PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Justin Rader (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Filipe Melo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Filipe Melo is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Rader
vs
Melo

170 cm
20
168 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

180 cm
24
165 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Prefers standup

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Justin Rader!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Filipe Melo!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Hirohito Nitta and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rader shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Melo is trying to defend but Rader finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Melo won't allow Rader to pass to mount.

Melo actively working from the bottom here.
Rader wants to stand up but Melo has a hold of him and won't allow it.

Melo looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Melo looking for submissions off his back.

Melo looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Rader works his way into full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
BOOM! Rader connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Rader with the ground and pound from mount.
Melo can't escape the position.
A nice elbow there by Rader.

Rader get's back to his feet.
Melo scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A low kick from Rader is predictable there
and Melo counters with a low kick, right behind Rader 's knee.
Melo throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

Rader closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Rader works to advance to full mount. Melo defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Rader controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melo is trying desperately to improve position.

Rader looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Rader prevents Melo from getting the reversal.
Rader landing shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melo is squirming around, avoiding Rader's attempts to control the action.
Rader working the ground and pound effectively.
Melo wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Rader is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Rader gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Rader gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Rader apologises and we restart here on the feet.

Rader scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Rader lands an elbow.
Melo is looking to reverse the position.
Rader 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.
Rader moves into full mount!
Melo is in a horrible position here. Rader smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melo tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Melo looks gassed!
Rader content just to control the position here.
Rader prevents Melo from getting the reversal.
Rader controlling from the full mount.
Rader's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
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.
Rader trying to control but Melo is having none of it.
Melo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Rader dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Rader closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Rader seems to be looking for submissions.
Melo gets back to full guard.
Rader scoring with some ground and pound.
Melo being controlled here, momentarily.

Rader is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Melo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Melo is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Rader defends well.
Rader sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Rader stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Filipe Melo is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Rader scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Rader wants to take a breather but Melo is having none of it.

Melo actively working from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melo moves into full guard.

Melo had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Rader defends it easily.

Melo isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Rader stacks Melo on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Rader!
Rader cracks Melo with a big elbow.

Rader decides to stand up, so the ref orders Melo to his feet.

Rader drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rader trying to control the position but Melo is working away.
Rader lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Melo down.
Justin Rader overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Melo is looking to regain half guard here but Rader keeps moving and retains side control.

Rader decides to stand back up.
A head kick by Rader misses
and Melo counters with an outside leg kick.
Rader checks a leg kick.
Rader looks for a takedown but Melo sprawls well.
Rader tries to clinch but Melo is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rader closes the distance and pushes Melo back into the ropes.
Melo tries to pull guard but Rader holds him up against the ropes and eventually Melo drops back down to his feet.

Rader manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Melo wants to pass the guard but Rader is keeping the position.
Rader has Melo pulled in close to control his posture.
Melo wants to control from the top but Rader keeps moving.
Melo won't allow Rader to sweep him here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Justin Rader 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!

Melo tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rader swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Melo closes the distance looking to clinch
and Rader counters with a series of strikes. Melo will be more careful next time no doubt.

Rader shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Rader showed some decent athleticism there.

Rader seems to be looking for submissions.

Melo is defending against the submission attempts here by Rader.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Melo is trying to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rader sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Melo is looking to improve his position.
Melo is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Melo looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Well, if Rader is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Rader shoots in and bounces Melo off the ropes to secure the takedown into guard.

Melo throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Rader escapes and throws Melo's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Melo manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

Melo is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Rader pulls his head out easily.
Melo is in trouble now - Rader has advanced to mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rader working Melo over with strikes here.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Melo taking shots to the head.
Melo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Rader tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
A nice elbow there by Rader.
Rader controlling the position easily from mount.
Melo in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rader looking to control but Melo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Melo really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Filipe Melo has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rader breaks from Melo's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Melo looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
Melo tries to escape the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Justin Rader showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rader, 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 Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Justin Rader!