PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Hyder Zitti (ranked 4065 p4p, 2820 weight class) and Davis Riley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Riley has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Davis Riley told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Zitti
vs
Riley

169 cm
19
135
0 - 0 - 0

174 cm
25
145
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Hyder Zitti!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Davis Riley!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Sandra Marshall and Winston Alpacca.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zitti fails with an attempt to clinch.
Zitti tries to clinch up.
Zitti dives in for a single leg takedown but Riley sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Zitti working hard to break the clinch.

Zitti breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Riley blocks a head kick by Zitti.
Zitti fails with a takedown attempt.
Zitti has his takedown stuffed
letting Riley counter with a right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hyder Zitti. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zitti swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Riley counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Zitti misses with a takedown
and Riley counters with a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riley swings for the body but Zitti moves out of range.
Riley looks winded!
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zitti.
Davis Riley is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Zitti throws a head kick but Riley moves out of range.
Riley is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Zitti with a body shot.
Riley misses with a double jab
and Zitti counters with a left to the body.
Zitti closes this distance looking for a takedown but Riley circles away.
Riley misses with a two punch combination.
Riley pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Riley tries to keep at a distance but Zitti has taken the fight into the clinch.
Come on Zitti - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zitti has picked Riley up - he's going for a ride! Zitti dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

Riley kicks off Zitti and gets to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zitti wants to clinch
and Riley counters with a straight right hand.
Zitti tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Riley misses with the combination.
Riley looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Zitti shoots in but Riley avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Zitti.
Riley swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Zitti misses with a takedown
enabling Riley to counter with a crisp jab.
Zitti fails in his attempt to clinch.
Zitti misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Riley throws a counter combo.
Riley bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Zitti fails in his attempt to clinch.
Riley dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Riley throws a body shot but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Riley defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Zitti.
Zitti doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Riley counters with a stiff right hand.
Riley misses with a wild combination.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Riley.
Zitti slips a jab and a cross from Riley.
Riley ducks under a wild hook from Zitti.
Zitti swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Riley counters with a lovely straight right hand!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zitti fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Davis Riley dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Riley lands a nice looking body shot.
Zitti shoots in for a double leg but Riley sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Zitti looks for a takedown but Riley sprawls well.
Riley throws a combination. Zitti tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Zitti fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hyder Zitti. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Riley lands a jab-cross combination.
Nice jab there from Zitti.
Riley is breathing heavily.
Zitti is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riley swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Zitti.
Zitti fails with an attempt to clinch.
Riley swats away the attempt to clinch by Zitti.
Zitti is looking to clinch.
Zitti shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Riley as he avoids it easily.
Riley misses with a jab, cross combination.
Zitti looks for a takedown but Riley sprawls well.
Zitti dives in for a single leg takedown but Riley sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riley blocking some punches.

Riley's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Zitti closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Zitti tries to clinch but Riley is having none of it.
A nice side step and Riley releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Riley throws a series of punches but Zitti avoids them all with ease.
Sloppy strikes from Riley. Those never looked like landing.
Riley has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Riley takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Zitti shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Riley sprawls well. Riley wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Zitti gets slowly back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zitti fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Zitti.
Riley lands with a nice body punch.
Riley lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

Zitti shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Riley napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Riley sneaks out the side door and pushes Zitti away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zitti misses with a takedown attempt
and Riley counters with a one-two to the body.
Riley throws a right hand that Zitti ducks under and follows up with a left that Zitti also avoids with ease.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zitti has taken the fight to the clinch.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Riley escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Zitti steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Riley.
Riley blocks a head kick by Zitti.
A nice combination there by Riley.
Zitti throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Riley's waist but Riley gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zitti off to one side.
Sloppy strikes from Riley. Those never looked like landing.
Davis Riley seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Riley fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Zitti manages to avoid it.
Zitti misses with a double jab.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Davis Riley showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Riley throws a series of punches but Zitti avoids them all with ease.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Zitti breaks from the clinch.
A big right from Riley misses.
Zitti wants to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zitti moves out of range of the strikes.
Riley takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Zitti tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Horrible takedown attempt by Zitti or perhaps it was just good defense by Riley, which made it look bad.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riley throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Zitti counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Riley!
Zitti is putting a hurting on Riley here, landing some big shots from side control.

Zitti stands up and beckons Riley to his feet.
Zitti fails with the takedown.

Zitti forces Riley back against the cage and clinches.
Zitti can't find room to land a body shot as Riley controls the action.

Zitti pulls guard.

Riley avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Riley stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Riley misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Zitti tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Zitti is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Zitti shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Riley as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hyder Zitti. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zitti is trying hard to land a takedown here. Riley sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Riley!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Riley scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Zitti doesn't seem bothered though.
Zitti tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Riley manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Zitti shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Zitti showed some decent athleticism there.

Riley kicks off Zitti and gets to his feet.
Zitti tries a head kick but it misses.
Zitti takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Zitti tries for a takedown but Riley sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Zitti has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Zitti there as he acknowledges the shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Riley digs a good hook to Zitti's body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Zitti drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Zitti is standing up over Riley. Riley looks to escape but Zitti dives into side control.
Riley really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Zitti. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Riley throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
Nice jab there from Riley.
Zitti looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Riley is fending him off so far but Zitti persists. Nope, Riley circles away and we're back to standing.
Riley throws out a counter right but Zitti avoids it with no problem.
Riley lands a two punch combo.
Zitti throws a sloppy head kick and Riley moves out of range easily.
Hyder Zitti has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Zitti tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Riley cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

And that's the end of the fight!
Davis Riley comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Riley winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Peter Branson scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 27:30
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Davis Riley!