PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight kickboxing rules bout between Dank Skenojabitch (ranked 5430 p4p, 4596 weight class) and Frontino Melfighi (ranked 375 p4p, 340 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Skenojabitch
vs
Melfighi

165 cm
20
145
1 - 0 - 0

171 cm
24
142
3 - 2 - 0

Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Dank Skenojabitch!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Frontino Melfighi!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Melfighi swings away with a body shot that misses
and Skenojabitch cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Melfighi chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Skenojabitch can pounce on him.
Skenojabitch scores with a jab.
Melfighi looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

Melfighi closes the distance and pushes Skenojabitch back into the ropes.
Skenojabitch blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Melfighi has Skenojabitch pressed against the ropes, preventing Skenojabitch from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Melfighi presses Skenojabitch against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Skenojabitch blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Melfighi gets through Skenojabitch's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Melfighi softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Melfighi lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Skenojabitch.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Skenojabitch is trying to break the clinch but Melfighi is controlling him.
Melfighi lands a left hand.
Melfighi misses with an elbow strike.
Melfighi lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Skenojabitch backwards.
Skenojabitch has had enough of the clinch but Melfighi keeps him there for the moment.
Melfighi lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Melfighi swings wildly with an uppercut but Skenojabitch uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melfighi stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Skenojabitch putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Melfighi in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Melfighi tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Skenojabitch wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Skenojabitch doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Melfighi digs a right hand into Skenojabitch's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Skenojabitch's gas tank.
Skenojabitch tries a body shot but Melfighi blocks it.
Skenojabitch scores with a shoulder strike.
A right handed body shot lands from Melfighi.
Skenojabitch tries to break the clinch but Melfighi is controlling the position.
Melfighi stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Skenojabitch trying to stall but Melfighi improves his position.
Melfighi trying to control the position but instead, Skenojabitch has worked for underhooks and has pushed Melfighi into the ropes.
Melfighi lands a right hand that snaps the head of Skenojabitch backwards.
Skenojabitch misses with the head strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melfighi lands a damaging elbow.
Melfighi lands with a short shot to the head.
Melfighi has Skenojabitch pressed against the ropes, preventing Skenojabitch from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Skenojabitch is trying to push Melfighi away but Melfighi has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Skenojabitch is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Melfighi connects with a nasty looking knee right to Skenojabitch's face.
Melfighi using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Skenojabitch has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Melfighi is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Skenojabitch wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Skenojabitch blocks the elbow strike.
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!
Good body shot from Melfighi.
Our sources have told us that Skenojabitch has been working on his elbows in the gym.
Melfighi misses with some punches.
Melfighi prevents a body shot from Skenojabitch.
Melfighi lands a left hand that snaps the head of Skenojabitch backwards.
Skenojabitch crunches a lovely knee into Melfighi's ribcage.
Skenojabitch looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Melfighi wants to stall.
Melfighi tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Skenojabitch's elbow.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Frontino Melfighi dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Skenojabitch throws a leg kick which misses Melfighi's front leg but catches the back leg as Melfighi tries to avoid it.
Skenojabitch throws a nice outside leg kick.
Melfighi misses with a leg kick
and Skenojabitch cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Melfighi wants to clinch but Skenojabitch slips to the side
letting Skenojabitch counter with a right hand.
Melfighi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Skenojabitch throws a quick inside leg kick.
Melfighi tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Skenojabitch connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
A lazy left from Skenojabitch finds it's target.
Melfighi looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Skenojabitch cracks Melfighi with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Melfighi tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Skenojabitch counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Melfighi is looking to clinch.
Skenojabitch stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Melfighi tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Skenojabitch paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Melfighi closes the distance and clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Melfighi misses with a punch on the inside.
Skenojabitch scores with a nice hook to the head.

Skenojabitch manages to break the clinch.
Melfighi takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Melfighi moves to clinch but Skenojabitch breaks away
and Skenojabitch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Melfighi looks to clinch
and Skenojabitch counters with a right hand to the body.

Skenojabitch gets tackled into the ropes by Melfighi. Melfighi maintains the clinch.
Skenojabitch lands a nice shot to the body.
Skenojabitch has had enough of the clinch but Melfighi keeps him there for the moment.
Melfighi goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Skenojabitch is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Skenojabitch being controlled against the ropes.
Skenojabitch wants to break the clinch but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Skenojabitch managing to block the knees to the body from Melfighi.
Melfighi keeps control of Skenojabitch as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Skenojabitch is trying to force a seperation but Melfighi has the dominant position.

Skenojabitch breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Melfighi on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Melfighi tries to clinch there but Skenojabitch circles away.
Melfighi wants to clinch but Skenojabitch slips to the side
and Skenojabitch counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Skenojabitch works Melfighi's body with a nice hook.

Melfighi gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Skenojabitch lands a left hand that snaps the head of Melfighi backwards.
Skenojabitch landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Melfighi is breathing heavily.
Melfighi keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Skenojabitch's efforts to push away.
Skenojabitch creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Skenojabitch pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Melfighi looks to land a body kick but Skenojabitch moved away.
Skenojabitch is looking for a counter combo.
Skenojabitch lands a jab to the nose.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Melfighi wants to clinch but Skenojabitch slips to the side
and Skenojabitch counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dank Skenojabitch dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Skenojabitch lands a jab to Melfighi's midsection.
Skenojabitch is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Melfighi can do to turn this around?
That kick from Skenojabitch tenderised Melfighi's leg. Melfighi is trying to keep his angry face on.
Melfighi throws a low kick, looking for Skenojabitch's leg but Skenojabitch calmly moves out of range.
Dank Skenojabitch is winning the standup battle so far.
Skenojabitch lands a nice shot to the body.
Melfighi walks into a left hand.
Skenojabitch scores with a hook to the body. Melfighi takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Frontino Melfighi is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Melfighi closes the distance but Skenojabitch moves to the side
and Skenojabitch connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Skenojabitch jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Skenojabitch scores with a jab to the jaw.
Melfighi closes the distance but Skenojabitch moves to the side
and Skenojabitch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The fight stays on the outside here - Melfighi looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Skenojabitch scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Melfighi doesn't seem bothered though.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Melfighi closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Melfighi keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Skenojabitch's efforts to push away.
Melfighi is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Melfighi lands a body punch.
A short uppercut from Skenojabitch.
Melfighi swings wildly with an uppercut but Skenojabitch uses good head movement to avoid it.
Melfighi keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Skenojabitch's efforts to push away.
Melfighi misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Skenojabitch's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Melfighi fails in his attempt to clinch.

Skenojabitch gets tackled into the ropes by Melfighi. Melfighi maintains the clinch.
Melfighi is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Skenojabitch tries to break the clinch but Melfighi is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melfighi lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Melfighi swings wildly with an uppercut but Skenojabitch uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch on the inside from Melfighi fails to land.
Skenojabitch manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Frontino Melfighi seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Skenojabitch takes a shot to the head.
Skenojabitch looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Melfighi stalling in the clinch but Skenojabitch improves position.
Skenojabitch wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Melfighi has him pressed against the ropes.
Skenojabitch wants to break free but Melfighi has control.
Melfighi tries to stall but Skenojabitch uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Skenojabitch wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Melfighi tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A nice right hand lands inside from Melfighi.
Melfighi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Skenojabitch blocks it with crossed arms.
Melfighi tries to throw a body punch but Skenojabitch avoids it by throwing Melfighi back against the ropes.
Skenojabitch lands with a left to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dank Skenojabitch showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Skenojabitch has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dank Skenojabitch!
Dank Skenojabitch decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.