PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Distant Thunder (ranked 2466 p4p, 1765 weight class) and Niko Alzate (ranked 149 p4p, 110 weight class). I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Thunder
vs
Alzate

171 cm
31
143
12 - 10 - 2

168 cm
31
135
11 - 9 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Granite chin

Heavy Metal Drugs

FUClothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 2, fighting out of Las Vegas, Distant Thunder!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Niko Alzate!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Paul Gruel and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thunder throws an off balance right hand
and Alzate counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Nice uppercut there from Thunder.
Alzate tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Thunder was well out of range. Poor timing from Alzate.
Thunder attempts a counter takedown but Alzate avoids it well and moves away.
Thunder looks to land a combination. Alzate sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Thunder misses with a hook
letting Alzate counter with a right hand.
Thunder lands a head shot.
Distant Thunder seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Alzate wants to land a leg kick but Thunder is out of range.
Thunder looks to land a left hand but Alzate moved out of range nicely.
Thunder checks the leg kick.
Thunder misses with an uppercut.
Thunder jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Thunder avoids the head kick by Alzate.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Donk. Alzate catches Thunder right on the button with a cross.
Alzate moves away from the strike by Thunder.
Alzate lands a head shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thunder tries for a takedown but Alzate sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Alzate looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Thunder misses with a kick to the body.
A nice leg kick lands there from Alzate.
Alzate misses with a right hand
and Thunder counters with a nice uppercut.
Alzate displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Thunder.
Thunder throws a nice inside leg kick.
Alzate throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
A telegraphed right hand from Thunder misses the target.
Thunder pivots, looking for a leg kick but Alzate is out of range and Thunder settles back down.
A lazy body kick from Thunder
and Alzate counters with a low kick, right behind Thunder 's knee.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Thunder.
A punch lands to the side of Thunder 's head but he takes it in his stride.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thunder ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Alzate moves away.
Alzate on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
An inside leg kick lands from Thunder.
Alzate throws out a loose jab but Thunder uses good head movement to avoid it.
Thunder thows a leg kick but Alzate checks it
and Alzate counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Thunder thinking.
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!
Thunder throws a leg kick but Alzate sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Niko Alzate is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Thunder has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Alzate.

Thunder drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Alzate is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Thunder has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Alzate is working away from the top position though.
Thunder is controlling Alzate's position as best he can from this difficult position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alzate passes to full mount!
Thunder tries to reverse the position but Alzate maintains control.
Alzate looking to control but Thunder is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Thunder manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Alzate is working for a submission of some sort.
Thunder tries to roll over but Alzate keeps him under control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thunder trying to control but Alzate postures up.
Thunder is trying to control but Alzate manages to pass to mount!
Thunder is trying desperately to improve position.
Thunder gets back to half guard.
Alzate is keen to just control but Thunder is a slippery customer.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Niko Alzate will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Thunder throws out a loose jab but Alzate uses good head movement to avoid it.
Alzate looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Thunder looks to land a left hand but Alzate moved out of range nicely.
Thunder scores with a leg kick.
Thunder moves away from the strike by Alzate.
Alzate misses with a straight left.
Alzate tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Thunder was well out of range. Poor timing from Alzate.
Thunder walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Alzate checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Thunder throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A nice side step and Alzate releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Thunder on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Alzate. Alzate obviously looking to wear him down.
Alzate tries to clinch up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thunder misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Alzate.
Alzate misses with a leg kick

and Thunder counters with a nice double leg into side control. Alzate won't be happy with that.
Alzate sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Alzate moves into full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Alzate is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Thunder trying to control the position from guard on top but Alzate is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Thunder wants to pass the guard but Alzate is keeping the position.
Thunder controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

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

Thunder is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Thunder looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Alzate has picked Thunder up and slammed him! Thunder can't keep hold of the triangle and Alzate manages to pass to side control!
Thunder is looking for a sweep.

