PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Marcus Dante (ranked 24993 p4p, 6380 weight class) and Danny Diaz (ranked 344 p4p, 433 weight class). Danny Diaz has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Dante
vs
Diaz

200 cm
21
130
0 - 3 - 0

180 cm
22
138
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Marcus Dante!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Danny Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Ben Zyskovitsi, Anni Minnemäki and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dante pivots, looking for a leg kick but Diaz is out of range and Dante settles back down.
Dante displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Diaz.
Dante fails with a takedown attempt.
Diaz with the counter takedown but Dante avoids it easily.

Dante closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Diaz jumps guard and drags Dante to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Diaz is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diaz is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Dante trying to control the position from guard on top but Diaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dante will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Dante gets to his feet. Diaz looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

Dante moves into the clinch.

Dante manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Dante is breathing heavily.
Diaz trying to control but Dante is working from the bottom.
Diaz sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Dante's guard.
Diaz seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Dante does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Dante really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Diaz decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Diaz throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Horrible takedown attempt by Dante or perhaps it was just good defense by Diaz, which made it look bad.
Dante looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Sloppy strikes from Diaz. Those never looked like landing.
Dante stuffs the takedown attempt from Diaz. Diaz gets slowly back to his feet.
Dante went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Dante pushes Diaz up against the cage in a clinch.

Diaz manages to break the clinch.
Diaz tries to clinch but Dante is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Marcus Dante has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Diaz.
Diaz keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Dante throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Diaz was covering up waiting for the punch and Dante finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Dante wants to control from the top but Diaz keeps moving.

Diaz had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Dante defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to control the position but Dante postures up.
Dante lands a couple of elbows.
Dante sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Dante gets to his feet. Diaz looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Marcus Dante will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Diaz darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Dante tries to kick Diaz off in order to stand up. Diaz Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
Diaz lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Dante down.
Diaz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Dante keeps working.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Diaz goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Dante has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Diaz but great work by Dante.
Dante in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
The strikes coming from Dante are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dante wants to stand but Diaz is controlling his arm.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Dante wants to control but Diaz is keeping him busy.
Diaz tries to improve position but can't.
Dante postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Dante trying to control the position but Diaz is working away.
Dante tries to stand but Diaz is controlling his head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Diaz is not content to let Dante control the position.
Dante is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Diaz is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Diaz is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Diaz tries to buck Dante off but Dante is having none of it.
Dante is chipping away with strikes.
Dante cracks Diaz with a big right hand but Diaz just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Dante wants to lay and pray for a moment but Diaz keeps working.
Dante is trying to ground and pound but Diaz uses the momentary lack of control by Dante to regain half guard.
Diaz looks like he's trying to stand up.
Dante wants to take a breather but Diaz is having none of it.
Diaz trying to control here.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Dante closes the distance and clinches.
Diaz looking to stall.
Diaz tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Dante smiles and moves away.
Dante misses with a takedown attempt - Diaz sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Diaz fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Dante avoids it really well and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Diaz stuffs the takedown.
Diaz will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Marcus Dante has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Diaz.
Diaz with a lazy takedown attempt

and Dante counters by moving into the clinch.
Dante tries a knee to the head but Diaz blocks it.
Dante is trying to pull guard but Diaz turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Diaz lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Dante as Diaz tries to tie him up.
Dante lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Diaz has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Dante seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Diaz can turn it around.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Diaz tries to pull guard but Dante won't allow it.

Dante pulls Diaz into guard.
Diaz wants to control from the top but Dante keeps moving.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Dante dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Diaz connects with a body shot that sends Dante's belly button to the back.
Dante is looking to score with low kicks.
Diaz throws a series of punches but Dante avoids them all with ease.
Dante throws a big counter combination but Diaz scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Diaz fails with a takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diaz misses with a jab, cross combination.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Dante takes the fight into the clinch.

Diaz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dante shoots in for a takedown but Diaz shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Diaz tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Dante paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Diaz wants to clinch.
Diaz fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Dante gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Dante has Diaz pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Dante pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Diaz tumbling to the mat - Dante dives into Diaz's guard.

Diaz pushes Dante off and gets back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Dante tries to avoid it but Diaz manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Dante to the ground. Dante escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Marcus Dante has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Diaz.
Diaz tries to close the distance and clinch but Dante swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Dante tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Diaz defends well and Dante ends up having to push Diaz into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Dante misses with a shot to the kidneys.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Diaz's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Diaz stuffs the takedown attempt from Dante. Dante gets slowly back to his feet.
Danny Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dante avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dante lands a two punch combo.
Diaz throws a right and a left that both miss.
Dante misses with the combination.
Diaz misses with a takedown

and Dante counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Dante thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Diaz's head.
Dante trying to control the action but Diaz is working from the bottom.
Diaz has hold of Dante's hands but Dante slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dante lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Dante trying to pass the guard but Diaz defending well.
Dante throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Dante sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Diaz defending well though.
Diaz is not content to let Dante control the position.
Dante is controlling the pace.
Marcus Dante is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Dante is trying to control the action in half guard but Diaz is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Danny Diaz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Dante wants to pass the guard but Diaz is defending well.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Marcus Dante.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Dante, 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 Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcus Dante!
Marcus Dante decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.