down by chopping away at his legs.
Al Balushi rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Al Balushi takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Finch drops his hands momentarily and Al Balushi takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Finch looks to throw the jab but Al Balushi is out of range.
Sloppy strikes from Finch. Those never looked like landing.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Al Balushi throws a hook to the side of Finch's head but Finch sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Finch is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Al Balushi ducks right into an uppercut from Finch.
Finch takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Al Balushi misses with a body kick.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Balushi dips to his left and cracks Finch with an uppercut!
Zaid Al Balushi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
That kick from Al Balushi tenderised Finch's leg. Finch is trying to keep his angry face on.
Finch lunges at Al Balushi with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Al Balushi's hand.
Finch lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Al Balushi circles away quickly and effectively.
Finch misses with a series of wild punches.
A telegraphed right hand from Finch misses the target.
Finch connects with a body shot that sends Al Balushi's belly button to the back.
Al Balushi throws a leg kick but Finch moved away.
Finch digs a good hook to Al Balushi's body.
Al Balushi fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Finch.
Al Balushi throws a jab when Finch was well out of range.
Finch with a jab.
Al Balushi scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A head kick misses from Al Balushi.
Finch bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
It looked like Finch wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Nice body kick from Al Balushi.
Finch tries to clinch up.
Al Balushi misses with a looping left.
Finch scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Finch takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Finch looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Al Balushi.
Al Balushi throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Finch sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Finch is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Al Balushi tries to score with a low kick but Finch moves his leg out of the way.
Al Balushi misses with a kick to the body
and Finch finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Al Balushi bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Finch's head backwards.
Al Balushi tries to move into range but Finch moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Finch closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Al Balushi swings for the body but Finch moves out of range.
Finch thuds his right hand into Al Balushi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Al Balushi is looking to score with low kicks.
Al Balushi defending well as Finch loads up on a big left hand.
A punch combination from Al Balushi misses.
The fighters circling - Al Balushi throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Al Balushi thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Finch if he has to take too many more of those.
Al Balushi pivots, looking for a leg kick but Finch is out of range and Al Balushi settles back down.
Finch moves out of range of the leg kick from Al Balushi.
A jab lands there for Finch.
Finch closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Al Balushi.
Finch tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Al Balushi misses with a knee strike.
Finch lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Al Balushi or not.
Al Balushi lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Al Balushi scores with a shoulder strike.
Still in the clinch, Al Balushi scores with a nice short uppercut.
Finch throws a head punch that misses.
Finch lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Al Balushi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Finch misses with a hook. Al Balushi ducked under it nicely.
Finch displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Al Balushi throws out the jab.
Finch ducks under a wild hook from Al Balushi.
Finch slips a straight right by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi swings for the body but Finch moves out of range.
Al Balushi throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Al Balushi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Finch moves into the clinch successfully.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Al Balushi lands an elbow inside.
Al Balushi blocking some punches.
Al Balushi lands an elbow that stopped Finch in his tracks for a moment.
Al Balushi missing with knees to the body.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Al Balushi missing with knees to the body.
Finch gets through Al Balushi's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
A short body shot lands from Finch as the two fighters clinch.
Finch misses with the head strike.
Finch struggles to land a body shot inside as Al Balushi controls his hands.
Al Balushi with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Al Balushi tries to land knees in the clinch but Finch avoids the damage to the body.
Finch fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Finch misses with the head strike.
Finch lands a hook to the side of the head.
Finch struggles to land a body shot inside as Al Balushi controls his hands.
Al Balushi throws an elbow that misses.
Finch avoids the elbow strike from Al Balushi, against the cage.
Finch tries to land a knee to the head but Al Balushi blocks with his arms.
Finch working aggressively here.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Al Balushi blocks an uppercut.
Finch is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Al Balushi is defending well for now.
Finch misses with a hook from the clinch.
Finch tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Finch misses with a hook to the ribs.
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 Atticus Finch will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!
Finch connects with a jab.
Zaid Al Balushi seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Al Balushi connects with the punch.
Finch throws a series of punches but Al Balushi avoids them all with ease.
Al Balushi misses with a hook. Finch ducked under it nicely.
Al Balushi throws a lazy body kick
and Finch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Finch misses with an uppercut.
Al Balushi throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Al Balushi looks to land a right hand but Finch moved out of range.
Finch's corner calls for a 1-2. Finch obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Al Balushi gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Al Balushi lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Al Balushi blocks an elbow strike from Finch.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Al Balushi as Finch tries to tie him up.
Finch misses with a body punch.
Al Balushi tries to land knees in the clinch but Finch avoids the damage to the body.
Finch has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Finch scores with a shot to the side of Al Balushi's head.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Al Balushi tries to land a knee to the head but Finch blocks with his arms.
Finch throws a head punch that misses.
Finch tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Balushi blocking some punches.
Al Balushi gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Finch has Al Balushi pressed against the cage, preventing Al Balushi from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
With the fighters up against the cage, Al Balushi throws an elbow but misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Al Balushi just misses with a elbow thrown towards Finch's brow.
Al Balushi lands an elbow just above Finch 's eye.
Al Balushi blocks an elbow strike from Finch.
Al Balushi missing with knees to the body.
Finch throws a head punch that misses.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Finch has a couple of punches blocked by Al Balushi.
Finch swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Finch lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
A knee to the head by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi misses with an elbow strike.
Al Balushi looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Al Balushi lands an elbow inside that Finch shrugs off.
Al Balushi is working Finch over against the cage.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Finch takes an elbow to the forehead.
It looks like Atticus Finch has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Al Balushi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Nice body punch from Finch - that landed with a thud.
