PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Gus Pappas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cristoff Melkovick (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Pappas
vs
Melkovick

172 cm
31
157 lbs
11 - 10 - 0

174 cm
27
149 lbs
9 - 3 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 11 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gus Pappas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Cristoff Melkovick!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Marco Blurström and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pappas scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Melkovick takes one to the chin there.
Pappas moves away from the strike by Melkovick.
Pappas throws a hook to the side of Melkovick's head but Melkovick sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Pappas jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Melkovick swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Pappas throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Melkovick scores with a nice right hand.
Pappas swinging wildly here.
Melkovick throws a jab but it's blocked by Pappas.
Pappas will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Pappas throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Melkovick.
Melkovick looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Melkovick scores with a jab.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Pappas swings away with a body shot that misses
letting Melkovick counter with a right hand.
A big right from Pappas misses.
Pappas keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Melkovick.
Pappas throws a right and a left that Melkovick avoids nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pappas throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Pappas ducks under a wild hook from Melkovick.
Melkovick with a nice cross.
A telegraphed right hand from Melkovick misses the target.
Melkovick misses with a straight right.
A swing and a miss from Melkovick.
Melkovick tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Pappas was well out of range. Poor timing from Melkovick.
Pappas tries to bum rush Melkovick with a series of wild strikes but Melkovick uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Pappas, right into the meat.
Melkovick closes the distance and clinches up with Pappas, looking for a takedown. Melkovick pushes Pappas against the cage but Pappas circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A telegraphed right hand from Pappas misses the target.
Melkovick looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Pappas dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Melkovick waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Pappas.
Pappas uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Melkovick.
Pappas throws a leg kick but Melkovick moved away.
Pappas throws a left and a right that both miss
and Melkovick connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Pappas misses with a hook. Melkovick ducked under it nicely.
Pappas with a jab.
Pappas misses with a lunging right hand
and Melkovick counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Pappas fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Melkovick avoids a punch combination nicely.
Pappas pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Pappas fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Melkovick manages to avoid it.
Some wild striking there from Pappas.
Pappas throws a series of punches but Melkovick avoids them all with ease.
Pappas darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Pappas swinging wildly here.
Melkovick defending well as Pappas loads up on a big left hand.
Pappas misses with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pappas throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Pappas misses with a right hand
and Melkovick counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Pappas throws a right and a left that both miss.
A little jabbing left from Melkovick on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Pappas throws a combination that misses

and Melkovick moves into the clinch.
Pappas wants to get back to striking at distance but Melkovick won't allow it.
Melkovick blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Pappas looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Pappas is trying to break free.
Melkovick fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Pappas wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Melkovick lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Pappas backwards.
Pappas wants to break the clinch but can't.
Melkovick misses with the head strike.
Melkovick throws a punch but it's blocked by Pappas.
Pappas blocking some punches.

Melkovick pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pappas misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Pappas scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Pappas throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Melkovick counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gus Pappas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Pappas misses with a jab to the body
and Melkovick counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Pappas moves forwards but Melkovick connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Melkovick fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Pappas looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Melkovick throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Pappas sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Pappas was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Melkovick doesn't manage to clinch there - Pappas circles away.
Pappas loads up on a big right hand but Melkovick slips the punch.
Gus Pappas is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Pappas will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A big left from Pappas misses.
Pappas throws a poor cross that misses
and Melkovick counters with a stiff right hand.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Melkovick connects with the punch.
Pappas falls off balance throwing a combination
and Melkovick counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
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 Gus Pappas will probably get the nod.
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.

Pappas throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Melkovick counters with a straight right hand.
Melkovick thows a left - swing and a miss!
Pappas seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Pappas scores with a hook to the body. Melkovick takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
A combination from Pappas does no damage.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Melkovick! But no joy.
Pappas digs a good body shot into Melkovick's ribs.
Melkovick might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Pappas misses with a looping right.
Pappas pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Jab from Melkovick.
Melkovick lands the left hand.
Melkovick uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Pappas.
Pappas throws a right and a left that both miss.
Pappas moves out of range as Melkovick strikes.
Pappas misses with a series of wild punches.
Melkovick swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Pappas takes a swing at Melkovick's ribcage but misses.
Pappas's jab looks to have found its range, popping Melkovick under the eye.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Melkovick.
A decent looking cross lands there for Pappas.
Melkovick misses with an uppercut. Pappas saw that one coming.
Gus Pappas is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Pappas moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
A shot to the body from Melkovick misses
and Pappas counters with a stiff right hand.
Melkovick scores with a jab to the jaw.
Melkovick misses with a hook. Pappas ducked under it nicely.
Pappas ducks under a wild hook from Melkovick.
Pappas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Pappas.
Pappas throws a leg kick that misses.
Melkovick connects with a looping right hand.
Pappas fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Melkovick has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Pappas swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Pappas takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
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!
Pappas rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Melkovick moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Pappas moves out of range as Melkovick strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pappas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
letting Melkovick counter with a right hand.
Melkovick swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Melkovick clinches up with Pappas and pushes him back against the cage.

