PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Frank Warren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dante Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Warren comes into the arena with London Calling - The Clash blaring out of the sound system. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Warren
vs
Melendez

175 cm
22
155 lbs
8 - 5 - 2

173 cm
22
158 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 8 - 5 - 2, fighting out of London, Frank Warren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Dante Melendez!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Matti Vanhoillinen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Melendez as Warren shoots in.
Melendez misses with a hook
and Warren counters with a straight right hand.
Nice shot by Warren.
Warren keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Melendez.
Melendez tries to bum rush Warren with a series of wild strikes but Warren uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Melendez misses with a lunging right hand
and Warren cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Warren fails with a takedown attempt.

Warren scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Warren postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Warren in side control, throwing shots but Melendez defends.
Warren tries to move into full mount but can't pass Melendez's legs.
Warren wants to lay and pray for a moment but Melendez keeps working.
Warren postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Warren in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Warren sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Melendez is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Warren lands an elbow.
Melendez holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.
Melendez defending against the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Warren is putting a hurting on Melendez here, landing some big shots from side control.
Warren wants to lay and pray for a moment but Melendez keeps working.
Melendez dodges the ground and pound from Warren.
Warren lands an elbow.
Warren is working Melendez over with some ground and pound from side control.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Melendez parries the strikes from Warren easily there. Warren is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Melendez to escape.
Melendez pushes Warren away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Warren gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Warren lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Melendez down.
Warren sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Melendez is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Warren working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Melendez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Warren misses with the ground and pound.
Melendez dodges the ground and pound from Warren.
Warren advances nicely into full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Warren with the ground and pound from mount.
Warren with a couple of short strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Melendez avoids a series of strikes thrown by Warren.
Warren controlling the pace for now.
Warren punching from mount but Melendez doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Melendez takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Warren throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Warren lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Warren dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Melendez looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Warren is fending him off so far but Melendez persists. Nope, Warren circles away and we're back to standing.
Melendez loads up on a big right hand but Warren slips the punch.
Melendez waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Warren.
Melendez looks to throw the jab but Warren is out of range.
Warren tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Melendez swivels and escapes.
Melendez throws a poor cross that misses

and Warren counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Melendez's guard now.
Warren stands up over Melendez, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Warren throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Melendez works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Warren trying to control the position from guard on top but Melendez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Warren 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 one minute gone in the round.
Warren wants to pass the guard but Melendez is keeping the position.
Warren postures up in Melendez's guard and throws a big left but Melendez blocks it.
Warren working some strikes from top position.
Warren throws a big right hand that misses.
Warren trying to control the position from guard on top but Melendez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Melendez can do anything to dispel that myth.
Melendez preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Warren with a flurry of punches that miss.
Warren wants to control from the top but Melendez keeps moving.
Warren throwing strikes from guard but Melendez blocks nicely.
Melendez wants to stand but Warren is controlling the position.
Warren forces his way into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Warren looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Warren sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Melendez defending well though.
Warren trying to control from half guard but Melendez is working away.
Warren not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Warren with the ground and pound but Melendez uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Melendez keeping full guard, as Warren tries to pass.
Melendez avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Warren throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Melendez works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Melendez keeping full guard, as Warren tries to pass.
Warren scoring with some ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Warren stays in close to Melendez's body and controls the position.
Warren loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Warren won't allow Melendez to get back to his feet.
Melendez utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frank Warren dominated that second round.
That's time! Warren's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Warren feints and as Melendez raises his hands in defense, Warren changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Melendez working a defensive guard here.
Warren not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Melendez keeping full guard, as Warren tries to pass.
Melendez utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Warren tries to free his leg and advance position but Melendez is retaining full guard.
Warren throwing strikes but missing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Melendez utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Warren trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Warren stays in close to Melendez's body and controls the position.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Warren working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Melendez has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Warren has passed into side control.
Warren wants to lay and pray for a moment but Melendez keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melendez managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Warren.
Frank Warren overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Warren working the body and head with strikes.
Melendez takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Melendez really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Warren. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Warren creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Melendez sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Warren tries to score with some ground and pound. Melendez controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Warren looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Melendez is avoiding damage well.
Warren looks up at the clock and then as Melendez takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Warren smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Warren with the ground and pound but Melendez regains half guard under the barage of strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Warren throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Warren trying to control the action but Melendez is working from the bottom.
Warren is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Melendez is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Ground and pound from Warren.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Melendez is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Warren's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Warren's back!
Melendez scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Warren is looking for a way out.
Warren is trying to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melendez misses with punches from the back.
Warren is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Melendez can do to turn this around?
Warren turns into Melendez and is now in his guard.
Melendez avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Warren trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Warren pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Melendez is keeping the position for now.
Dante Melendez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Frank Warren is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Melendez is trying to control the position from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Frank Warren showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Warren, 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 Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Frank Warren!