PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Reid Holden (ranked 6028 p4p, 0 weight class) and Emir Salazar (ranked 8535 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Holden
vs
Salazar

163 cm
21
177 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Reid Holden!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Emir Salazar!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Fedor Mirinova and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Holden looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Salazar!
Salazar tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Holden wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Salazar sneaks back into half guard.
Holden seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Holden could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

Holden decides to stand and escape the position.

Holden closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The referee asks Holden politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Holden prefers to stall for the moment though.
Salazar really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Holden. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Salazar struggling a bit here.
Holden taking a breather here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Holden lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Salazar is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Holden cracks Salazar with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holden lands a few punches from side control.
Holden is working Salazar over with some ground and pound from side control.
Holden trying to control the position but Salazar is working away.
Salazar wants to control but Holden postures up.
Salazar taking a bit of punishment here - Holden scoring with strikes.
Holden working the head and body with strikes.
Holden controls the position.
Holden tries to advance to mount but Salazar denies him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Salazar is looking for a sweep.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Holden has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holden cracks Salazar with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Holden in side control lands a decent elbow.
Holden is chipping away with strikes.
Holden works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Holden is putting a hurting on Salazar here, landing some big shots from side control.
Salazar is looking for a sweep.
Holden working the ground and pound.
Check out the look on Holden's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Salazar takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Salazar tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Holden wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Check out the look on Holden's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Holden landing a few strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holden landing strikes.
Salazar on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

Holden tries for a kimura but Salazar is defending well.
Holden cracks Salazar with a big elbow.
Salazar takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Salazar is trying to get back to half guard.
Holden lands a decent elbow from side control.
Check out the look on Holden's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Holden landing a few strikes.
Holden working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Holden creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.

Holden decides to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salazar tries to clinch up but Holden circles away and keeps his distance.
Salazar tries to clinch but Holden moves out of range.
Holden changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Salazar tries to avoid it but Holden manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Salazar to the ground. Salazar escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Salazar is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Holden's half guard.
Salazar looks winded!
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!
Holden moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Holden pulls Salazar in close to prevent any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Reid Holden dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Salazar closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Holden quickly recovers to half guard.
Holden wants to get back to his feet.
Holden regains full guard. Nicely done.
Holden keeping moving, preventing Salazar from controlling successfully.
Holden scores with a short punch from the bottom.
Holden is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Salazar can do to turn this around?
Holden bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Salazar's guard.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Holden is in close to Salazar's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Holden controls from within his opponent's guard.
Holden working some strikes from top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holden stays in close to Salazar's body and controls the position.
Holden cracks Salazar with a solid left hand.
Holden postures up and lands a big shot to Salazar's brow.
Holden landing with the ground and pound.
Holden lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Salazar had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Holden defends it easily.
Reid Holden overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Holden scoring with punches to the head and body.
Holden working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Salazar's head.

Holden drops back looking for a leg! Salazar is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Salazar manages to kick Holden off! Holden jumps back into Salazar's guard.
Holden scoring with some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holden not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Holden trying to control but Salazar is working from the bottom.
Holden looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Holden lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Holden landing with the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holden controlling from the top position.
Holden trying to control the position from guard on top but Salazar is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Salazar trying to keep a closed guard but Holden is proving a slippery customer.
Holden lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Holden loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Holden wants to control from the top but Salazar keeps moving.
Holden lands a couple of elbows.
Holden landing some decent shots from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Salazar working for a triangle but Holden defends it easily.
Holden is in close to Salazar's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Holden's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Salazar escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Holden gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Salazar is breathing heavily.
Holden connects with a couple of short punches.
Salazar being controlled here, momentarily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Holden lands a couple of decent looking shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Reid Holden dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Salazar fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Holden, pushing him back against the cage.
Salazar lands with a short punch from the clinch.

Salazar manages to pull guard.
Holden trying to control but Salazar is working from the bottom.
Holden not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Holden makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Holden scoring with punches to the head and body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Holden content to stall in guard here.
Holden working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Salazar's head.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Holden's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Holden is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holden works over Salazar with some ground and pound from guard.
Holden is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Holden postures up and lands a big shot to Salazar's brow.
Salazar controls Holden momentarily but Holden frees himself.
Holden postures up and lands a big shot to Salazar's brow.
Holden works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Holden working Salazar over with strikes.
Holden lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Holden looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Salazar is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Holden scores with a couple of nice shots.
Holden drops an elbow to the side of Salazar's head.
Holden winds up and cracks Salazar with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Holden seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Holden takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Salazar taking some punishment here, with Holden in his half guard.
Holden lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Holden controlling the action here.
Holden lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holden seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Holden takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Holden controlling the action here.
Holden is nestled in close to Salazar, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Holden takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Holden seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Holden with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Salazar wants to control but Holden is keeping busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Holden is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Salazar is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Holden scores with a couple of nice shots.
Emir Salazar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Holden working over Salazar with some ground and pound. Salazar looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Holden connects with a nice short shot to Salazar's temple.

Holden is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Salazar defends it well.
Holden winds up and cracks Salazar with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Salazar is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Holden scores with a couple of nice shots.
Reid Holden is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Holden performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Reid Holden showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Holden, 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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:27
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Reid Holden!