Melkovick is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Pappas can't fight it off and eventually Melkovick manages to take the fight to the floor. Pappas looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Melkovick trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Pappas manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Pappas wants to get up but he can't break Melkovick's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Pappas is stalling in the full guard.
Melkovick has his hands on Pappas's head, controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melkovick working a defensive guard but Pappas passes into half guard.
Pappas is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Melkovick tries to get to full guard but Pappas has control of the leg.
Melkovick 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.
Pappas is thwarting Melkovick's attempts to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Melkovick is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Pappas wants to get back to his feet.
Melkovick preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Melkovick is looking to control Pappas's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Melkovick avoid being mounted?
Melkovick wants to improve his position but Pappas is controlling well.
Melkovick is trying to control but Pappas passes into side control!
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 Gus Pappas will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Pappas lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Melkovick circles away quickly and effectively.
Melkovick swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Pappas staying out of range there.
Melkovick moves out of range as Pappas throws a body kick.
Pappas lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Melkovick circles away quickly and effectively.
A head kick misses from Pappas.
Pappas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Melkovick sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Melkovick wants to counter the offense by Pappas and move into the clinch position.
Pappas uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Melkovick.
Melkovick swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Pappas connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Pappas connects with a looping right hand.
Pappas throws a hook to the side of Melkovick's head but Melkovick sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A little jabbing left from Melkovick on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pappas misses with a shot to the body
and Melkovick counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Pappas throws a nice inside leg kick.
Pappas looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Melkovick shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Pappas as he avoids it easily.
Pappas is looking for a counter combo.
Melkovick avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melkovick ducks under a wild hook from Pappas.
Melkovick looks to land a right hand but Pappas moved out of range.
Pappas uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Melkovick.
It looked like Pappas was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Gus Pappas is winning the standup battle so far.
Melkovick jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Melkovick cracks Pappas with a good jab.
Pappas throws a body kick that misses.
Pappas works Melkovick's body with a nice hook.
Melkovick ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Pappas moves away.
Melkovick pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Pappas misses with a lunging right hand
and Melkovick connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Melkovick avoids the head kick by Pappas.
Pappas throws a nice looking combination but Melkovick bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Melkovick takes a jab right on the kisser.
Melkovick tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Pappas manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
A big right from Melkovick misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A slow jab from Melkovick misses its intended target.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Melkovick has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Melkovick drops his hands momentarily and Pappas takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Pappas misses the shot to the body.

Melkovick clinches up with Pappas and pushes him back against the cage.
A short right from Melkovick.
A right hook to the body lands for Melkovick.
Melkovick tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Pappas wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Melkovick has him pressed against the cage.
Pappas's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Pappas has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Pappas tries to circle away but Melkovick has him pinned against the cage.
Pappas can't break the clinch.
Pappas tries to break the clinch but Melkovick is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pappas breaks from the clinch.
A jab from Melkovick misses.
Pappas throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Pappas swinging wildly here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Pappas steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Melkovick.
Pappas wants to land a leg kick but Melkovick is out of range.
Melkovick misses with an uppercut. Pappas saw that one coming.
Gus Pappas is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Melkovick misses the jab.
Pappas lands with an overhand left.
Pappas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Melkovick counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Pappas misses with a wild body shot.
Melkovick throws out a counter right but Pappas avoids it with no problem.
Pappas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Melkovick sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Pappas pivots, looking for a leg kick but Melkovick is out of range and Pappas settles back down.
An inside leg kick lands from Pappas.
Pappas swings away with a leg kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melkovick throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Pappas slips a straight right by Melkovick.
Pappas looks to land a body kick but Melkovick moved away.
Pappas tries to move into range but Melkovick moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
A shot to the body from Pappas misses
and Melkovick counters with a nice uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Melkovick bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Melkovick ducks under a wild hook from Pappas.
It seemed like Melkovick was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Pappas takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Pappas scores with a jab. Melkovick acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Pappas lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Pappas ducks under a wild hook from Melkovick.
Melkovick misses with a straight left.
Pappas fails to land with a series of punches.
Cristoff Melkovick has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Pappas takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Gus Pappas.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Pappas, 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gus Pappas!
Gus Pappas made sure to mention his sponsor, Pitt Nutrition 160Q! 10% Laundry plus fees!!! in his post fight interview.