PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Boby Burger (ranked 4632 p4p, 24721 weight class) and Neal Diaz (ranked 167 p4p, 212 weight class). Diaz has chosen BangaRang as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Burger
vs
Diaz

225 cm
25
300
1 - 1 - 0

225 cm
22
300
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Good low kicks
Powerful

Conviction
FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Boby Burger!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Neal Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Arvi Lind and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Burger lands a head kick. Diaz smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

It looks like Neal Diaz has been cut.
Diaz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Burger holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Burger displaying some good clinch control by pressing Diaz up against the cage.

Burger drags the fight down to the ground.
Burger looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burger looking to hit a scissor sweep but Diaz is one step ahead there.
Burger bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Diaz's guard.

Diaz has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Cozad MMA Los Angeles. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to keep Burger in close.
Burger keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Diaz's head.
Burger scoring with some ground and pound.
Burger has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Burger gets to his feet - Diaz follows without any prompting.
Diaz defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Burger.
Diaz stuffs the takedown.
Burger tries for a takedown but Diaz sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Boby Burger. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Diaz lands a big head kick that sends Burger tumbling to the mat! Diaz takes a step backwards and waves Burger back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Burger is rocked!

It looks like Boby Burger has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Burger is trying hard to land a takedown here. Diaz sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Diaz throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Burger counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Neal Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Burger checks a leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Left hook, right uppercut from Burger.
No luck for Diaz with that takedown attempt.
Diaz looks winded!
Diaz displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Burger.
Burger sets himself, and Diaz steps forward looking for the clinch! Burger avoids it this time.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Burger as he avoids it easily.
Burger misses with a takedown attempt - Diaz sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Diaz - that will leave a mark!

Burger has Diaz up against the cage in a clinch.

Burger jumps into guard, dragging Diaz to the mat.
Burger has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Burger manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Burger tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Diaz defends well and Burger ends up having to push Diaz into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Burger dives in and grabs Diaz's left leg, looking for a takedown. Diaz pushes down on Burger's head and hops out.
Burger will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Diaz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
A bone on bone clash there as Burger blocks the leg kick.
Nice sprawl there from Burger as Diaz shoots in.

Burger instigates a clinch.

Burger has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Diaz uses from the top position.
Burger has a closed guard, preventing Diaz from standing up.
Burger on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Burger tries to get out of the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Burger looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Diaz preventing the sweep.
Burger lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Burger sitting in guard here, content to control.

Burger drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Burger jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boby Burger dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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.

Burger has managed to clinch.

Burger manages to break the clinch.
Diaz tries a head kick but it misses.
Diaz tries to score a power double leg takedown but Burger sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Diaz somewhat.
Burger bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Burger closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Diaz did well to prevent Burger getting side control.
Diaz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Burger. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Burger in particular looking to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burger moves into full mount! Diaz won't be happy about that!
Diaz is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Burger controlling the position easily from mount.
Burger seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Diaz for as long as he can get away with.

Burger has control of Diaz's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Diaz regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Burger landing strikes, looking to finish!
Boby Burger overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

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.

Burger is standing up, even though he is in mount.
Diaz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Burger connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Burger has taken the fight to the clinch.

Burger manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Burger lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Burger lands a couple of digs.
Burger passes Diaz's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Burger stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Diaz to get to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Burger rushes Diaz and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Burger drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Burger drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Diaz wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Burger has him pressed against the cage.

Burger has picked Diaz up - he's going for a ride! Burger dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Diaz is trying to escape back to his feet but Burger uses the scramble to pass into side control.
Burger taking a breather here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Burger thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Burger decides to stand back up. Burger steps back and let's Diaz get back to his feet.
Boby Burger is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Burger scores with a kick to the midsection.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Burger drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
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!
Burger is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Burger postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boby Burger dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Burger darts in looking for a takedown but Diaz gets double underhooks and turns Burger into the cage.
Neal Diaz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Diaz stuffs the takedown attempt from Burger. Burger gets slowly back to his feet.
Diaz with the counter takedown but Burger avoids it easily.
Burger is trying hard to land a takedown here. Diaz sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Boby Burger. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Burger on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Diaz throws a head kick that misses.
Diaz misses with a looping right.
Diaz fails with the takedown.
Burger tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Diaz defends well and Burger ends up having to push Diaz into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Burger moves out of range as Diaz strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice takedown defense from Burger. No joy for Diaz on that attempt.
Diaz fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Diaz throws a series of punches but Burger moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Burger gets the takedown into side control.

Burger tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Burger wants to control but Diaz is keeping him busy.
Burger is working Diaz over with some ground and pound from side control.
Burger cracks Diaz with a big right hand but Diaz just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
A lull in the action here as Burger stalls from top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Burger is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Diaz can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to buck Burger off.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Burger scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Diaz to see if he's OK.
Burger has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Diaz!
Burger takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Burger continues to stall.
Burger pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Neal Diaz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boby Burger is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Burger controlling his opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Boby Burger showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Burger, 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Boby Burger!
Boby Burger seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.
In defeat, Neal Diaz stepped up to the mic, saying 'Don't worry everybody, I'll be back in better shape than ever!'.