Al Balushi lands a damaging elbow.
Al Balushi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Finch scores with a hook to the body.
Finch avoids a wild elbow strike from Al Balushi.
Finch with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Finch.
A head punch on the inside from Finch fails to land.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
A short right from Al Balushi on the inside.
Al Balushi gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Finch working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Finch has a couple of punches blocked by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi is trying to stall.
Al Balushi displaying some good clinch control by pressing Finch up against the cage.
Al Balushi lands a nice elbow.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Al Balushi wants to stall.
Al Balushi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Zaid Al Balushi seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Finch throws a head punch that misses.
Finch takes a knee to the side of the body.
Finch working aggressively here.
Finch looking to slow down the pace here.
Finch throws a punch but it's blocked by Al Balushi.
A short right from Al Balushi.
Al Balushi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi misses with an elbow over the top.
Al Balushi unloads a knee to the mid-section. Finch lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Al Balushi missing with knees to the body.
Finch lands a shoulder strike.
Al Balushi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
A knee to the head by Al Balushi.
Finch takes an elbow to the temple.
Finch is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Al Balushi is keeping busy.
Al Balushi lands an elbow just above Finch 's eye.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Finch's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Al Balushi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Good work by Finch as he checks the leg kick.
Crunch! Al Balushi slams his shin into Finch's torso.
Al Balushi closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Knees to the body from Al Balushi.
Al Balushi creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Al Balushi lands a nice knee to the body.
Finch misses with some punches.
Al Balushi lands a nice knee to the body.
Al Balushi looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Finch takes a knee right on the jaw!
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Finch dodges an elbow strike from Al Balushi.
Al Balushi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Zaid Al Balushi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Atticus Finch's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!
A decent looking body kick lands there for Al Balushi.
The fight stays on the outside here - Finch looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Finch gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Finch waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Al Balushi.
Al Balushi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Finch.
Finch throws an overhand right that lands on Al Balushi's shoulder, as Al Balushi tries to avoid the shot.
Finch throws a jab but it's blocked by Al Balushi.
Finch misses with a low kick.
Al Balushi throws a hook but Finch blocks it.
Al Balushi is looking to score with low kicks.
The fight moves into the clinch position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Finch blocking some punches.
Finch looking to slow down the pace here.
Al Balushi lands an elbow inside that Finch shrugs off.
A nice right hand lands inside from Finch.
Finch takes a knee to the side of the body.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Balushi makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Finch creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Finch throws an elbow but it misses.
Al Balushi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Finch will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
Finch fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Al Balushi darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Al Balushi looks to throw the jab but Finch is out of range.
Al Balushi cracks Finch with a right hand to the side of the head.
Finch moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Finch blocks a low kick nicely.
A punch lands to the side of Finch 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Al Balushi attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
A little feinted left hand from Finch on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Al Balushi swings away with a leg kick that misses.
A low kick lands for Al Balushi.
Al Balushi throws a leg kick but Finch moved away.
Finch swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Finch avoids a kick to the body.
Finch fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Al Balushi, pushing him back against the cage.
Al Balushi connects with a nasty looking knee right to Finch's face.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Finch just misses with a elbow thrown towards Al Balushi's brow.
Finch has a couple of punches blocked by Al Balushi.
Finch misses with a short punch on the inside.
Al Balushi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi scores a nice knee to the body.
Finch tries to work over Al Balushi's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Al Balushi with a knee to the head.
Al Balushi pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Finch misses with an uppercut. Al Balushi saw that one coming.
Al Balushi thinks about the counter body kick.
Al Balushi cracks Finch with a good jab.
Finch tries to close the distance and clinch but Al Balushi swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Al Balushi looks to land a body kick but Finch moved away.
Finch moves out of range as Al Balushi throws a body kick.
Al Balushi with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Al Balushi misses the jab.
Al Balushi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Finch.
Al Balushi lands an overhand right.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Al Balushi throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Finch moves out of range as Al Balushi strikes.
Finch blocks a head kick by Al Balushi.
Al Balushi throws an overhand right that lands on Finch's shoulder, as Finch tries to avoid the shot.
Finch throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Al Balushi misses with a looping left.
Al Balushi throws a hook to the side of Finch's head but Finch sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Finch throwing a counter right hand but Al Balushi manages to avoid it.
Finch throws a hook but Al Balushi avoids it easily.
Finch throws a hook but Al Balushi avoids it easily.
The crowd cheers as Finch lands an impressive looking overhand right. Al Balushi doesn't seem phased though.
Al Balushi lands a two punch combo.
Finch is looking to clinch but Al Balushi is avoiding it.
A nice side step and Al Balushi releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Al Balushi changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
A low kick from Al Balushi misses
and Finch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Finch throws a shot from downtown. Al Balushi moves away and avoids it.
Good leg kick by Finch.
Al Balushi misses with a kick to the body.
Al Balushi misses with a hook. Finch ducked under it nicely.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Al Balushi walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Al Balushi has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Finch throws a jab but it's blocked by Al Balushi.
Finch takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Al Balushi shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Al Balushi pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Finch swinging wildly here.
Al Balushi keeps the fight on the outside.
Al Balushi dodges the punch combination from Finch.
Finch is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Al Balushi.
Finch avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Al Balushi throws a low kick, looking for Finch's leg but Finch calmly moves out of range.
Al Balushi misses with a body kick.
Al Balushi moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Al Balushi misses with an attempted mid kick.
Finch throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Finch clinches up against the cage.
Finch on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
And that's the end of the fight!
Zaid Al Balushi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Al Balushi has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 27:30
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zaid Al Balushi!
A very excited looking Zaid Al Balushi made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.
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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
82% |
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