PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Tiago Mendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rick Davis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Mendez might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Trap Door. Tiago Mendez has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Mendez
vs
Davis

184 cm
21
180 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

187 cm
24
198 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 8 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Tiago Mendez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Rick Davis!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Steven Brown and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Davis misses with a low kick.
Mendez tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Davis swivels and escapes.
Davis sizes up Mendez with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Mendez looks for a takedown but Davis sprawls well.
Mendez lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

It looks like Rick Davis has been cut.
Davis with a hook.
Mendez dives in and grabs Davis's left leg, looking for a takedown. Davis pushes down on Mendez's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tiago Mendez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Davis works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Davis throws a series of punches but Mendez moves out of range.
No luck for Mendez with that takedown attempt.
Davis throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Mendez sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Donk. Davis catches Mendez right on the button with a cross.
Mendez avoids a lazy jab quite easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davis throws a nice looking combination but Mendez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Davis stuffs the takedown attempt from Mendez. Mendez gets slowly back to his feet.
Davis lands a jab.
Mendez slips under a jab from Davis.
A looping hook to the body misses from Mendez. Davis does a little dance to reset his feet.
Mendez takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Mendez takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Davis feints and then cracks Mendez's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Mendez down.
Mendez takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Mendez dives in and grabs Davis's left leg, looking for a takedown. Davis pushes down on Mendez's head and hops out.
Mendez moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Davis swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Mendez.
Davis is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Mendez had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Mendez dodges the punch combination from Davis.
Davis throws a right and a left that Mendez avoids nicely.
Mendez closes the distance and clinches up with Davis, looking for a takedown. Mendez pushes Davis against the ropes but Davis circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Davis lands the left hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mendez fails to land the takedown.
Davis lands with a hook. Mendez tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Nice sprawl there from Davis as Mendez shoots in.
Mendez tries to clinch there but Davis circles away.
Davis stalks Mendez and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Mendez's face. Mendez staggers backwards, shaken.

It looks like Tiago Mendez has been cut.
Davis scores with a leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Davis keeps the fight on the outside.
Davis misses with a looping left.
Rick Davis is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Mendez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
BOOM! Mendez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Davis is trying to escape the mount.
Davis tries to hold on but Mendez postures up.
Mendez can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Davis is looking to escape.
Mendez avoids the attempt from Davis to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davis is desperately trying to improve his position but Mendez has a good base and remains in mount.
Davis really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mendez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Mendez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Davis is desperately trying to improve his position but Mendez has a good base and remains in mount.
Davis taking shots to the head.
BOOM! Mendez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
A nice elbow there by Mendez.
Davis is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.

Mendez looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mendez wants to take Davis's back but he can't do it this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rick Davis dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Davis displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Mendez.
Mendez tries to close the distance and clinch up but Davis swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Davis tries to bum rush Mendez with a series of wild strikes but Mendez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Davis throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Mendez uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Davis.
Davis connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Davis jabbing away but nothing is landing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mendez looks to land a combination but Davis avoids it well.
Davis scores with a jab.
Davis avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Mendez tries to clinch but Davis moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davis connects with the punch.
Mendez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Mendez fails in his attempt to clinch.

Mendez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Davis looking to control.
Mendez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Davis is keeping the position for now.
Davis trying to keep a closed guard but Mendez is proving a slippery customer.
Mendez trying to control the position from guard on top but Davis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Davis keeping full guard, as Mendez tries to pass.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Davis can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Davis is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Mendez stops Davis from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Mendez steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Davis.
Mendez fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tiago Mendez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mendez shoots in looking for a takedown. Davis tries to sprawl out of it but Mendez keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Davis manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Davis thows a body shot but no joy.
Tiago Mendez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mendez shoots for a double leg takedown but Davis sprawls well. He's pushed Mendez's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Davis stuffs the takedown attempt from Mendez. Mendez gets slowly back to his feet.
Davis missing with a left hand there. Mendez was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Mendez closes the distance and clinches up with Davis, looking for a takedown. Mendez pushes Davis against the ropes but Davis circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Mendez shoots in and drives through. Davis sprawls well.
Mendez shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Davis sprawls well. Davis wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Mendez gets slowly back to his feet.
Rick Davis seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Mendez scores a takedown into full mount!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Davis is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davis wants to hold on but Mendez pushes him away.

Mendez is standing up, even though he is in mount.
Davis misses with a double jab

and Mendez counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Mendez.
Davis looking for a sweep. Not yet Davis, not yet.
Davis working a defensive guard here.
Davis looking to hit a scissor sweep but Mendez is one step ahead there.
Mendez slips nicely into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tiago Mendez dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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!

Mendez shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Davis napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Mendez is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Davis has escaped the position, nice work there.
Mendez wants to lay and pray for a moment but Davis keeps working.
Mendez is really struggling to control Davis but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Mendez grinds an elbow into Davis's temple.
Mendez looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Davis is avoiding damage well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendez wants to control but Davis is keeping him busy.

Mendez goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Davis has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Mendez but great work by Davis.
Mendez is working to avoid the ground and pound but Davis connects with a decent elbow.
Mendez is trying to control Davis's posture but Davis avoids it.
Davis lands a decent elbow from side control.
Davis misses with the ground and pound.
Davis looks up at the clock and then as Mendez takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Davis smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Davis misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Davis landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Davis takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Davis has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Mendez.
Mendez shoots in but Davis avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Mendez looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Tiago Mendez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Davis tries to score with a low kick but Mendez moves his leg out of the way.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Davis, as that shot connected.
Davis tests Mendez's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Mendez staying out of range there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Davis slaps away a takedown attempt from Mendez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
A big right from Davis misses.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Mendez pulls guard successfully.
Davis is looking to work some ground and pound but Mendez has wrist control.
Davis looking to pass the guard.
Davis wants to stand and escape but instead Mendez has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Mendez with a nice head shot there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mendez is working Davis over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Mendez slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Davis is wriggling around but Mendez manages to pass to half guard.
Mendez trying to pass the guard but Davis defending well.
Davis wants to get back to his feet.
Mendez 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.
Mendez is trying to control the action in half guard but Davis is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Mendez is looking for a kimura here.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Tiago Mendez.
I think Mendez 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Tiago Mendez!