PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hollis Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Corey Simms (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Melendez
vs
Simms

184 cm
22
192 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

192 cm
21
190 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Can Moonwalk

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Hollis Melendez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Corey Simms!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Jeff Smith and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Simms lands a right hook to the body.

Melendez shoots in and gets a takedown into Simms's guard.
Melendez won't allow Simms to sweep him here.
Melendez trying to control but Simms is working from the bottom.
Melendez wants to pass the guard but Simms is keeping the position.
Melendez throwing strikes from guard but Simms blocks nicely.
Melendez is looking to stand up but Simms won't let him.
Melendez 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.
Simms is looking to stand up but Melendez isn't so interested in that idea.

Simms is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Melendez passes into half guard.

Melendez seems to be working for a kimura but Simms defends the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez trying to control the action but Simms is working from the bottom.
Melendez tries to pass to full mount but Simms defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Simms is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Simms is trying to stand up here but Melendez is controlling him well.
Melendez looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Simms pushes Melendez off looking to stand but Melendez dives back in and keeps control.

Simms has one foot on Melendez's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Melendez.
Melendez prevents Simms from escaping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Melendez looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Simms is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Melendez has just dragged him back down to the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Melendez is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Simms knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Simms is trying to buck Melendez off.
Simms looks winded!

Melendez goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Simms rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Melendez's guard! Nice work there by Simms!
Simms is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Corey Simms has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Melendez scores with a takedown into Simms's guard.
Melendez works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Melendez is trying to work for a kimura but Simms is defending well.
Simms pushes Melendez off looking to stand but Melendez dives back in and keeps control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melendez is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Melendez can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Simms is looking to escape.
Simms's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Melendez wants to control but Simms has made it back to half guard. Nice work.
Simms is positioning himself well to prevent Melendez advancing to mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Melendez is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Simms doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Melendez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hollis Melendez 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.

Melendez tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Simms counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Simms circles away from the clinch attempt
and Simms counters with a three punch combo that has Melendez backing up. Melendez nods at Simms to acknowledge the strikes.
Melendez moves in looking to clinch but Simms pushes him off.

Melendez throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Simms tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Melendez is in Simms's guard.
Melendez tries to free his leg and advance position but Simms is retaining full guard.
Melendez wants to control from the top but Simms keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez won't allow Simms to sweep him here.
Simms wants to get back to his feet but Melendez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Melendez slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Simms tries to buck Melendez off but Melendez is having none of it.
Simms is pushing Melendez's head away, looking to escape. Melendez manages to hold on to the position though.

Melendez goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Simms rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Melendez's guard! Nice work there by Simms!
Melendez wants to stand up but Simms is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

Hollis Melendez has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Melendez wants to clinch
letting Simms counter with a right hand.
Simms swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Melendez closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Simms's guard.

Simms pushes Melendez off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Melendez darts in trying to clinch
and Simms counters with a two punch combo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Simms lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Melendez circles away quickly and effectively.
Melendez wants to clinch but Simms slips to the side
and Simms counters with a series of strikes. Melendez will be more careful next time no doubt.
Simms throws a nice looking combination but Melendez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
A combination from Simms does no damage.
Melendez tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Simms connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melendez wants to clinch
and Simms counters with a series of strikes. Melendez will be more careful next time no doubt.

Melendez looking to score a takedown here. Simms is defending well but Melendez drives through and ends up in Simms's guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Simms uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Simms scores with a one two! Melendez had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Hollis Melendez will probably get the nod.
That's time! Melendez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Melendez closes the distance looking to clinch
and Simms counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Melendez wants to clinch
and Simms counters with a one-two to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Simms misses with the combination.
Hollis Melendez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Melendez dodges the punch combination from Simms.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Simms gets caught flat footed, as Melendez shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Simms wants to get back to his feet but Melendez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Melendez tries to free his leg and advance position but Simms is retaining full guard.
Simms is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Melendez trying to control but Simms is working from the bottom.
Simms wants to get back to his feet but Melendez passes into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melendez trying to pass the guard but Simms defending well.

Melendez is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Simms doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Melendez.
Simms keeping control of the position.
Melendez is pressing down on Simms's thigh, looking to free his foot. Simms is holding on for now.

Melendez is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Simms doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Melendez.
Simms keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Melendez looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Simms is looking to escape.
Corey Simms has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hollis Melendez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Simms misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Melendez prevents Simms from standing back up.
Melendez wants to free his trapped foot but Simms is holding on for dear life with his legs.

Melendez is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Simms defends it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Simms avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Melendez.
Simms is not content to let Melendez control the position.

Simms manages to escape and get back to his feet!

Melendez fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Simms to the ground. Melendez is now in Simms's guard.
Simms takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Melendez wants to pass the guard but Simms is keeping the position.

Simms has his feet on Melendez's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Melendez tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Simms counters with a stiff right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hollis Melendez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Melendez, 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 Chris Saunders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hollis Melendez!
After the fight, Hollis Melendez was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.