PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Rafael Mendes (ranked 4244 p4p, 107 weight class) and Nicky Ryan (ranked 21372 p4p, 149 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Mendes
vs
Ryan

175 cm
27
143 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

184 cm
31
144 lbs
14 - 12 - 0

Counter fighter
Cardio machine

Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rafael Mendes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nicky Ryan!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Robert Twigg and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ryan misses with the combination.

Mendes gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Mendes blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Mendes has a couple of punches blocked by Ryan.
Ryan tries to land knees in the clinch but Mendes avoids the damage to the body.
Mendes lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Ryan.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Mendes throws an elbow but misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
Ryan blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Ryan misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Mendes lands with a light punch inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ryan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ryan can't break the clinch.
Mendes blocks a body shot from Ryan.
Mendes lands a left hand.
Mendes comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Mendes as Ryan tries to tie him up.
Ryan takes a shot to the head.
A short body shot lands from Mendes as the two fighters clinch.
Ryan is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Mendes lands a good knee to the midsection. Ryan won't want to take too many of those.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Ryan throws an elbow but misses.
Mendes putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Ryan in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Mendes keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ryan's efforts to push away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendes lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Mendes unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Ryan wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Mendes throws a head punch that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ryan avoids the elbow strike from Mendes, against the ropes.
Ryan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Mendes lands a body punch in the clinch.
Mendes lands an elbow inside.
Mendes looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Ryan looking to slow down the pace here.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Mendes.

It looks like Nicky Ryan has been cut.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Mendes throws an elbow but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Mendes dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Nicky Ryan's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Mendes moves into the clinch.
Ryan tries to land a knee to the head but Mendes blocks with his arms.
Ryan trying to control the position but instead, Mendes has worked for underhooks and has pushed Ryan into the ropes.
Ryan stalling in the clinch but Mendes improves position.
Ryan is persisting with his attempts to control the action in the clinch, rather than do any real damage.
Mendes tries to work over Ryan's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Mendes pushes Ryan back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Mendes blocks an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ryan is looking to control Mendes's arms but Mendes gets an underhook and turns him. Now Ryan has his back to the ropes.
Mendes is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Ryan is defending well for now.
Ryan blocks the elbow strike.
Ryan taking a breather.
Rafael Mendes has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Mendes as Ryan tries to tie him up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ryan is trying to stall.
Ryan is trying to slow the pace down but that's a couple of times in a row that he's tried to get underhooks and Mendes has denied him.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Nicky Ryan.
Ryan fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Mendes manages to avoid it.
It looked like Mendes wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Mendes steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ryan.

Mendes drives through and clinches with Ryan against the ropes.
Mendes keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ryan's efforts to push away.
Ryan is trying to stall.
Mendes missing with knees to the body.
Mendes throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Ryan blocks it with crossed arms.
Mendes misses with an elbow strike.
Ryan trying to stall but Mendes improves his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ryan looking to slow down the pace here.
Ryan is trying to push Mendes away but Mendes has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Mendes misses with a knee strike.
Ryan wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Mendes has him pressed against the ropes.
Mendes using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Ryan misses with the head strike.
Ryan wants to stall.
Mendes tries to land knees in the clinch but Ryan avoids the damage to the body.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Mendes tries a body shot but Ryan blocks it.
Mendes tries to land knees in the clinch but Ryan avoids the damage to the body.
A right hand to the body from Mendes.
Mendes pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Mendes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Nicky Ryan's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Ryan misses the jab.

Mendes moves into the clinch.
Ryan misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mendes.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ryan.
Ryan is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Mendes is keeping busy.
Mendes tries a body shot but Ryan blocks it.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Ryan taking a breather.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mendes working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Ryan takes an elbow to the temple.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mendes.
Mendes digs a right hand underneath Ryan's ribcage. Ryan let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Ryan trying to control the position but instead, Mendes has worked for underhooks and has pushed Ryan into the ropes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendes tries to work over Ryan's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ryan blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Ryan is trying to maintain a safe position but Mendes gets an underhook and turns Ryan into the ropes.
Ryan blocks an elbow strike from Mendes.
Mendes scores a nice knee to the body.
Mendes misses with a short punch on the inside.
Ryan stalling in the clinch but Mendes improves position.
Mendes tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ryan can't find room to land a body shot as Mendes controls the action.
Mendes missing with knees to the body.
Ryan blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendes pushes Ryan back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Mendes tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Mendes misses with an elbow strike.
A short right from Mendes.
Mendes softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Mendes tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Ryan throws a punch but it's blocked by Mendes.
Mendes lands with a light punch inside.
Ryan is looking to break free of the clinch but Mendes has double underhooks.
Mendes tries to land knees in the clinch but Ryan avoids the damage to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Mendes unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Mendes tries to work over Ryan's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ryan has a couple of punches blocked by Mendes.
Nicky Ryan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rafael Mendes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Mendes prevents a body shot from Ryan.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rafael Mendes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Mendes, 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rafael Mendes!
Rafael Mendes thanked the fans post fight for their support.