PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ricky Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Berus Lihi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Melendez's entrance music is Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade. A fine choice. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Melendez
vs
Lihi

175 cm
18
142 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

170 cm
18
135 lbs
3 - 5 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Hellbent
Kore Fight Nutrition [TG]

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ricky Melendez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Berus Lihi!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Daniel Franklin and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lihi wants to land a leg kick but Melendez is out of range.
Melendez defending well as Lihi loads up on a big left hand.
Lihi has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Melendez is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Lihi takes a swing at Melendez's ribcage but misses.
Melendez looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
The fight stays on the outside here - Melendez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Lihi keeps the fight on the outside.
Melendez dives in for a single leg takedown but Lihi sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

Melendez gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Melendez is looking for a kimura here.
Melendez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Lihi defending well though.
Lihi is trying to control but can't.
Melendez prevents Lihi from standing back up.
Lihi is looking to improve his position.
Melendez prevents Lihi from standing back up.
Melendez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Melendez stops Lihi from getting back to his feet.
Lihi looks winded!

Melendez is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lihi's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

Lihi is defending against the submission attempts here by Melendez.
Melendez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Lihi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Melendez throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Lihi is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Melendez missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Melendez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Melendez prevents Lihi from standing back up.
Lihi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Lihi pushes Melendez off looking to stand but Melendez dives back in and keeps control.
Ground and pound from Melendez.
Lihi is trying to stand.
Melendez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Melendez thows a huge punch but Lihi dodges it nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Melendez is working for a submission of some sort.
Lihi wants to improve his position but Melendez is controlling well.
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lihi's head.
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!
Lihi is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Melendez seems to be looking for submissions.
Melendez thows a huge punch but Lihi dodges it nicely.
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lihi's head.
Melendez throwing shots but Lihi is blocking nicely.

Melendez is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Lihi has managed to free his arm - good work.

Melendez seems to be looking for submissions.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Melendez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Lihi defending well though.

Melendez is looking for a kimura here.
Lihi wants to get back to his feet.
Lihi blocking the ground and pound attempt from Melendez.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Lihi's head.
Melendez throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Melendez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
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.

Melendez is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Lihi doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Melendez.

Melendez seems to be looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lihi wants to get back to his feet.
Lihi avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Melendez.

Melendez is working for a kimura but Lihi is defending it quite comfortably.

Melendez postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Lihi to stand up.
Lihi slaps away a takedown attempt from Melendez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
A low kick from Lihi misses
and Melendez counters with a head kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lihi feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Melendez's calf.
Lihi fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Lihi tries to score with a low kick but Melendez moves his leg out of the way.
Nice defenses there by Lihi.
Melendez fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ricky Melendez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lihi defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Melendez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricky Melendez dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Lihi.
Lihi throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Melendez.

Melendez shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Lihi napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Melendez misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Lihi tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Ricky Melendez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Melendez is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Lihi is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
The ground and pound from Melendez seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Melendez creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Lihi sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

Melendez thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Melendez sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Lihi is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lihi dodges the ground and pound from Melendez.
Lihi is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Melendez stands up.
Lihi misses with a two punch combination.
Lihi scores with a shot to the body.
Melendez shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Lihi as he jumps to the side.

Melendez feints and as Lihi raises his hands in defense, Melendez changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Melendez drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Melendez jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Lihi pulls Melendez in close to prevent any damage.
Lihi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Lihi tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Melendez drops back looking for a leg! Lihi is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Lihi manages to kick Melendez off! Melendez jumps back into Lihi's guard.
Melendez prevents Lihi from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melendez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Lihi is looking to stand up but Melendez isn't so interested in that idea.

Melendez thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Melendez sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Lihi's guard.

Melendez wants to work for an arm triangle but Lihi is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Melendez prevents Lihi from improving his position.
Melendez not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Melendez throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Lihi wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez thows a huge punch but Lihi dodges it nicely.

Melendez is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Melendez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Melendez throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The fighters are battling for position here. Lihi manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Melendez is looking to work some ground and pound but Lihi has wrist control.

Melendez is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Lihi wants to stand but Melendez is controlling the position.

Melendez drops back looking for a leg! Lihi is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Lihi manages to kick Melendez off! Melendez jumps back into Lihi's guard.
Lihi trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lihi wants to stand up but Melendez is controlling him.
Lihi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lihi working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Melendez.
Lihi looking to hit a scissor sweep but Melendez is one step ahead there.
Melendez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Melendez won't allow Lihi to get back to his feet.

Melendez drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Melendez jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Lihi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Melendez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Lihi wants to sweep but no luck.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Melendez slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Melendez is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Lihi is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Melendez in side control, working for a kimura. He's got hold of an arm and he's torquing it... Lihi is tapping! That's the end of the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Ricky Melendez!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Ricky Melendez made sure he mentioned Hellbent , along with how happy he was to win his fight.