PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nick Morris (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alcides Salonica (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Salonica has chosen "Weapons of Mad Distortion" by The Crystal Method as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. 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?

Morris
vs
Salonica

210 cm
26
262 lbs
8 - 5 - 0

194 cm
27
250 lbs
10 - 6 - 2

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Sharon Needles Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nick Morris!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 6 - 2, fighting out of Montreal, Alcides Salonica!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Robert Douchet and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morris scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

It looks like Alcides Salonica has been cut.
Morris thuds a left hand into Salonica's body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Salonica misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Salonica throws a sloppy body shot
and Morris counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Salonica tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Morris swivels and escapes.
Salonica looks gassed!
Salonica checks a leg kick nicely.
Salonica throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Morris lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Salonica throws a sloppy head kick
and Morris makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Morris fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Salonica on the side of the head.
Morris dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Morris throws a right hand that Salonica ducks under and follows up with a left that Salonica also avoids with ease.

Morris lands a left and a right that send Salonica crashing to the mat, dazed. Morris thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!
Morris scores with a punch to the head.

Salonica is rocked!
Morris throws a wild body kick that Salonica sees coming a mile off.
Salonica is trying hard to land a takedown here. Morris sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Morris feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Morris stands up over Salonica, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Morris content to stall in guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morris trying to control the position from guard on top but Salonica is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Morris throws a big right hand that misses.
Morris in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

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.
Salonica tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morris throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Morris postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Salonica is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Morris, into his guard.
Salonica trying to control the position from guard on top but Morris is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Salonica is fighting to break Morris's control of his arms but Morris is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Salonica postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Morris trying to keep a closed guard but Salonica is proving a slippery customer.
Morris wants to control the position but Salonica says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Salonica misses with a head shot. Morris uses the momentum to regain guard.
Morris avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Salonica throws a big right hand that misses.
Salonica loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Salonica tries to land a body kick
and Morris counters with a head kick.
A swing and a miss from Salonica.
Salonica slips a straight right by Morris.
Morris slips a jab and a cross from Salonica.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morris throws a head kick but Salonica moves out of range.
Morris throws a head kick but Salonica moves out of range.
Salonica slips a jab from Morris.
Morris blocks a jab.
Salonica fails with a takedown attempt.
Nick Morris has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alcides Salonica.
A slow jab from Salonica misses its intended target.
Morris misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Alcides Salonica seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Salonica throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Salonica throws a sloppy head kick and Morris moves out of range easily.
Morris misses with a wild combination.
Salonica is trying desperately to land a takedown but Morris is having absolutely none of it. This is turning into a bit of a nightmare for Salonica.
Salonica throws a right and a left that Morris avoids nicely.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Morris misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Salonica throws a leg kick
and Morris counters with a thumping low kick.
Morris closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Salonica throws a shot from downtown. Morris moves away and avoids it.
Salonica moves forwards but Morris connects with a nice, crisp jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Morris dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Alcides Salonica's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Morris sizes up Salonica with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Salonica chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Nick Morris is winning the standup battle so far.
A slapping leg kick lands for Morris.
A big left from Morris misses.
Morris is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Salonica throws a head kick but Morris moves out of range.
Nick Morris is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Salonica misses with a hook.
Morris throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Salonica sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Morris throws a sloppy head kick and Salonica moves out of range easily.
Salonica shoots and misses

and Morris counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Morris throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Morris trying to control the action but Salonica is working from the bottom.
Morris missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morris moves nicely into side control.
An elbow from Morris crashes against the mat.

Morris is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Salonica is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Morris in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Morris thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Morris is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Salonica is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Salonica is looking to reverse the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salonica regains half guard, as Morris was trying to land strikes.
Salonica is not content to let Morris control the position.
Salonica preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Morris 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.
Morris slows the pace down in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Morris trying to pass the guard but Salonica defending well.
Salonica is trying to control but can't.
Morris thows a huge punch but Salonica dodges it nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Morris dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Alcides Salonica's cut.
That's time! Morris's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Morris swings away with a body shot that misses
letting Salonica counter with a right hand.

It looks like Nick Morris has been cut.
Morris moves away from the strike by Salonica.
Morris will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Salonica with a jab.
Morris avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Salonica fails to land the takedown.
Salonica tries to clinch there but Morris circles away.
Morris is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Salonica can do to turn this around?
Morris throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Morris throws a head kick but Salonica moves out of range.
Salonica moves out of range of the body kick.
Salonica misses with an uppercut. Morris saw that one coming.
Salonica jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Salonica doesn't manage to clinch there - Morris circles away.
Salonica tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Morris was well out of range. Poor timing from Salonica.
Salonica misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Morris.
Morris looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Morris moves out of range as Salonica strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salonica throws a hook to the side of Morris's head but Morris sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Salonica thuds his right hand into Morris's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
A shot to the body from Salonica misses
and Morris counters with a low kick, right behind Salonica 's knee.
Salonica takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Crunch! Morris slams his shin into Salonica's torso.

Morris drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Salonica keeping moving, preventing Morris from controlling successfully.
Salonica being controlled here, momentarily.
Morris stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Salonica swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morris throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Salonica works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Morris works over Salonica with some ground and pound from guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morris stays in close to Salonica's body and controls the position.
Morris trying to control but Salonica is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morris trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Morris drops back, looking for a kneebar! Salonica looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Salonica looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Salonica!
Nick Morris is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Salonica is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Morris is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Salonica works to advance to full mount. Morris defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Morris tries to reverse the position but Salonica maintains control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.

Salonica jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Morris manages to avoid the submission attempt.
A bit of a lull in the action here.
Salonica misses with the ground and pound.
Salonica tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Morris keeping his opponent close.
Morris manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nick Morris showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Morris has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:26
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:26
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nick Morris!