PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight kickboxing rules bout between Rico Dimelo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Finn Balor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Dimelo
vs
Balor

180 cm
18
180 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

190 cm
18
180 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

Excellent boxer
Powerful

Sully's Bar & Grill

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Rico Dimelo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Finn Balor!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Colin Fray and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dimelo stuns Balor with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Finn Balor seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balor ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Dimelo moves away.
Dimelo slips under a jab from Balor.
Balor throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Balor throws a jab but it's blocked by Dimelo.

Dimelo closes the distance and clinches.
Dimelo prevents a body shot from Balor.
Balor swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Dimelo blocks an uppercut.
Dimelo lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
A shot in the inside from Dimelo.
Nice body punch from Balor.
Dimelo misses with the head strike.
Dimelo pushes Balor back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Balor looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Balor blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Dimelo is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Balor tries to throw a body punch but Dimelo avoids it by throwing Balor back against the ropes.
Balor misses with a punch to the body.
Dimelo lands a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balor tries to break free but Dimelo pushes him back against the ropes.
Balor lands a body punch.
Dimelo scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Balor lands a shoulder strike.
Balor swings wildly with an uppercut but Dimelo uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Balor.
Balor lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Dimelo is trying to stall.
Dimelo tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Dimelo breaks from the clinch.
Balor throws a sloppy body shot
and Dimelo counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Balor fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Dimelo looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Balor moves out of range of the body kick.
Dimelo on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Dimelo has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Balor finds it's way round the side to connect with Dimelo's head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Balor fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Dimelo manages to avoid it.
Dimelo is looking to counter with a shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dimelo slips under a jab from Balor.
Balor tries to bum rush Dimelo with a series of wild strikes but Dimelo uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Balor throws a shot from downtown. Dimelo moves away and avoids it.
Dimelo seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Balor misses the shot to the body.
Balor lands a slapping body shot.
Balor connects with a jab.
Balor is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Dimelo rather than just go for the knockout.
Decent striking displayed by Balor there.
Balor swings away with a body shot that misses
and Dimelo counters with an inside leg kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Dimelo.
Balor throws a lazy uppercut
and Dimelo counters with a thumping low kick.
A decent looking cross lands there for Balor.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Dimelo misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Balor.

Dimelo gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Dimelo misses with a short punch on the inside.
Balor goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Finn Balor will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Balor cracks Dimelo with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Dimelo swings widly with a right hand
and Balor counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Balor bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Dimelo's head.
Balor looks to score with a jab to the body but Dimelo is just out of range.
Balor on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Dimelo. Dimelo obviously looking to wear him down.
Dimelo takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Balor on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Dimelo avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Dimelo missing with a left hand there. Balor was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Dimelo fails in his attempt to clinch.
Balor comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Balor digs a good body shot into Dimelo's ribs.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Balor is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Dimelo.
Nice defenses there by Balor.
Finn Balor seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Dimelo lands a nice looking body kick.
Balor ducks under a wild hook from Dimelo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dimelo ducks under a wild hook from Balor.
Dimelo seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Balor scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Dimelo doesn't seem bothered though.
The fighters circling - Dimelo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dimelo lands with a kick to the ribs.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Balor tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Dimelo's elbow.
Dimelo working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Dimelo misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Balor misses with a body punch.
A shot in the inside from Dimelo.
Dimelo prevents a body shot from Balor.
Balor tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Dimelo's elbow.
Dimelo misses with a hook to the ribs.
A frustrated look appears on Balor's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Dimelo makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Dimelo tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Dimelo.
Dimelo misses with the head strike.
Dimelo presses Balor against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Rico Dimelo has scored more points in the clinch so far.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Balor blocks an uppercut.
Dimelo has a couple of punches blocked by Balor.
Balor fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Balor wants to get back to striking at distance but Dimelo won't allow it.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Dimelo.
Dimelo works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Dimelo tries to throw a body punch but Balor avoids it by throwing Dimelo back against the ropes.
Dimelo swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Dimelo misses with a hook to the ribs.
Dimelo tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Dimelo lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Balor has a couple of punches blocked by Dimelo.
Dimelo lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A nice left hand lands by Dimelo.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Dimelo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Dimelo throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Balor sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Balor misses with a wild body shot.
Dimelo doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Dimelo can't find room to land a body shot as Balor controls the action.
Balor tries a knee to the head but Dimelo blocks it.
Nice body punch from Dimelo.
Dimelo is trying to maintain a safe position but Balor gets an underhook and turns Dimelo into the ropes.
A short left from Dimelo.
Dimelo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Balor can't break the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dimelo blocking some punches.
Dimelo lands a shoulder strike.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Dimelo.
Dimelo prevents a body shot from Balor.
Dimelo lands a hook that snaps the head of Balor backwards.
Dimelo gets through Balor's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dimelo is leaning against Balor and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Dimelo blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Dimelo gets through Balor's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Dimelo fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Balor misses with the head strike.
Dimelo misses with a punch on the inside.
Dimelo lands a nice uppercut.
Balor misses with a punch to the body.
Balor throws a punch but it's blocked by Dimelo.
Dimelo blocks an uppercut.
Balor doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Balor lands a hook that snaps the head of Dimelo backwards.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Dimelo.
Dimelo throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Dimelo lands a left hand that snaps the head of Balor backwards.
Balor fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Balor misses with a short punch on the inside.
Balor wants to get back to striking at distance but Dimelo won't allow it.
Dimelo works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Balor doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Balor tries to work over Dimelo's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Balor struggles to land a body shot inside as Dimelo controls his hands.
Dimelo is pushing Balor up against the ropes, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Balor prevents a body shot from Dimelo.

Dimelo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Dimelo uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Balor.
Dimelo works the jab nicely.
Dimelo uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Balor.
Balor throws a body punch but Dimelo moves out of range.
Balor ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Dimelo moves away.
Balor swings widly with a right hand
and Dimelo counters with an inside leg kick.
Balor cracks a nice hook into Dimelo's ribs.
Dimelo lands a slapping body shot.
A thudding body kick lands there by Dimelo!

And that's the end of the fight!
Rico Dimelo showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Dimelo 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 Roger Salmon scores the fight 30:28
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight 29:28
Judge Josh West scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rico Dimelo!