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ZEN VS F-DON

Battle Result

Official Battle Result

Clash Summary

ZEN vs F-DON took place at **PenGame Rap Battle 2025** as the last battle of the night before Cheekz’s performance. The host introduces it as a serious clash and frames it as a battle people had been looking forward to. F-DON calls heads, loses the toss, and ZEN chooses to go first.

ZEN opens with a long appearance-based first round. His main target is F-DON’s eyes, nose, face and body shape. He says F-DON’s eyes are so far apart that he needs to check one eye at his own yard and the other at his neighbour’s. He compares F-DON to a hammerhead shark, uses Mo Farah to exaggerate the distance between his eyes, then attacks his long neck, nose, lips, age and frog-like look. The round is packed with visual insults and punchline-heavy writing.

F-DON responds with a strong first round of his own. He opens with a “best player / bed layer / lead sprayer / Zendaya” rhyme pattern and moves into Tory Lanez, Ned Stark, Top Boy, Santan Dave, Skillibeng and “bad man” material. His “she love a bad man” section gets a big reaction, but the round is interrupted when a drink is spilled. F-DON recovers well and continues with house/yard, gratitude, PenGame letting ZEN in, Callaloo, kangaroo pouch and Magaluf material. This round is competitive and probably F-DON’s best.

Round two is where ZEN starts to pull away. He continues with nose and appearance angles, saying F-DON could sniff coke through a garden hose and has a nose like Chris Eubank Senior. He adds chin, rental-car, motorbike, choke, fire, Burner Boy, Denzel, bonfire and Quagmire material. The round is more controlled than F-DON’s second and keeps the pressure on.

F-DON’s second starts well with Leeds, “Kappistan / Kappanese,” capping, martial arts, capoeira, Capricorn and Capri Styles material. However, the round falls apart. He stumbles, and the room reacts strongly. The host makes an executive decision and moves the battle on. This is the decisive turning point.

ZEN’s third round is the strongest and clearest round of the battle. He calls it a redemption arc, brings back his “Grandmaster Mic Man” identity, references being a Don’t Flop champ, then attacks F-DON for being on steroids, looking like Deontay Wilder, living in Dan Dannah’s shadow, and not reaching Dan’s level. He uses a Karate Kid/Miyagi/Daniel-son scheme, black belt imagery, his tournament loss, then a long Efton name-flip section. He closes with monster truck, Donald Trump, monk/skunk, T-shirt, Fendi/Fila, Poseidon, Easter Island, home-under-the-hammer and war imagery. It is a proper closing round.

F-DON’s third is shorter and less controlled. He attacks ZEN as being from Leeds, not on anything, capping, “Kappistan / Kappanese,” acapella beating, capoeira, Capricorn, Capri Styles and being an idiot. He also criticises ZEN’s fast delivery, saying half the time he spits too fast and people cannot understand him. The round has some moments, but it does not match ZEN’s third. At the end, F-DON asks to do his first round again, but the host refuses.

There is no official judgement. The host tells viewers to comment who they think won.

Based on the battle, ZEN wins by Archive Judgement.

Performance Analysis

ZEN

ZEN wins this battle because he is more complete across the full three rounds. His first is strong, his second clearly beats F-DON’s interrupted second, and his third is the best round of the battle. ZEN’s first round is built almost entirely around physical comedy. He attacks F-DON’s eyes, nose, neck, lips, face and frog-like appearance. The eye-distance angle is the main thread, and he keeps finding new ways to return to it: Specsavers, neighbours, hammerhead shark, Mo Farah and opticians. It is simple but effective. His second round continues with appearance but adds more variety. The nose/garden hose, Eubank Senior, chin, rental car, motorbike and fire-name material all give the round more shape. It is not as memorable as the third, but it is controlled. His third is the battle-winning round. ZEN speaks on his own status, his tournament loss, his Don’t Flop background and his return. Then he turns F-DON’s relationship with Dan Dannah into the central attack, saying F-DON lives in Dan’s shadow and cannot reach his level. The Karate Kid/Miyagi/Daniel-son section makes the round feel more personal and more layered than his earlier appearance jokes. ZEN’s biggest strength is volume and control. He gives three full rounds and finishes strongest.

Lyrical Themes: Eye-distance, Specsavers, hammerhead shark, Mo Farah, long neck, Dexter Daps, Ozempic, frog bars, nose/garden hose, Chris Eubank Senior, rental cars, motorbike, fire/Burner Boy, bonfire, Quagmire, redemption arc, Don’t Flop champ, Dan Dannah shadow, Miyagi/Daniel-son, Efton name flips, Poseidon, Easter Island, built for war.

F-DON / EFTON

F-DON has a strong first round and moments in the third, but loses because his second round collapses and his third does not match ZEN’s closer. His first round is good. The Zendaya rhyme pattern is sharp, the Tory Lanez and Ned Stark lines land, and the “she love a bad man” section gives him a proper crowd moment. He also makes a good angle out of ZEN being in PenGame’s house and needing to show gratitude. His second round starts with potential. The Leeds angle, “Kappistan / Kappanese,” capping, martial arts and Capricorn material could have developed into a strong round, but he loses control. The room reacts heavily and the host moves the battle on. That round is hard to score for F-DON. His third round is better than the second, but still not enough. He returns to capping, Leeds, acapella, martial arts, Capri Styles, idiot name flips and criticising ZEN’s fast delivery. The problem is that ZEN’s third is much more complete and more layered. F-DON’s biggest strength is stage presence when locked in. His weakness in this battle is consistency.

