PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Melekh David (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dick Tanner (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.

David
vs
Tanner

170 cm
36
159 lbs
26 - 18 - 1

189 cm
38
154 lbs
28 - 13 - 0

Great wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

SP Ultimate Nutrition
Perkele!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 26 - 18 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Melekh David!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 28 - 13 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Dick Tanner!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Josh West and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
David shoots in and drives through. Tanner sprawls well.
A nice inside leg kick there by David. That's going to slow Tanner down.
Tanner dips to his left and cracks David with an uppercut!
Tanner throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Melekh David seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
That kick from Tanner tenderised David's leg. David is trying to keep his angry face on.
Tanner connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between David's hands.

David moves into range and clinches up with Tanner.
Tanner is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
David working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Tanner lands an elbow that stopped David in his tracks for a moment.
David fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A quick uppercut on the inside from David.
David tries a body shot but Tanner blocks it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tanner blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Tanner.
Tanner working aggressively here.

Tanner breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
David tries to clinch up but Tanner circles away and keeps his distance.
We've been hearing reports that David has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
David throws a sloppy head kick and Tanner moves out of range easily.
Tanner looks to throw the jab but David is out of range.
Tanner throws a head kick that misses.
Tanner throws a leg kick but David sees it coming and moves out of range.
Tanner throws a front kick aimed at David's knee but David avoids it well.
Tanner swings away with a leg kick that misses.
David attempts a counter takedown but Tanner avoids it well and moves away.
David ducks under a wild hook from Tanner.
David appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
David moves out of range as Tanner strikes.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
David struggles to land a body shot inside as Tanner controls his hands.

David's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

David fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Tanner, pushing him back against the cage.

Tanner breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanner fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches David on the side of the head.
Tanner takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
David pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Tanner misses with an uppercut

and David decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Tanner's guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tanner looking to hit a scissor sweep but David is one step ahead there.
Tanner keeping full guard, as David tries to pass.
David in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Tanner utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
David stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Tanner swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
David 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.
Tanner managing to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Good shot there by David.
Tanner loads up on a big right hand but David slips the punch.
David showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Tanner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
David wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Tanner bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Tanner is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
David fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Tanner checks it well.
Tanner feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to David's calf.
David on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Good shot there by Tanner.
Tanner throws a series of punches but David moves out of range.
Tanner has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
David chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
David swings for the body but Tanner moves out of range.
Tanner thows a left - swing and a miss!
David is looking to score with low kicks.
Tanner looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
David takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
David misses with an attempted mid kick.
Tanner throws out a counter right but David avoids it with no problem.
Nice shot lands for Tanner.

David shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

David throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Tanner's waist but Tanner gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing David off to one side.
Tanner swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A head kick misses from David.
Tanner misses with a body shot.
David pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Tanner takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.

David closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Tanner to the mat! Tanner manages to get full guard.
David wants to pass the guard but Tanner is keeping the position.
Tanner looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
David is looking to pass into half guard but Tanner pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Tanner is in guard.

David being controlled here, momentarily.
David is looking to sweep but instead, Tanner has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
David is staying active underneath Tanner, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
David keeps control of the position for the meantime.
David is looking to control Tanner's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can David avoid being mounted?
Tanner with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
David tries to get to full guard but Tanner has control of the leg.

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.
David is refusing to be controlled, as Tanner sits in half guard.
David keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tanner wants to control but David is keeping him busy.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
David tries to get to full guard but Tanner has control of the leg.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Tanner leaves David with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
David rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Tanner counters with a straight right hand.
David swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Tanner.
David lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.

David has taken the fight to the clinch.

Tanner breaks the clinch.
David looks to land a right hand but Tanner moved out of range.
Tanner connects with a solid leg kick.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tanner. David does a little dance to reset his feet.
David rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Tanner counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
A slapping leg kick lands for David.
David throws out a leg kick but Tanner moves out of range and David only half commits.
Dick Tanner seems to be getting the better of the standup.
David avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
David jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Tanner lands a jab to the nose.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A left lands for Tanner.
Tanner connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
David shoots for a double leg takedown but Tanner sprawls well. He's pushed David's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Melekh David. That's going to take a lot out of him.
David throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
David will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Tanner 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.
Tanner misses with an uppercut.
Decent striking displayed by Tanner there.
David scores with a shot to the body.
David shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Tanner pinned against the cage. Tanner gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
David ducks under a wild hook from Tanner.

Tanner gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows David to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Tanner is controlling David's posture.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Dick Tanner will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. And we move into the final round!

David tried to score with a low kick but Tanner checks it.
Tanner blocks a head kick by David.
No luck with that takedown attempt from David.
David moves in looking to clinch but Tanner pushes him off.
David scoring well with a low kick there.
Tanner misses with a hook
and David counters with a thumping low kick.
David slips under a jab from Tanner.
David looks to throw the jab but Tanner is out of range.
David looks to land a combination but Tanner avoids it well.
David misses with a low kick as Tanner jumps back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
David keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
David dives in for a single leg takedown but Tanner sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
David walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
David throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
David takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Nice cross by Tanner.

That's one minute gone in the round.
David fails to land with a series of punches.
David tries to clinch up.
Tanner stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

David is rocked!
Tanner lands the left hand.
Oh David is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Tanner darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Tanner throws a monster overhand right that drops David! Tanner follows up with more strikes from mount and the fight is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:24 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dick Tanner!