PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Martin Salcedo (ranked 6142 p4p, 4754 weight class) and Justin Taim (ranked 462 p4p, 425 weight class). Martin Salcedo has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Salcedo
vs
Taim

179 cm
18
155
0 - 1 - 0

168 cm
25
148
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Great low kicks
Very strong

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Martin Salcedo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Justin Taim!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Jonathan Paton and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Taim rushes Salcedo and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Taim is stalling here.
Taim effectively controlling the action here.
A frustrated look appears on Salcedo's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Salcedo prevents the takedown attempt.
Salcedo tries to circle away but Taim has him pinned against the cage.
Salcedo tries to circle away but Taim has him pinned against the cage.
Taim keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Salcedo's efforts to push away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Salcedo blocks an uppercut.
Salcedo letting Taim take a breather here.
Salcedo is trying to break the clinch but Taim is controlling him.
Salcedo definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taim misses with a short punch on the inside.
Salcedo looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Salcedo wants to break free but Taim has control.
Taim trying to land knees to the body.
Taim struggles to land a body shot inside as Salcedo controls his hands.
Salcedo is trying to break the clinch but Taim is controlling him.
Salcedo is trying to push Taim away but Taim has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Taim looking for a takedown.
Salcedo wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Salcedo is looking to break free of the clinch but Taim has double underhooks.
Salcedo is trying to break free.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Taim stalling in the clinch.
Taim effectively controlling the action here.
Salcedo tries to break free but Taim pushes him back against the cage.
Salcedo is looking to break free of the clinch but Taim has double underhooks.
Salcedo wants to break free but Taim has control.
Salcedo is trying to push Taim away but Taim has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Salcedo wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Taim effectively controlling the action here.
Salcedo wants to get back to striking at distance but Taim won't allow it.
Salcedo is trying to break the clinch but Taim has him pressed against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taim tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Salcedo wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Taim has him pressed against the cage.
Taim scores with a nice hook to the head.
Taim stalling against the cage.
Taim is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Taim lands with a light punch inside.
Salcedo wants to break the clinch but can't.
Salcedo looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Taim prevents Salcedo from breaking the clinch.
Taim lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Salcedo has had enough of the clinch but Taim keeps him there for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salcedo's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Salcedo has had enough of the clinch but Taim keeps him there for the moment.
Taim is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Taim.
Salcedo blocking some punches.
Salcedo can't break the clinch.
Salcedo wants to break free but Taim has control.
Salcedo wants to get back to striking at distance but Taim won't allow it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Taim slows down the pace here.
Taim has a couple of punches blocked by Salcedo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Taim dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Taim comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Salcedo looks to throw a body kick

and Taim counters with a nice double leg into side control. Salcedo won't be happy with that.
Taim has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
The referee asks Taim politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Taim prefers to stall for the moment though.
Taim looks up at the clock and then as Salcedo takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Taim smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Taim lands a nice forearm strike.
Salcedo wants to get back to his feet.
Salcedo is not content to let Taim control the position.
Taim might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Salcedo haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Salcedo wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taim moves into full mount!
Taim tries to control but Salcedo wriggling away.
Salcedo squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Salcedo knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Taim on the ground.
Taim trying to control but Salcedo is having none of it.
Taim lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Taim wants to control the pace but Salcedo is squirming around nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salcedo trying desperately to get to his feet.
Taim looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Taim landing shots from mount.
Taim cracks Salcedo with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Taim tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Taim looking to finish Salcedo with some ground and pound. This is bad for Salcedo!
Salcedo wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Taim working Salcedo over with strikes here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taim punishing his opponent with strikes.
Taim controlling the position easily from mount.
Taim working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Salcedo wants to try and get back to his feet.
Taim fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Taim controlling from mount.
Taim pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Salcedo tries to buck Taim off but he can't manage it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taim trying to control but Salcedo is having none of it.
Taim working Salcedo over with strikes here.
Taim in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Taim looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Taim lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Justin Taim has got the better of the ground game so far.
Taim scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Taim has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Salcedo's face.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Taim scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Salcedo?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Salcedo is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Taim tries to control but Salcedo wriggling away.
Taim scoring with strikes but Salcedo is staying in there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Taim showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Salcedo throws a head kick but Taim moves out of range.
Salcedo misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Salcedo throws a front kick aimed at Taim's knee but Taim avoids it well.
Salcedo throws a low kick, looking for Taim's leg but Taim calmly moves out of range.
Taim tries for a takedown but Salcedo sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Salcedo attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Taim with the counter takedown but Salcedo avoids it easily.

Taim moves into the clinch successfully.
A frustrated look appears on Salcedo's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Taim is stalling here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Salcedo working hard to break the clinch.
Salcedo wants to break free but Taim has control.
Salcedo is trying to force a seperation but Taim has the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salcedo tries to break free but Taim pushes him back against the cage.
Taim scores with a knee to the head.
Taim with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Justin Taim seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Salcedo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Salcedo wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Taim has him pressed against the cage.
Salcedo has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A frustrated look appears on Salcedo's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Salcedo is trying to push Taim away but Taim has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Salcedo blocking some punches.
Taim tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Taim fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Taim has Salcedo pressed against the cage, preventing Salcedo from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Salcedo blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Salcedo is trying to break the clinch but Taim has him pressed against the cage.
Salcedo has had enough of the clinch but Taim keeps him there for the moment.
Taim lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Salcedo is trying to push Taim away but Taim has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Salcedo is trying to push Taim away but Taim has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Salcedo can't break the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Salcedo's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Taim keeps control of Salcedo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Taim avoiding damage.
A bit of stalling here from Taim.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Taim creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Taim throws a head punch that misses.
Salcedo prevents a body shot from Taim.
Salcedo is looking to break free of the clinch but Taim has double underhooks.
Taim slowing the pace effectively.
Taim prevents Salcedo from breaking the clinch.
Taim holding his opponent close, against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Salcedo's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Taim tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Salcedo smiles and moves away.
Martin Salcedo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Taim will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Salcedo misses with a leg kick.
And Taim tries to counter it with a takedown but Salcedo pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Taim throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Salcedo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Justin Taim is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Taim steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Salcedo.
And Taim tries to counter it with a takedown but Salcedo pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Salcedo misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Taim misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Taim ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Salcedo moves away.
Salcedo is looking to counter with head kicks.
Taim tries to clinch up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Taim moves out of range of the body kick from Salcedo.
Salcedo goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Justin Taim is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

It looks like Justin Taim has been cut.
Salcedo throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Justin Taim.
I've got Taim winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Steve Montenegro scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 25:30
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Justin Taim!
A less than humble Justin Taim misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.