PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Malietoa Tanumafili (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fernando Martinez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Tanumafili
vs
Martinez

183 cm
23
217 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

194 cm
27
210 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Knockout power

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Malietoa Tanumafili !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Fernando Martinez!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Frank Antenori and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tanumafili looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Nice uppercut lands for Tanumafili . That snapped Martinez's head back.
A good leg kick by Martinez.
Tanumafili lands with a shot to the body.
Tanumafili misses with a wild body shot.
Tanumafili circles away from the clinch attempt.
Martinez throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Tanumafili .
Tanumafili throws a combination that misses
and Martinez counters with a straight right hand.
Tanumafili lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tanumafili misses with a series of wild punches.
Tanumafili misses with a series of wild punches.
Martinez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Martinez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Tanumafili paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Jab by Martinez.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tanumafili blocks a leg kick.
Martinez listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Martinez connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
A leg kick checked by Martinez.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martinez shoots for a takedown but Tanumafili saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Martinez throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Martinez clobbers Tanumafili with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Martinez looks to land a left hand but Tanumafili moved out of range nicely.
Tanumafili lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Martinez circles away quickly and effectively.
Martinez wants to clinch.
Tanumafili moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Tanumafili does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Tanumafili takes a kick to the side of the head.
Martinez checks a leg kick.
Martinez slips a jab and a cross from Tanumafili .
Tanumafili takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Martinez tries to clinch but Tanumafili is having none of it.
Martinez throws a nice inside leg kick.
Tanumafili keeps the fight on the outside.
Malietoa Tanumafili is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Martinez throws a low kick, looking for Tanumafili 's leg but Tanumafili calmly moves out of range.
Martinez is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
A jab from Martinez misses.
Martinez lands a right hook to the body.
Tanumafili throws a leg kick but Martinez sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Tanumafili checks a low kick from Martinez.
Martinez darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Tanumafili swats away the attempt to clinch by Martinez.
Martinez chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Tanumafili stalks Martinez and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Martinez's face. Martinez staggers backwards, shaken.
Tanumafili scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A clash of legs there as Tanumafili blocks the low kick.
Tanumafili connects with a jab.
Tanumafili pivots, looking for a leg kick but Martinez is out of range and Tanumafili settles back down.
Tanumafili avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Martinez lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Martinez wants to clinch up but Tanumafili keeps it at a distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martinez tries a head kick but it misses.
Tanumafili misses with a leg kick
and Martinez counters with a thumping low kick.
Tanumafili fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Tanumafili checks the leg kick.
Martinez goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Martinez tries to clinch but Tanumafili moves out of range.
Nice jab there from Tanumafili .
Tanumafili on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Martinez tries to clinch but Tanumafili moves out of range.
Martinez avoids a punch combination nicely.
Martinez fails with an attempt to clinch.
Tanumafili fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Tanumafili 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.
Tanumafili circles away from the clinch attempt.
Tanumafili digs a good body shot into Martinez's ribs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tanumafili lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Martinez circles away quickly and effectively.
Martinez chopping away at his opponent's legs.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Martinez takes the fight into the clinch.
Tanumafili lands a body punch.
Martinez lands a damaging elbow.
Tanumafili swings wildly with an uppercut but Martinez uses good head movement to avoid it.
Tanumafili prevents a body shot from Martinez.

Tanumafili 's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Tanumafili blocks the body kick.
Tanumafili uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Martinez.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tanumafili blocks a jab.
Martinez throws a lazy right hand but Tanumafili sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Tanumafili throws a leg kick but Martinez moved away.
Tanumafili motions for Martinez to come forward. Tanumafili throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Tanumafili misses with a double jab
and Martinez counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Tanumafili scores with a one two! Martinez had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Tanumafili throws an overhand right that lands on Martinez's shoulder, as Martinez tries to avoid the shot.
Martinez dodges the punch combination from Tanumafili .
Tanumafili on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Martinez tries a head kick but it misses.
Martinez misses with a kick to the body.
Martinez checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Tanumafili checks a low kick from Martinez.
Martinez uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Tanumafili .
Tanumafili slaps away a takedown attempt from Martinez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Fernando Martinez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Martinez takes the fight into the clinch.
Martinez lands an elbow inside that Tanumafili shrugs off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanumafili is trying to break the clinch but Martinez has him pressed against the cage.
Martinez blocking some punches.
Tanumafili blocking some punches.
Martinez trying to control the position but instead, Tanumafili has worked for underhooks and has pushed Martinez into the cage.
Martinez scores with a knee to the head.

