PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Nicasio Salonga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alexander Young (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Salonga
vs
Young

176 cm
25
162 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

180 cm
28
160 lbs
7 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

SPARTA FIGHTWARE-GTI
Fossington & Blythe: Gentlemen's Fight Attire

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Nicasio Salonga!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 9 - 0, fighting out of London, Alexander Young!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, James Atkins and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
Young fails to land with a series of punches.
Young throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Salonga avoids a punch combination nicely.
Danga de danga de dang - Young scores with a four punch combination!
Young fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Salonga manages to avoid it.
A combination from Young does no damage.
Young fails to land with a series of punches.

Salonga fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Young sprawls well initially but Salonga persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Young avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Salonga.
Still in half guard, Salonga seems content to control.
Salonga sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Young defending well though.
Salonga thows a huge punch but Young dodges it nicely.
Salonga is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salonga not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Salonga thows a huge punch but Young dodges it nicely.
Salonga trying to control from half guard but Young is working away.
Salonga trying to control the pace.
Young is trying to stand back up but Salonga is controlling him
Salonga sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Young defending well though.
Salonga trying to control from half guard but Young is working away.
Salonga working the head and body with strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young wants to get back to his feet.
Salonga drops an elbow to the side of Young's head.
Salonga throws a strike but Young avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Salonga throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Young works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Salonga with a flurry of punches that miss.
Salonga lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Salonga throwing strikes from guard but Young blocks nicely.
Salonga passes into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Salonga lands a nice short elbow.
Young keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Salonga wants to take a breather but Young is having none of it.
Young blocking the ground and pound attempt from Salonga.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salonga drops an elbow to the side of Young's head.
Salonga sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Young defending well though.
Salonga looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Salonga is nestled in close to Young, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Salonga seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Young does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Salonga throwing shots but Young is blocking nicely.
Salonga throwing shots but Young is blocking nicely.
Salonga thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Young's head.
Salonga looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Salonga prevents Young from standing back up.
Salonga throwing shots but Young is blocking nicely.
Young is trying to stand up here but Salonga is controlling him well.
Young is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Salonga scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ground and pound from Salonga.
Salonga wants to lay and pray for a moment but Young keeps working.
Salonga lands strikes from half guard.
Salonga throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Salonga not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Young trying to control but Salonga postures up.
Salonga takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Salonga misses with a head shot. Young uses the momentum to regain guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Salonga trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nicasio Salonga dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Young throws a right and a left that both miss.
Salonga misses with a straight left.

Salonga closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Salonga lands in his opponent's guard.
Salonga has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Salonga works over Young with some ground and pound from guard.
Young utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Salonga throwing strikes but missing.
Salonga is looking to work some ground and pound but Young has wrist control.
Salonga is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Young is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Young is looking to stand up but Salonga isn't so interested in that idea.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salonga keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Young's head.
Young keeping moving, preventing Salonga from controlling successfully.
Salonga landing some decent shots from guard.
Salonga postures up and lands a big shot to Young's brow.
Salonga is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Salonga working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Salonga throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Salonga throwing strikes from guard but Young blocks nicely.
Salonga postures up and lands a big shot to Young's brow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salonga loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Salonga throwing strikes but missing.
Salonga with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Nicasio Salonga overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Salonga accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Young preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Young keeping full guard, as Salonga tries to pass.
Salonga working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Salonga lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Salonga trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Young pushes Salonga off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young throws a right hand that Salonga ducks under and follows up with a left that Salonga also avoids with ease.
Salonga is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Young can do to turn this around?
Young misses with a double jab.
A combination from Young does no damage.
Young throws a right and a left that Salonga avoids nicely.
Young is breathing heavily.
Young tries to bum rush Salonga with a series of wild strikes but Salonga uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Young displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Salonga throws out the jab.
Young throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Salonga misses with a wild body shot.
Alexander Young is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Salonga tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Young was well out of range. Poor timing from Salonga.
Salonga throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Salonga avoids a punch combination nicely.
A looping hook to the body misses from Salonga. Young does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Salonga.
Young swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Young throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Young ducks under a wild hook from Salonga.
Nice jab there from Young.
Young tries to bum rush Salonga with a series of wild strikes but Salonga uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Salonga checks a leg kick.
Young misses with a series of wild punches.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Young lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Salonga circles away quickly and effectively.
A combination from Young does no damage.
Salonga misses the jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nicasio Salonga dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Young ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Young uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Salonga.
Young goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Salonga showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Young.
Salonga misses the shot to the body.
A punch combination from Young misses.
Young misses with a two punch combination.
Alexander Young seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Young misses with a jab, cross combination.
Salonga looks to score with a jab to the body but Young is just out of range.
Young looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Young misses with a double jab.
No joy there for Young, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Young takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salonga fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Young manages to avoid it.
A combination from Young does no damage.

Salonga shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Young's guard.
Young avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Salonga stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Young swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Salonga working some strikes from top position.
Young keeping moving, preventing Salonga from controlling successfully.
Salonga stops Young from standing up.
Salonga scoring with punches to the head and body.
Salonga postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Salonga postures up in Young's guard and throws a big left but Young blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salonga postures up in Young's guard and throws a big left but Young blocks it.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Salonga throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Salonga with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Salonga is looking to work some ground and pound but Young has wrist control.
Salonga missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Salonga trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Salonga not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Salonga in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Salonga connects with a couple of short punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salonga wants to control from the top but Young keeps moving.
Salonga is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Salonga trying to control but Young is working from the bottom.

We're going to have a standup here because Nicasio Salonga wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Young throws a right and a left that both miss.
Young throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Salonga blocks a head kick by Young.

Young gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young has momentary wrist control but Salonga slips an elbow through the middle.
Salonga trying to control but Young is working from the bottom.
Salonga trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Salonga throws a big elbow that misses.
Young wants to stand up but Salonga is controlling him.
Salonga throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Young wants to get back to his feet but Salonga is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Salonga connects with a couple of short punches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nicasio Salonga showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Salonga, 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:27
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nicasio Salonga!