Lyrical Themes: Zendaya, Tory Lanez, Ned Stark, Top Boy, Santan Dave, Skillibeng, bad man hook, gratitude, PenGame house, Callaloo, kangaroo pouch, Magaluf, Leeds, Kappistan/Kappanese, capping, capoeira, Capricorn, Capri Styles, idiot name flip, fast delivery critique.

Key Technical Highlights

ZEN

Best round

Round three.

Strongest trait

Full-round control.

Best angle

F-DON living in Dan Dannah’s shadow.

Best technical section

Miyagi / Daniel-son / black belt scheme.

Battle-winning factor

Won the second and third clearly.

F-DON / EFTON

Best round

Round one.

Strongest trait

Crowd energy.

Best angle

“She love a bad man” / PenGame house gratitude.

Best technical section

Zendaya / lead sprayer / Tory Lanez opening.

Battle-losing factor

Second-round collapse and weaker third.

Indexed Bars & Breakdown

ZEN

Appearance

"When you bell Specsavers, you gotta check one eye in your yard and see the other eye at your neighbour’s."

One of ZEN’s best visual jokes. F-DON’s eyes are described as so far apart they need different addresses.

Appearance

"F’s got eyes like a hammerhead shark."

A strong appearance punch. Hammerhead sharks have eyes wide apart, matching the angle.

Distance

"Not even Mo Farah could ever cover this distance."

A distance joke using Mo Farah, known for long-distance running. It extends the eye-distance angle.

Appearance

"Should’ve told this very long neck relax, now you’re looking like a BTEC Dexter Daps."

A neck/appearance punch. Dexter Daps is used as the comparison, with “BTEC” making it a cheaper version.

Appearance

"Should’ve put your whole hench lip on Ozempic."

An Ozempic/weight-loss bar aimed at F-DON’s lips or face.

Appearance

"You could sniff coke through a garden hose."

A nose-size punch. F-DON’s nose is so large it could inhale through a hose.

Appearance

"He’s got a nose like Eubank Senior."

A Chris Eubank Senior reference, used for appearance.

Wordplay

"The last time F’s in a wheel-up, he was on the back of his bedroom’s motorbike."

A wheel-up/motorbike punch. ZEN flips reload/wheel-up into being on a bike.

Name Flip

"Ironic no one is naming fire when he looks like a cracked out Burner Boy."

A Burner Boy/fire reference mixed with appearance/drug imagery.

Personal

"F doesn’t actually live with Dan, instead he was living inside his shadow."

One of the strongest personal angles. ZEN says F-DON’s career is overshadowed by Dan Dannah.

Reference

"Right now F’s in a clash with Miyagi, but Daniel’s son."

A Karate Kid reference. ZEN makes himself Miyagi and F-DON Daniel’s son.

Reference

"The judges decided to cross me out, and now I’m back and I’m born again."

ZEN references his tournament loss and frames this as a redemption arc.

Name Flip

"Why do you sound like a deaf don?"

A name/sound flip on F-DON/Efton.

Reference

"You’ve got a head like a chocolate egg and a face like Easter Island."

A head/face visual punch. Easter Island statues have long stone faces.

F-DON

Confidence

"When it comes to killing rappers, I’m the best player."

A confidence bar. F-DON says he is elite at killing opponents lyrically.

Name Flip

"I’ma light this bitch, call him Zendaya."

A name flip on ZEN / Zendaya. It uses the opponent’s name to create the punch.

Reference

"You think you’re king of the North, but in South I’ll take off man’s head like Ned Stark."

A Game of Thrones reference. Ned Stark was beheaded, and F-DON flips North/South.

Crowd Hook

"She call me Skillibeng cause she said she love a bad man."

A Skillibeng / bad man reference. This becomes a crowd hook.

Angle

"This is PenGame, we let you into our house and you ain’t even thanked us for having you."

A strong host-platform angle. ZEN is framed as a guest who should show gratitude.

Punchline

"Got beaten more times than a white kid in Magaluf."

A holiday/fight joke. Magaluf is known for chaotic British nightlife.

Wordplay

"This Asian guy’s from Kappistan, first language is Kappanese."

A race/capping wordplay. It is hostile battle material.

Wordplay

"He does martial arts… capoeira."

A martial-arts wordplay. Capoeira becomes “cap” material.

Delivery Critique

"Right half the time, you’re spitting as fast as you can, and you wonder why they can’t understand."

A strong delivery critique. F-DON attacks ZEN’s speed and clarity.

Judgement Summary

ZEN wins

Archive result: ZEN wins. Archive score: ZEN 2-1 F-DON. Suggested round split: Round 1: F-DON / debatable, Round 2: ZEN, Round 3: ZEN. Reason: F-DON’s first round is strong enough to make the battle competitive, but the second-round collapse is decisive. ZEN wins the second and third with cleaner completion, better structure and stronger closing material.

Battle Stats

DateTBD
Views123K
LeagueSeason 2025