PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Miguel Gonzalez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eduard Melkonyan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Melkonyan has chosen Boston – More Than A Feeling as his entrance music. Eduard Melkonyan is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Gonzalez
vs
Melkonyan

175 cm
24
168 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

175 cm
21
179 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Very quick

BJJ Brown Belt
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Miguel Gonzalez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Eduard Melkonyan!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Konstantin Menshow and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gonzalez clinches up against the cage.

Gonzalez has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Melkonyan uses from the top position.
We've been hearing good reports from Gonzalez's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Melkonyan trying to control but Gonzalez is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gonzalez seems keen to control Melkonyan's posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Melkonyan trying to control the position from guard on top but Gonzalez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gonzalez can't keep his opponent in guard - Melkonyan advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gonzalez tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Gonzalez is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Gonzalez trying to hold on to Melkonyan's head to control him but Melkonyan postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melkonyan prevents Gonzalez from standing back up.
Melkonyan trying to pass the guard but Gonzalez defending well.
Melkonyan wants to control but Gonzalez is keeping him busy.

Melkonyan seems to be looking for submissions.

Melkonyan seems to be looking for submissions.
Gonzalez is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Melkonyan wants to pass the guard but Gonzalez is defending well.
Melkonyan is trying to control. Gonzalez wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Melkonyan throws a sloppy head kick and Gonzalez moves out of range easily.
Gonzalez seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Eduard Melkonyan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A head kick misses from Melkonyan.
Melkonyan misses with the combination.
Eduard Melkonyan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A looping hook to the body misses from Melkonyan. Gonzalez does a little dance to reset his feet.
Melkonyan throws a body shot but no joy.

Gonzalez drives through with a takedown into guard.

Gonzalez got a little sloppy there for a moment and Melkonyan has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Gonzalez has managed to get both his arms back between Melkonyan's legs - danger averted.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Gonzalez postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gonzalez throws a big right hand that misses.
Gonzalez stopping the sweep attempt from Melkonyan.

Melkonyan had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Gonzalez defends it easily.

Gonzalez got a little sloppy there for a moment and Melkonyan has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Gonzalez has managed to get both his arms back between Melkonyan's legs - danger averted.
Melkonyan preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Gonzalez slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Gonzalez avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Melkonyan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Gonzalez is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Melkonyan looking for subs off his back but Gonzalez has passed one foot through into half guard.

Melkonyan looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
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 Miguel Gonzalez will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Gonzalez lands a really nice looking cross but Melkonyan seems unphased.
Melkonyan fails to land with a series of punches.
Miguel Gonzalez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Gonzalez shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Gonzalez was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Miguel Gonzalez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Melkonyan manages to work his way to half guard, despite Gonzalez's best efforts.
Gonzalez prevents Melkonyan from improving his position.
Gonzalez trying to mount his opponent but Melkonyan defends it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Melkonyan moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Melkonyan is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Melkonyan is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gonzalez moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Melkonyan trying to control the position from guard on top but Gonzalez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gonzalez is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Melkonyan moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Melkonyan keeping moving, preventing Gonzalez from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melkonyan manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gonzalez manages to get himself to full guard.

Melkonyan trying to control but Gonzalez is working from the bottom.
Gonzalez has Melkonyan pulled in close to control his posture.
Gonzalez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Melkonyan is one step ahead there.
Melkonyan trying to control but Gonzalez is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melkonyan advances to half guard.

Melkonyan is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Melkonyan is working for a kimura here but Gonzalez manages to reverse the position and he's now in Melkonyan's guard.
Gonzalez slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Melkonyan has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Gonzalez can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Gonzalez works over Melkonyan with some ground and pound from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gonzalez postures up in Melkonyan's guard and throws a big left but Melkonyan blocks it.

Melkonyan is looking for a triangle but Gonzalez pushes his legs off easily.
Gonzalez looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Gonzalez passes into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gonzalez is trying to control the action in half guard but Melkonyan is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Melkonyan tries to get to full guard but Gonzalez has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Miguel Gonzalez dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Gonzalez scores with a crisp jab that stopped Melkonyan in his tracks.
Melkonyan swinging wildly here.
Gonzalez half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
A nice leg kick lands there from Melkonyan.
Gonzalez keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Melkonyan gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Gonzalez postures up and lands a big shot to Melkonyan's brow.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Melkonyan keeping moving, preventing Gonzalez from controlling successfully.
Melkonyan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Melkonyan throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Gonzalez escapes and throws Melkonyan's legs to the side, diving into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gonzalez is trying to get an arm triangle but Melkonyan is defending well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Melkonyan gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Melkonyan wants to get back to full guard.
Melkonyan is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Melkonyan wants to control but Gonzalez is keeping busy.
Gonzalez tries to pass the half guard into mount. Melkonyan knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Melkonyan wants to get back to full guard.
Melkonyan felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Melkonyan is trying to control but can't.

Melkonyan actively working from the bottom here.
Melkonyan is trying to control but can't.
Melkonyan wants to sweep but Gonzalez has passed to side control!
A lull in the action here as Gonzalez stalls from top position.
Eduard Melkonyan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Melkonyan is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gonzalez trying to control the position but Melkonyan is working away.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A head kick misses from Melkonyan.

Gonzalez drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Melkonyan is looking for a triangle here but Gonzalez uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Melkonyan is looking for a sweep.
Melkonyan regains half guard.
Gonzalez content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Melkonyan is looking to improve his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Miguel Gonzalez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Gonzalez, 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:28
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Miguel Gonzalez!
Post fight, Miguel Gonzalez took to the microphone: 'Thanks for the Opportunity. '.
Eduard Melkonyan was interviewed post fight and said 'Eduard Melkonyan Jr. '.