PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Antonio Flores (ranked 3184 p4p, 3015 weight class) and Deveon Zelda (ranked 382 p4p, 365 weight class). Zelda has chosen Immortal Technique - The Point of No Return as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Flores
vs
Zelda

175 cm
20
181
4 - 6 - 0

178 cm
20
177
4 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Antonio Flores!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Deveon Zelda!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Santiago Holmes and Dirk Anderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Flores takes one to the side of the head.
Flores rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Flores takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like Antonio Flores has been cut.
Zelda cracks Flores with a right hand to the side of the head.

Flores instigates a clinch.
Zelda blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Zelda tries to break the clinch but Flores is controlling the position.
Flores definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Flores pressing his opponent against the cage.
Flores is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Zelda pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Flores lands a hook that snaps the head of Zelda backwards.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knees to the body from Flores.
Zelda wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Flores scores with a shoulder strike.
Zelda is stalling here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flores can't get the takedown.
Flores blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Flores doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Zelda trying to control the position but instead, Flores has worked for underhooks and has pushed Zelda into the cage.
Zelda blocks an uppercut.
Flores is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Zelda gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antonio Flores. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Flores throws an elbow that misses.
Flores tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Flores has a couple of punches blocked by Zelda.
Flores tries for a takedown. No joy.
Flores has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Zelda avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Flores taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Flores blocks a body shot from Zelda.
A short left from Zelda.
Zelda working hard to break the clinch.
Flores lands a shoulder strike.
Flores goes for a takedown attempt but Zelda pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Flores goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Zelda throws out a counter right but Flores avoids it with no problem.
Zelda misses with a straight left.
Flores with a nice calf kick.
Flores ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Zelda moves away.
Zelda misses with a looping left.
Flores appears to be looking for a big counter.
Flores connects with a body shot that sends Zelda's belly button to the back.
Zelda lands with a good body shot.
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!
Zelda throws the left hand but Flores avoids the punch easily.
Zelda just manages to avoid a counter high kick fromFlores.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flores tries to clinch up
and Zelda counters with a three punch combo that has Flores backing up. Flores nods at Zelda to acknowledge the strikes.
Flores tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Zelda was well out of range. Poor timing from Flores.
Nice shot by Zelda.
Zelda throws a series of punches but Flores moves out of range.
Zelda chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Flores can pounce on him.
Flores fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Zelda checks it well.

Zelda gets tackled into the cage by Flores. Flores maintains the clinch.
Zelda wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Flores has him pressed against the cage.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Flores tightens his grip and picks Zelda up, before dumping him to the ground. Zelda manages to land in guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Flores wants to control from the top but Zelda keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flores landing some decent shots from guard.
Flores slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Flores tries to free his leg and advance position but Zelda is retaining full guard.
Flores controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Zelda is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Flores wants to control from the top but Zelda keeps moving.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Antonio Flores will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Antonio Flores's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Zelda avoids the head kick by Flores.
Zelda lands a nice shot to the body.
Flores is looking to slow Zelda down with leg kicks.
Flores goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Flores has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Flores tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Nice body punch from Zelda.
Flores misses the body punch
and Zelda counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
The crowd cheers as Zelda lands an impressive looking overhand right. Flores doesn't seem phased though.
Flores walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Zelda checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
It seemed like Zelda was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zelda misses with a lunging right hand
and Flores counters with a good low kick that Zelda was not able to check.
Flores swings for the body but Zelda moves out of range.

Flores clinches up with Zelda and pushes him back against the cage.
Zelda working hard to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flores tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Zelda avoids it.
Flores working aggressively here.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Flores takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Zelda.
Flores scores with a shot to the side of Zelda's head.
Flores misses with a hook from the clinch.
Flores stalls.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Zelda.
Flores tries for a takedown but Zelda manages to get underhooks.

Flores has picked Zelda up - he's going for a ride! Flores dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Flores keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zelda controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zelda tries to get to full guard but Flores has control of the leg.
Flores throwing shots but Zelda is blocking nicely.
Flores seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Flores tries to pass to full mount but Zelda defends it.
Zelda is looking to control Flores's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Zelda avoid being mounted?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flores not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Flores controlling the action here.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Zelda looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Flores fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Zelda has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Flores on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Good work by Zelda as he checks the leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zelda slips a jab and a cross from Flores.
Zelda doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Flores takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Deveon Zelda seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Zelda avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Zelda listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Zelda avoids the body shot from Flores.
A punch combination from Flores misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Flores looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Flores swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A solid body kick from Flores.
Zelda takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Flores misses with a few strikes there.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Antonio Flores dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Antonio Flores's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Flores scores with a shot to the body.
Flores looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Flores is looking to wear down Zelda with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Flores showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Zelda.
Zelda bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Flores with a nice calf kick.
Flores throws a nice inside leg kick.
Zelda misses with a wild body shot.
A head kick misses from Flores.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zelda fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Flores on the side of the head.
Flores tries to close the distance and clinch but Zelda swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Flores throws a lazy uppercut
letting Zelda counter with a right hand.
Deveon Zelda has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Zelda fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Flores on the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Flores throws the kick towards the body but Zelda avoids it.
Zelda looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
A big right from Flores misses.
Zelda with a hook.

Flores takes the fight into the clinch.
A short uppercut from Zelda.
Zelda is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Flores is looking to take this one to the mat.
Zelda can't break the clinch.
Zelda wants to get back to striking at distance but Flores won't allow it.
Flores lands a right hand that snaps the head of Zelda backwards.
Zelda stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Flores lands a takedown into guard.
Zelda controls Flores momentarily but Flores frees himself.
Zelda keeping moving, preventing Flores from controlling successfully.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Zelda can do anything to dispel that myth.
Flores is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Flores stands up over Zelda, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Zelda controls Flores momentarily but Flores frees himself.
Antonio Flores overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Flores slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Flores accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Flores is looking to slow Zelda down with leg kicks.
Antonio Flores is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Zelda scores with a hook to the body. Flores takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Zelda lands a nice looking body shot.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Zelda checks a leg kick.
Zelda with a hook.
Flores tries to clinch but Zelda is having none of it.
Zelda swats away the attempt to clinch by Flores.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zelda swats away the attempt to clinch by Flores.
Flores throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
A little jabbing left from Zelda on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Flores misses with a series of wild punches.
Zelda swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Flores digs a good body shot into Zelda's ribs.
Zelda's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Flores throws a right and a left that both miss.
Flores lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
A jab from Zelda finds it's way through Flores's defenses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Flores wants to clinch
and Zelda counters with a straight right hand.

Flores is rocked!

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Deveon Zelda.
I think Flores 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Antonio Flores!
A relieved looking Antonio Flores thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.