It looks like Malietoa Tanumafili has been cut.
Martinez is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Tanumafili is keeping busy.
Tanumafili has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Martinez crunches a lovely knee into Tanumafili 's ribcage.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Martinez.
Martinez misses with a punch on the inside.
Martinez pushes Tanumafili back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Tanumafili wants to break the clinch but can't.
Martinez working Tanumafili over with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanumafili is trying to break the clinch but Martinez is controlling him.
Tanumafili is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Tanumafili has had enough of the clinch but Martinez keeps him there for the moment.
Martinez keeps control of Tanumafili as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Tanumafili wants to break free but Martinez has control.
Martinez manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Martinez lands a left hand.
Tanumafili wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Martinez has him pressed against the cage.
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!
Martinez scores a nice knee to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Martinez.
Martinez prevents Tanumafili from breaking the clinch.
Tanumafili wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Tanumafili pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Martinez wants to clinch.
Fernando Martinez seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Tanumafili misses with a straight left.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martinez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tanumafili tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Martinez paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Martinez fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Tanumafili misses with a straight right.
Tanumafili keeps the fight on the outside.
Malietoa Tanumafili is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Martinez tries to clinch but Tanumafili moves out of range.
Martinez moves away from the strike by Tanumafili .
Martinez keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Tanumafili .
Martinez dodges the punch combination from Tanumafili .
Martinez has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Tanumafili scores with a shot to the body.

Martinez has Tanumafili up against the cage in a clinch.
Martinez lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Tanumafili backwards.
Martinez landing knees to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Martinez landing knees to the head.
Tanumafili is trying to push Martinez away but Martinez has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Tanumafili wants to get back to striking at distance but Martinez won't allow it.
Tanumafili wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Tanumafili wants to get back to striking at distance but Martinez won't allow it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Martinez is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Tanumafili wants to get back to striking at distance but Martinez won't allow it.
Tanumafili tries to circle away but Martinez has him pinned against the cage.
Martinez throws a punch but it's blocked by Tanumafili .

Tanumafili breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tanumafili misses with a lunging right hand
and Martinez counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Martinez throws a poor cross that misses
and Tanumafili counters with a straight right hand.
Martinez misses with a low kick.
Martinez throws a head kick that Tanumafili semi-blocks.
Martinez fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fernando Martinez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Malietoa Tanumafili 's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A telegraphed right hand from Martinez misses the target.
Martinez ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Tanumafili moves away.
A big right from Tanumafili misses.
Martinez ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Martinez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tanumafili misses with a series of wild punches.
Tanumafili lands a nice looking body kick.
Tanumafili throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Martinez.
Martinez misses with a straight left.
Tanumafili misses with a wild combination.
Tanumafili doesn't manage to clinch there - Martinez circles away.
Tanumafili looks to land a combination but Martinez avoids it well.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Martinez, right into the meat.
Martinez tests Tanumafili 's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Martinez throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A combination from Martinez does no damage.
Martinez scores with a nice head shot.
Tanumafili scores with a one two! Martinez had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Martinez lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tanumafili throws a right and a left that Martinez avoids nicely.
Martinez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tanumafili throws a low kick but Martinez moves out of range easily.
Tanumafili keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Martinez throws a quick inside leg kick.
Martinez scores with a nice head shot.
Tanumafili misses with a wild combination.
Martinez fails to land with a series of punches.
Tanumafili bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Tanumafili keeps the fight on the outside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanumafili throws a one two combo.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Martinez slips a jab and a cross from Tanumafili .
Martinez fails in his attempt to clinch.

Martinez moves into the clinch successfully.
Tanumafili has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Martinez creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Tanumafili 's defenses.
Martinez dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Tanumafili wants to get back to striking at distance but Martinez won't allow it.
Tanumafili has had enough of the clinch but Martinez keeps him there for the moment.
Martinez is trying to stall.
Fernando Martinez seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Tanumafili is trying to break free.
Martinez misses with a knee strike.
Martinez misses with a short punch on the inside.
Tanumafili can't break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martinez lands an elbow inside.
The referee calls for Martinez to work.
A head punch on the inside from Tanumafili fails to land.
Martinez landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Martinez stalling in the clinch but Tanumafili improves position.
Martinez lands an elbow just above Tanumafili 's eye.
Martinez looking to throw knees to the head but Tanumafili is blocking nicely.
A short right from Martinez on the inside.
Tanumafili working hard to break the clinch.
Martinez tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Tanumafili can't break the clinch.
Nice body punch from Martinez - that landed with a thud.
Tanumafili wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Martinez has him pressed against the cage.
Malietoa Tanumafili has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tanumafili wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Martinez lands a body shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A knee to the head by Martinez.
Tanumafili looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Martinez unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Martinez lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Tanumafili backwards.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Tanumafili wants to break the clinch but can't.
Martinez lands with a left to the head.
Martinez lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Martinez putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Tanumafili in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Martinez creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Tanumafili 's defenses.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Martinez throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Tanumafili blocks it with crossed arms.
Martinez trying to control the position but instead, Tanumafili has worked for underhooks and has pushed Martinez into the cage.
Tanumafili swings wildly with an uppercut but Martinez uses good head movement to avoid it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Fernando Martinez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Martinez 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Fernando Martinez!