PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between ZaDarius Haden (ranked 1344 p4p, 952 weight class) and Hrvoje Palmotic (ranked 170 p4p, 124 weight class). Haden comes into the arena with Mot�rhead - Orgasmatron blaring out of the sound system. Palmotic has chosen One day I'll be king as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Haden
vs
Palmotic

198 cm
36
222
29 - 22 - 1

189 cm
31
205
21 - 14 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 29 - 22 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, ZaDarius Haden!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hrvoje Palmotic!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Thiago Cunha and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jab by Haden.
Palmotic missing with a left hand there. Haden was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Haden attempts a counter takedown but Palmotic avoids it well and moves away.
Haden throws a jab but it's blocked by Palmotic.
Palmotic turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
The crowd cheers as Haden lands an impressive looking overhand right. Palmotic doesn't seem phased though.
Haden shoots in for a takedown but Palmotic shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Haden takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
A jab from Palmotic misses.
Palmotic throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Haden throws a lazy uppercut
and Haden takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Haden takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Haden is defended easily by Palmotic.
Haden moves out of range as Palmotic throws a body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice shot lands for Haden.
Haden digs a good hook to Palmotic's body.
Haden avoids a kick to the body.
Haden throws a body punch but Palmotic moves out of range.
Palmotic misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Haden loads up on a big right hand but Palmotic slips the punch.
Palmotic misses with a leg kick

and Haden counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Haden scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Palmotic is looking to improve his position.
Haden trying to control the pace.
Haden lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Haden looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Haden missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Haden frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Haden lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Palmotic tries to lock up and control but Haden gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Haden has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Palmotic might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Haden haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palmotic is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Haden is staying active.
Haden landing shots from mount.
Haden controlling from mount.
Palmotic is squirming around, avoiding Haden's attempts to control the action.
Haden landing strikes from the mount and Palmotic is in trouble!
Haden fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Haden cracks Palmotic with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Palmotic wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Haden.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haden content just to control the position here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Haden postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Palmotic looks a forlorn figure.
Haden tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Haden breaks from Palmotic's wrist control and lands an elbow.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Haden tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Haden throws some wild stikes that Palmotic manages to avoid easily.
Haden postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Palmotic looks a forlorn figure.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

ZaDarius Haden dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Haden dips to his left and cracks Palmotic with an uppercut!
Palmotic ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
The fighters circling - Haden throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Haden misses with a hook. Palmotic ducked under it nicely.
Haden staying out of range there.
Palmotic throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Haden sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Haden scores with a decent looking hook.
Palmotic throws a push kick but Haden slaps the foot to one side.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Palmotic is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Haden.
Haden feinted with a counter takedown.
A looping hook to the body misses from Haden. Palmotic does a little dance to reset his feet.
Haden throws a good cross that connects.
Haden misses the body punch
and Palmotic counters with a stiff right hand.
Palmotic lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palmotic scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Hrvoje Palmotic is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Haden looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Palmotic is fending him off so far but Haden persists. Nope, Palmotic circles away and we're back to standing.
Palmotic looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Haden moves out of range of the body kick from Palmotic.
Palmotic avoids the body shot from Haden.
Palmotic throws a hook but Haden blocks it.
Haden missing with a left hand there. Palmotic was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Palmotic lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Haden at a distance.
Haden takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Haden connects with a single shot there.
Hrvoje Palmotic seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Haden moves out of range of the body kick.
Palmotic throws out a leg kick but Haden moves out of range and Palmotic only half commits.
Haden dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palmotic throws a jab but it's blocked by Haden.
Haden waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Palmotic.
Haden moves out of range of the body kick from Palmotic.
Haden feinted with a counter takedown.
Haden throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Haden misses with a hook. Palmotic ducked under it nicely.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Palmotic misses with a hook.
Haden misses with a looping right.
Haden throws a body shot but no joy.
Palmotic thows a leg kick but Haden checks it
and Haden counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Haden takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Palmotic keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Haden.
Haden fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Palmotic on the side of the head.
ZaDarius Haden seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Haden on the wrong end of a nice hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palmotic throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Haden appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Haden rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Palmotic moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Haden is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Palmotic can do to turn this around?
Palmotic misses with a body punch

and Haden counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Haden looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Haden is looking to work some ground and pound but Palmotic has wrist control.
Palmotic is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Haden stays in close to Palmotic's body and controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Palmotic working a defensive guard here.
Palmotic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Haden is one step ahead there.
Haden missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Haden is working Palmotic over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Haden trying to control but Palmotic is working from the bottom.
Haden is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Haden is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
It seemed like Palmotic was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that ZaDarius Haden will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Palmotic lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Hrvoje Palmotic has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Palmotic moves out of range as Haden strikes.

Haden closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Palmotic wants to control but Haden postures up.
The ground and pound from Haden seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Palmotic really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Haden. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Haden passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Palmotic!
Haden trying to control but he's not successful this time.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Palmotic can do anything to dispel that myth.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Haden controlling from the full mount.
Haden thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Haden raining down shots from the mount!
Haden with the ground and pound from mount.
Haden lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Palmotic felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Palmotic wants to hold on but Haden pushes him away.
Haden with shots to the head and body - Palmotic looks very uncomfortable down there.
Haden looking to ground and pound but Palmotic is blocking nicely.
Haden controlling the pace for now.
Palmotic is in a horrible position here. Haden smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Haden lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Haden working Palmotic over with strikes here.
Palmotic wants to hold on but Haden pushes him away.
Haden takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Haden can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Palmotic is looking to escape.
Haden sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Haden working the ground and pound effectively.
Haden landing shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palmotic takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Haden tries to control but Palmotic wriggling away.
Haden with good strikes from the mount here!
Haden tries to control but Palmotic wriggling away.
Haden lands a big elbow.
Haden landing punches.
Haden breaks from Palmotic's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Palmotic is squirming around, avoiding Haden's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haden postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Palmotic looks a forlorn figure.
Haden working the ground and pound effectively.
Haden controlling the pace for now.
ZaDarius Haden is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Haden scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Palmotic?
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Haden lands a couple of good shots and Palmotic has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Haden controlling well, preventing Palmotic from escaping the position.
Haden biding his time, controlling Palmotic.

And that's the end of the fight!
ZaDarius Haden showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Haden, 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:26
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:26
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... ZaDarius Haden!
A very excited looking ZaDarius Haden rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.