PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Leonardo Clay (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Meller (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Leonardo Clay has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Clay
vs
Meller

216 cm
24
279 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

196 cm
24
278 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Leonardo Clay!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, David Meller!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Ryoma Takatsuka and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Clay shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Meller but Meller pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Meller throws a solid leg kick but Clay takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Meller.
Clay checks a leg kick.
Clay swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Meller clinches up with Clay and pushes him back against the cage.
Meller has Clay pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Clay manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.

Clay's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Clay.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Meller fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Clay to the ground. Meller is now in Clay's guard.
Clay is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clay is pulling down on Meller's head. It's preventing any offense from Meller, at least for the moment.
Meller wants to pass the guard but Clay is keeping the position.
Meller is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Meller should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.

Clay has an active guard here but Meller has managed to pass into half guard.
Meller seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Clay wants to improve his position but Meller is controlling well.

That's two 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.
Meller trying to mount his opponent but Clay defends it.
Meller is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Meller not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Meller performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Clay is looking for a sweep. Meller is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Meller works his way into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Clay seems a little lost for a moment, as Meller dominates the positioning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clay trying his best to control but Meller has mounted him.
Meller throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Meller takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Meller has hold of Clay's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Clay manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Meller working Clay over with strikes here.
Meller tries to control but Clay wriggling away.
Meller takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Clay is working to get back to half guard.
Meller punching from mount but Clay doing a good job of avoiding damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Meller controlling from the full mount.
Meller has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Meller throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Meller trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Clay is desperately trying to improve his position but Meller has a good base and remains in mount.
Meller wants to control but Clay has made it back to half guard. Nice work.
Clay is staying active underneath Meller, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Clay trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Meller manages to pass to mount!
Meller content just to control the position here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Meller 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.

Clay tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Meller defends well and Clay ends up having to push Meller into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Despite the aggression on Meller's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.

Meller has managed to clinch.
Meller wants to break free but Clay has control.
Clay tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Clay avoiding damage as Meller throws knees to the body.
Clay is trying to maintain a safe position but Meller gets an underhook and turns Clay into the cage.

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

Meller fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Clay sprawls well initially but Meller persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clay is concentrating on defense, preventing Meller from advancing position.
David Meller has got the better of the ground game so far.
Meller is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Clay is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Meller controlling the action here.
Clay tries to roll over but Meller keeps him under control.

Meller seems to be working for a kimura but Clay defends the submission attempt.
Meller trying to control the pace.

That's two 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.
Meller seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Clay has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Meller is working away from the top position though.
Clay wants to control the action here but instead Meller manages to pass to full mount!
Meller controlling his opponent.
Clay trying desperately to get to his feet.
Meller controlling from the full mount.
Clay is in all sorts of trouble here.
Clay is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Meller sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Meller unloading with bombs!
Meller throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Clay wants to hold on but Meller pushes him away.
Clay is desperately trying to improve his position but Meller has a good base and remains in mount.
Meller sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Meller in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

Meller is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Clay to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Clay shrugs it off.

Meller jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Clay manages to avoid the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clay is looking to reverse the position.
Clay is not content to let Meller control the position.
Clay is trying to get back to half guard.
Meller tries to score with some ground and pound. Clay controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.

Meller has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Meller misses with a hook.
David Meller seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Meller looks to land a body kick but Clay moved away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Meller showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Meller manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Clay on his heels. He'll look to pass Clay's guard now, I'm sure.
Meller trying to control the position from guard on top but Clay is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Clay is trying to keep Meller in close.

Meller gets to his feet. Clay looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

Meller drives through and clinches with Clay against the cage.
Meller is trying to pull guard but Clay turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Meller working hard to break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Meller jumps guard but Clay stands there with Meller around his waist. Meller gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Meller wants to break the clinch but can't.
Meller has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Meller is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Clay to keep the fight standing.
Leonardo Clay has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Meller.
Clay has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Meller is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Meller tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Clay just stands there and leans against the cage.
Clay tries to break free but Meller pushes him back against the cage.
Meller is trying to pull guard but Clay has him pressed against the cage.

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

Meller gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Clay stops Meller from standing up.
Meller working a defensive guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Meller lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Meller controls from within his opponent's guard.
Clay will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Meller working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Meller throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Clay works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Clay working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Meller has passed into half guard!
Clay tries to roll over but Meller keeps him under control.
Well, if Meller is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clay gets back to full guard.
Clay looking to control but Meller passes into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Meller lands a nice short elbow.
Meller wants to control but Clay is keeping him busy.

Meller decides to return to a standing position.
Clay avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Clay tries to sprawl but Meller drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Meller trying to control the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Meller is continuing to stall.
Clay works his way to full guard. Good work.

Meller stands up from Clay's guard - Meller perhaps looking for a knockout.
Clay keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Clay changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Meller doesn't manage to clinch there - Clay circles away.
Clay appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Meller is looking to clinch.
Clay half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Meller misses with a two punch combination.

Meller drives through with a takedown into Clay's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Clay wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Meller manages to pass to side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Leonardo Clay showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Meller has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 28:29
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... David Meller!