PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Chris Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Melendez
vs
Hardy

175 cm
22
162 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

177 cm
25
164 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Intelligent

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Experienced

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Chris Melendez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Dan Hardy!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Gregory Folan and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardy has his takedown stuffed
and Melendez counters with an inside leg kick.
Hardy with a lazy takedown attempt

and Melendez counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Hardy!
Hardy is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Melendez can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Hardy is looking to escape.
Hardy is bucking up trying to escape but Melendez cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Melendez misses with a head shot.
Hardy is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Melendez punching from mount but Hardy doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Hardy really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Melendez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Melendez throwing strikes here but Hardy is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Melendez punching from mount but Hardy doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Melendez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Melendez throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez looking to ground and pound but Hardy is blocking nicely.
Melendez thowing shots but they're missing.
Hardy is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Melendez throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Hardy really wants to buck Melendez off and get back to his feet.
Hardy avoids a series of strikes thrown by Melendez.

Melendez looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Hardy holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Melendez tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Poor strikes thrown by Melendez there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's two 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.
Melendez unloading with bombs!

Hardy bucks up and throws Melendez to the side - he's got back to his feet. Great escape!
Melendez cracks Hardy with a good jab.
Melendez uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Hardy.
Melendez throws a low kick but Hardy avoids it.
Melendez connects with an inside leg kick.
Hardy shoots in and drives through. Melendez sprawls well.
Chris Melendez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dan Hardy.
Melendez throws a nice inside leg kick.
A jab lands there for Melendez.

Melendez bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Melendez creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Hardy sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Melendez throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

Melendez tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Melendez has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Melendez 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.
Melendez in side control lands a decent elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
An elbow from Melendez crashes against the mat.
Hardy tries to escape but Melendez is in control.
Melendez working the body and head with strikes.
Hardy wants to get back to his feet but Melendez drags him back down.
Hardy parries the strikes from Melendez easily there. Melendez is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Hardy to escape.
Melendez misses with the ground and pound.
Melendez working the ground and pound but Hardy is defending the strikes.
Hardy wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Hardy parries the strikes from Melendez easily there. Melendez is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Hardy to escape.
Melendez is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Hardy parries the strikes from Melendez easily there. Melendez is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Hardy to escape.
Melendez is trying to ground and pound but Hardy uses the momentary lack of control by Melendez to regain half guard.
Hardy wants to get back to his feet.
Melendez missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Hardy is trying to stand back up but Melendez is controlling him
Hardy blocking the ground and pound attempt from Melendez.
Hardy blocking the ground and pound attempt from Melendez.
Melendez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Melendez thows a huge punch but Hardy dodges it nicely.
Melendez throwing shots but Hardy is blocking nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Melendez dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Melendez ducks right into an uppercut from Hardy.
Hardy doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Melendez counters with an outside leg kick.
Melendez works the jab nicely.
Dan Hardy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hardy tries for a takedown but Melendez circles away easily
and Melendez counters with a good, hard body kick but Hardy shrugs it off.

Melendez gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Hardy to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hardy looking to sit in guard and control but Melendez gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Melendez throwing strikes but missing.
Melendez with a nice head shot there.
Melendez won't allow Hardy to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Melendez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Melendez trying to control the position from guard on top but Hardy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hardy preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hardy preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Melendez in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Melendez stops Hardy from standing up.
Melendez lands a couple of digs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Melendez content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Hardy wants to get back to his feet but Melendez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Melendez throws a big right hand that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Melendez accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Melendez throws a big right hand that misses.
Melendez wants to control from the top but Hardy keeps moving.
Melendez sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Hardy wants to stand up but Melendez is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing Melendez from controlling successfully.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Melendez working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Melendez throws a big right hand that misses.
Melendez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hardy works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Hardy has his feet on Melendez's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Hardy throws a series of punches but Melendez moves out of range.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Hardy checks a leg kick.
Melendez stuffs the takedown attempt from Hardy. Hardy gets slowly back to his feet.
Chris Melendez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dan Hardy.

Melendez clinches with his opponent.
Melendez looking for a takedown.

Hardy wants the takedown. Melendez is fighting it off but Hardy persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Melendez's guard against the cage.
Hardy postures up and lands a big shot to Melendez's brow.
Hardy must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Hardy content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Hardy's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Hardy scoring with punches to the head and body.
Melendez working a defensive guard here.
Hardy trying to control but Melendez is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Hardy showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Hardy fails with a takedown attempt.
Hardy looks for a takedown but Melendez sprawls well.
Hardy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Chris Melendez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dan Hardy.
Hardy tries for a takedown but Melendez circles away easily
and Melendez counters with a thumping low kick.
Melendez connects with a jab.
Melendez lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Hardy tries for a takedown but Melendez circles away easily
and Melendez counters with a low kick, right behind Hardy 's knee.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Melendez looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Melendez trying to control but Hardy is working from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Melendez thows a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing Melendez from controlling successfully.
Melendez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Melendez with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hardy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Melendez working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Melendez throwing strikes from guard but Hardy blocks nicely.
Melendez loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Melendez throws and elbow that misses. Hardy uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Melendez's guard. Nice move by Hardy!
Melendez manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Hardy wants to try and get back to his feet.
Hardy holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Melendez tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Hardy is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Hardy avoids a series of strikes thrown by Melendez.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Hardy blocking the ground and pound.
Hardy is trying to stand.
Melendez scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Hardy?
You get the feeling that Hardy really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Melendez misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Hardy blocking the ground and pound.
Melendez looking to ground and pound but Hardy is blocking nicely.
Melendez punching from mount but Hardy doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Melendez looking to control but Hardy is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Poor strikes thrown by Melendez there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Hardy wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Melendez.
Melendez thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Poor strikes thrown by Melendez there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Melendez throwing strikes here but Hardy is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hardy really wants to buck Melendez off and get back to his feet.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Hardy can do anything to dispel that myth.
Melendez thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chris Melendez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Melendez has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chris Melendez!