PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Master Bates (ranked 2452 p4p, 4534 weight class) and Jorge Diaz (ranked 307 p4p, 519 weight class). Jorge Diaz acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Bates
vs
Diaz

150 cm
25
170
4 - 0 - 0

184 cm
25
178
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Master Bates!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jorge Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Michael Johnstone, David Hoff and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Bates pushes Diaz up against the cage in a clinch.

Bates gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Diaz regains guard.
Bates slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Diaz throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

Diaz working for a triangle but Bates defends it easily.

Diaz looking for a guillotine here but Bates defends easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates wants to stand but Diaz is controlling his posture from full guard.
Bates is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Diaz is trying to control the position from the bottom.

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

Bates moves into the clinch.

Bates pulls guard.
Diaz wanted to stand there but Bates had control of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bates has an active guard here but Diaz has managed to pass into half guard.
Diaz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Bates keeps working.
Bates is trying to maintain the position but Diaz is very close to passing his half guard.
Bates desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Diaz wants to free his trapped foot but Bates is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates trying to hold on to Diaz's head to control him but Diaz postures up.
Bates is trying to stand.
Bates is staying active underneath Diaz, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Bates misses with some strikes from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Diaz stuns Bates with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Diaz goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Bates shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Diaz is trying to defend but Bates finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Diaz makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bates is looking to land body kicks.
Diaz plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Diaz looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Bates wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Bates as he jumps to the side.

Bates gets the takedown into side control.

Bates thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bates scores with a couple of short elbows.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jorge Diaz will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Diaz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Bates counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Bates.
Diaz tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Bates just stands there and leans against the cage.
Bates taking a breather.

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

Bates gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Bates breaks the clinch.

Diaz gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Bates to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Diaz throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates lands a couple of elbows.
Bates might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Diaz working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Bates doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Bates manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Bates slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Bates scoring with some ground and pound.
Bates controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Bates wants to get up but he can't break Diaz's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Bates working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Diaz's head.
Bates controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Diaz is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bates landing some decent shots from guard.
Bates sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz has a closed guard, preventing Bates from standing up.
Diaz keeping full guard, as Bates tries to pass.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Diaz dives in for a single leg takedown but Bates sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Master Bates has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jorge Diaz.
Bates throws a poor cross that misses
and Diaz counters with a one-two to the body.

Bates decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Bates lands with a punch from half guard.
Bates trying to control the pace.
Diaz is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Bates scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates slows the pace down in half guard.
Nice strikes from Bates there.
Well, if Bates is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Master Bates dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Diaz thumps Bates with a low kick.

Bates shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Bates showed some decent athleticism there.
Bates with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Diaz is looking to improve his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates is controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates lands strikes from half guard.
Diaz slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Diaz working for submissions but it's allowed Bates to get to half guard.
Bates working over Diaz with some ground and pound. Diaz looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bates looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Diaz on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Bates lands with a punch from half guard.
Diaz gets full guard.
Diaz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Bates wants to pass the guard but Diaz is keeping the position.
Bates sitting in guard here, content to control.
Bates has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates chips away with some ground and pound.
Bates sitting in guard here, content to control.
Bates is looking to pass into half guard but Diaz pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Diaz is in guard.

Diaz trying to control but Bates is working from the bottom.
Diaz working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Diaz wants to control from the top but Bates keeps moving.
Bates is controlling Diaz's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates wants to stand up but Diaz is controlling him.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Diaz throws a big elbow that misses.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Bates misses with a jab, cross combination.
Diaz lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Bates walks into a jab.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Diaz bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Diaz is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Diaz tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bates swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Bates shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Diaz is trying to defend but Bates finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

And that's the end of the fight!
Master Bates showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Bates has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Michael Johnstone scores the fight 29:28
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 30:28
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Master Bates!