PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Darius Merrill (ranked 23805 p4p, 0 weight class) and Malaiku Panaiku (ranked 5497 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Merrill
vs
Panaiku

179 cm
25
279 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
230 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Darius Merrill!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Malaiku Panaiku!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Micheangelo Fripello and Roger Salmon.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Panaiku fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Merrill has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Merrill looking to score a takedown here. Panaiku is defending well but Merrill drives through and ends up in Panaiku's guard.
Panaiku manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Merrill manages to get himself to full guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Panaiku passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Merrill tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Panaiku wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Panaiku fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Merrill parries the strikes from Panaiku easily there. Panaiku is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Merrill to escape.
Merrill defending against the ground and pound.
Merrill sneaks back into half guard.
Panaiku thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Merrill's head.
Panaiku throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Merrill might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The fighters are battling for position here. Merrill manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Merrill really is a fat lump.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Panaiku got a little sloppy there for a moment and Merrill has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Panaiku has managed to get both his arms back between Merrill's legs - danger averted.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Merrill is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Panaiku is aware though and is defending well.
Panaiku passes easily into side control. Nice work.

Panaiku looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Panaiku has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Merrill struggling a bit here.
Merrill is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Panaiku is trying to get an arm triangle but Merrill is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Panaiku scoring with punches and elbows.
Merrill manages to get back to half guard.
Panaiku thows a huge punch but Merrill dodges it nicely.
Merrill is not content to let Panaiku control the position.
Merrill has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Panaiku is working away from the top position though.
Panaiku is trying to control the action in half guard but Merrill is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Merrill avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Panaiku.

Merrill looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Panaiku connects with a nice short shot to Merrill's temple.
Panaiku is keen to just control but Merrill is a slippery customer.
Nice strikes from Panaiku there.
Panaiku is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Merrill actively working from the bottom here.
Merrill is looking to control Panaiku's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Merrill avoid being mounted?
Merrill punching from the bottom.
Merrill tries to roll over but Panaiku keeps him under control.
Merrill trying to hold on to Panaiku's head to control him but Panaiku postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Merrill is refusing to be controlled, as Panaiku sits in half guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Merrill showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Panaiku.
Merrill fires out a quick counter leg kick but Panaiku just manages to avoid it.
Panaiku tries a head kick but it misses.
Merrill drops down looking for a counter takedown but Panaiku sprawls and moves away.

Panaiku clinches up against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Panaiku's face as he tries to break the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Panaiku tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Merrill breaks the clinch.
Panaiku feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Merrill's calf.
Panaiku scoring well with a low kick there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Merrill gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Merrill keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Panaiku's efforts to push away.
Merrill takes an elbow to the temple.

It looks like Darius Merrill has been cut.

Panaiku breaks from the clinch.
Panaiku scoring well with a low kick there.
Darius Merrill is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Panaiku misses with a takedown
and Merrill counters with a three punch combo that has Panaiku backing up. Panaiku nods at Merrill to acknowledge the strikes.
Panaiku throws a series of punches but Merrill avoids them all with ease.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Panaiku pushes Merrill up against the cage in a clinch.
Panaiku wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Merrill has him pressed against the cage.
Merrill wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Panaiku has him pressed against the cage.

Merrill breaks the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Panaiku moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.

Panaiku feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Panaiku wants to get up but he can't break Merrill's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Panaiku trying to control the position from guard on top but Merrill is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Panaiku with a nice head shot there.

Merrill is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Malaiku Panaiku has got the better of the ground game so far.
Panaiku trying to control but Merrill is working from the bottom.
Panaiku distracts Merrill with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Panaiku is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Panaiku trying to control the position from guard on top but Merrill is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Panaiku missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Panaiku working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Panaiku. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Merrill working a defensive guard here.
Panaiku advances to half guard.

Panaiku throws a strike but Merrill manages to get a kimura sweep and he's found himself on top with the kimura half locked in! This would be a real turnaround! He's torquing it... Will Panaiku tap??? YES! He's tapped! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:53 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Darius Merrill!