PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matt Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ray Zalinski (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zalinski has chosen We Don't Need Another Hero as his entrance music. Ray Zalinski is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Smith
vs
Zalinski

185 cm
25
185 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

192 cm
31
245 lbs
16 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Very strong

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matt Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ray Zalinski!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Kenichi Hosakawa and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Smith gets a clinch.
Zalinski trying to stall but Smith improves his position.
Smith holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Zalinski takes a knee to the side of the body.
Zalinski stalling the fight.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith with a knee to the head.
Zalinski being controlled against the cage.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Smith is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Zalinski takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Smith just leaning against Zalinski, taking a breather.
Zalinski on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Matt Smith.

Smith gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Knees to the body from Smith.
The referee calls for Smith to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zalinski on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Smith lands a nice knee to the body.
Zalinski taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Smith pressing his opponent against the cage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Smith as Zalinski tries to tie him up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Smith 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.

Smith moves into the clinch.
Zalinski takes an elbow to the forehead.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Smith.
Smith throws an elbow but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Zalinski has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Zalinski wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Zalinski stalls.
Smith throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Zalinski blocks it with crossed arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Zalinski is trying to force a seperation but Smith has the dominant position.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Zalinski.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Smith tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith lands a knee to the head.
Smith stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Zalinski leaning against his opponent.
Zalinski avoiding damage as Smith throws knees to the body.

Zalinski breaks the clinch.

Smith instigates a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Come on Zalinski - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Zalinski taking a breather.
Smith tries to land a knee to the head but Zalinski blocks with his arms.
Smith with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Smith stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Smith dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. 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.

Smith gets a clinch.
Smith pressing his opponent against the cage.
Smith misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zalinski.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Smith pushes off an throws an elbow but Zalinski leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
A battle for position here, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith tries a knee to the head but Zalinski blocks it.
Smith wants to stall.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Matt Smith.

Smith moves into range and clinches up with Zalinski.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Smith stalling in the clinch but Zalinski improves position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zalinski will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Smith up against the cage.
Smith using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Zalinski has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Ray Zalinski has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Zalinski slows down the pace here.
Smith holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zalinski managing to block the knees to the body from Smith.

Zalinski manages to break the clinch.

Smith clinches.
Smith tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Zalinski avoids it.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Zalinski stalling in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Zalinski blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Zalinski blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Zalinski stalling in the clinch but Smith improves position.
Zalinski avoiding damage as Smith throws knees to the body.
Smith with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Smith stalling the fight.

And that's the end of the fight!
Matt Smith showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Smith has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matt Smith!