Alzate tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Alzate has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Alzate is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Thunder is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Thunder wants to control but Alzate postures up.
Alzate wants to stand but Thunder has his arm trapped.
Thunder sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Thunder is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at The House Of Pain, so we'll see if he gets out of it.

Thunder looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Alzate is trying to control the action in half guard but Thunder is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's four 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.

Alzate is looking for a kimura here.
Thunder wants to control but Alzate is keeping busy.
Alzate works his way into side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Thunder is looking for a sweep.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Niko Alzate showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

A good leg kick by Alzate.
Thunder looks to land a body kick but Alzate moved away.

Thunder rushes Alzate and presses him up against the cage.
Thunder digs a right hand into Alzate's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Alzate's gas tank.
Alzate swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Thunder fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Thunder tries a body shot but Alzate blocks it.
A head punch on the inside from Alzate fails to land.
Alzate swings wildly with an uppercut but Thunder uses good head movement to avoid it.
A right hook to the body lands for Alzate.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alzate tries a body shot but Thunder blocks it.
Alzate fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Thunder works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Alzate lands a right hand.
Thunder tries to work over Alzate's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Thunder fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Thunder lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Alzate or not.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alzate blocks a body shot from Thunder.
A nice right hand lands inside from Alzate.
Alzate misses with a hook to the ribs.
A shot in the inside from Thunder.
Alzate blocks a body shot from Thunder.
Alzate has a couple of punches blocked by Thunder.

Thunder escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Thunder throws a jab when Alzate was well out of range.
Nice shot by Thunder.
Alzate ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Thunder takes a swing at Alzate's ribcage but misses.
Thunder paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Thunder changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Thunder misses with an uppercut
and Alzate counters with an inside leg kick.
Thunder misses with a lunging right hand
and Alzate counters with a stiff right hand.
Alzate misses with a jab to the body
and Thunder counters with a right hand to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Alzate punishes Thunder's body with a nice straight punch.
Thunder scores with a body shot.
Thunder throws a head kick but Alzate moves out of range.
A shot to the liver by Thunder. Beautiful body shot.
Thunder throws a series of strikes that have Alzate backpedaling.
Thunder throws a right hand that misses
and Alzate counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Alzate uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Thunder has time to react.
Thunder scores with a jab to the jaw.
Alzate tries a low kick but Thunder avoids it.
Thunder tries a head kick but it misses.
Thunder misses with a hook. Alzate ducked under it nicely.
Alzate doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Thunder dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Alzate. That did some damage!
Distant Thunder has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thunder tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Thunder throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Alzate looks to land a right hand but Thunder moved out of range.
Good work by Alzate as he checks the leg kick.
Thunder scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Thunder misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Thunder takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Thunder throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Alzate counters with a good low kick that Thunder was not able to check.
Alzate throws a half hearted mid kick.
Decent striking displayed by Alzate there.
Thunder looks to score with a jab to the body but Alzate is just out of range.
Alzate keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Thunder backing away here, and Alzate unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Alzate throws a sloppy head kick and Thunder moves out of range easily.
Thunder swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Alzate cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thunder tries to clinch up but Alzate circles away and keeps his distance.
Thunder goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Alzate scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Thunder doesn't seem bothered though.
A nice leg kick lands there from Alzate.
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!
A chopping leg kick lands by Thunder.
Thunder ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Alzate moves away.
Alzate dips to his left and cracks Thunder with an uppercut!
Thunder moves out of range of the body kick from Alzate.
Thunder misses with a low kick.
Alzate was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
Thunder throws a low kick, looking for Alzate's leg but Alzate calmly moves out of range.
Thunder thows a left - swing and a miss!
Alzate feints a counter leg kick.
Thunder is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Thunder swings widly with a right hand
and Alzate counters with a nice leg kick.
Niko Alzate is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The fighters circle momentarily. Alzate darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Distant Thunder.
I think Alzate has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Roger Salmon scores the fight 28:30
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Niko Alzate!
Niko Alzate took to the microphone after his victory and thanked his sponsors, FUClothing for their support in the buildup to the fight.