PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between HP Storm (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Manny Zelaya (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zelaya has chosen Can't hold us as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Storm
vs
Zelaya

182 cm
25
182 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

188 cm
26
185 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Can Moonwalk

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, HP Storm!
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, Manny Zelaya!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Columbo Gatti and Eddie Farnsworth.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Storm gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Zelaya counters with a slapping leg kick.
Zelaya avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Zelaya is looking for the big counter here.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zelaya looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Zelaya scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Storm doesn't seem bothered though.
Storm does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Storm misses with a wild combination.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Zelaya, right into the meat.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Zelaya shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Storm is trying to defend but Zelaya finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Storm actively working from the bottom here.
Zelaya not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Storm has one foot on Zelaya's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.

Zelaya closes the distance and clinches.
Storm jumps guard but Zelaya stands there with Storm around his waist. Storm gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Zelaya manages to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Storm throws a poor cross that misses
and Zelaya counters with a flying knee. Nice.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Zelaya fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Storm sprawls well initially but Zelaya persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

Storm kicks off Zelaya and gets to his feet.
Zelaya is looking to clinch.
Zelaya tries to bum rush Storm with a series of wild strikes but Storm uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Storm tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Zelaya counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Zelaya throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Storm was covering up waiting for the punch and Zelaya finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Storm is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Zelaya defends well.

Storm has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Zelaya can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Storm tries to land a sweep but no joy.

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

Storm looking for a guillotine here but Zelaya defends easily.
Zelaya must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Zelaya wants to get up but he can't break Storm's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

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.

Storm looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Storm utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Storm has his hands on Zelaya's head, controlling the position.
Storm is trying to keep Zelaya in close.

Storm looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Zelaya is defending well. Storm quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Zelaya has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Storm celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). HP Storm!
Manny Zelaya spoke after the fight, saying 'He put on a nice performance but I will see you again'.