PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Tristan Blancheflor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mauricio Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Blancheflor comes to the cage accompanied by Game of Thrones. The crowd seem to be enjoying Melendez's choice of entrance music: Brooklyn Zoo. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Blancheflor
vs
Melendez

170 cm
27
155 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

190 cm
20
165 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Knockout power

Pirates Powder

Dragon

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Tristan Blancheflor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mauricio Melendez!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Sam Margolis and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Blancheflor swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Blancheflor closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Blancheflor lands in his opponent's guard.
Blancheflor lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Blancheflor trying to control but Melendez is working from the bottom.
Blancheflor showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Blancheflor throws an elbow that misses. Melendez uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Blancheflor's guard. Nice move by Melendez!
Blancheflor is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blancheflor looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Melendez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Blancheflor works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Melendez is fighting to break Blancheflor's control of his arms but Blancheflor is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Melendez is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Melendez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Blancheflor swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Blancheflor looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blancheflor seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Blancheflor shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Blancheflor pushing down on Melendez's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Melendez keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Blancheflor perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Blancheflor thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Melendez's head.
Melendez is refusing to be controlled, as Blancheflor sits in half guard.
Blancheflor controlling the pace.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Blancheflor.
Blancheflor lands with a punch from half guard.
Blancheflor landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Blancheflor seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Blancheflor 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 is looking to get back to full guard here but Blancheflor has managed to pass to side control instead.
Blancheflor working the ground and pound.
Blancheflor has knee on belly and moves into mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Melendez keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blancheflor with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Blancheflor scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Blancheflor wants to control the pace but Melendez is squirming around nicely.
A nice elbow there by Blancheflor.
Blancheflor landing strikes, looking to finish!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Blancheflor in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Blancheflor working the ground and pound effectively.

Melendez is rocked!
Blancheflor wants to control the pace but Melendez is squirming around nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tristan Blancheflor dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Blancheflor blocks a head kick by Melendez.

Blancheflor looking to score a takedown here. Melendez is defending well but Blancheflor drives through and ends up in Melendez's guard.
Blancheflor won't allow Melendez to sweep him here.
Blancheflor keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Melendez's head.
Blancheflor is looking to work some ground and pound but Melendez has wrist control.
Melendez looking for a sweep. Not yet Melendez, not yet.
Blancheflor throws an elbow that misses. Melendez uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Blancheflor's guard. Nice move by Melendez!
Melendez throws an elbow that misses. Blancheflor uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Melendez's guard. Nice move by Blancheflor!
Blancheflor working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Tristan Blancheflor overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Blancheflor wants to control from the top but Melendez keeps moving.
Blancheflor postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Blancheflor is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Blancheflor is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Blancheflor lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Blancheflor trying to control but Melendez is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Blancheflor working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Melendez's head.
Melendez working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Blancheflor.
Blancheflor missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Blancheflor distracts Melendez with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Melendez preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Blancheflor trying to control the position from guard on top but Melendez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Blancheflor seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Melendez looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Blancheflor trying to control but Melendez is working from the bottom.
Blancheflor working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Blancheflor's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Blancheflor lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Blancheflor looking to sit in guard and control but Melendez gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Blancheflor has a closed guard, preventing Melendez from standing up.
Blancheflor is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Blancheflor not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Melendez blocking the ground and pound attempt from Blancheflor.
Blancheflor content to control rather than advance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tristan Blancheflor dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Melendez throws a leg kick but Blancheflor checks it.

Blancheflor shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

Blancheflor seems like he's working for an arm triangle here. He's freed his trapped foot and he's rotating nicely. Melendez is in big trouble! He's tapping out! This one is aaaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Tristan Blancheflor!
Tristan Blancheflor gave a mention to Pirates Powder in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).