PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Davide Fontolan (ranked 3621 p4p, 4712 weight class) and Tyler Diamond (ranked 246 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Fontolan
vs
Diamond

163 cm
22
146
1 - 0 - 0

170 cm
19
145
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Davide Fontolan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tyler Diamond!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Paul Aken and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fontolan uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Diamond.

Diamond drops Fontolan with a left right combo! Diamond follows him down to the ground into side control.

Fontolan is rocked!

It looks like Davide Fontolan has been cut.
Diamond wants to stand but Fontolan is controlling his arm.
Fontolan tries to escape but Diamond is in control.
Diamond wants to stand but Fontolan has his arm trapped.
Fontolan tries to escape but Diamond is in control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Diamond decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fontolan bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet but Fontolan drags him back down.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet but Fontolan is dominant here and he's now got Diamond's back!
Fontolan lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Fontolan.
Diamond is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Fontolan.
Diamond really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Fontolan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Fontolan lands with a nice looking elbow that stuns Diamond.
Diamond grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fontolan controls the action.
Fontolan seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Diamond for as long as he can get away with.
The referee is taking a good look at Diamond as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Fontolan!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Fontolan scores with punches to the body.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diamond is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
Fontolan looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Fontolan lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
Diamond is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Fontolan.
Diamond is trying to get back to his feet but Fontolan has full control of the position and if anything, Diamond has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Fontolan lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
Fontolan controlling the position well here. Diamond rolled but Fontolan kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Fontolan's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Fontolan 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diamond trying to get back to his feet but Fontolan is in full control for now.
Fontolan has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Diamond's body.
Fontolan scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
Fontolan controlling from the back.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Davide Fontolan dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Davide Fontolan's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Fontolan closes the distance and clinches.
Fontolan is looking to take this one to the mat.
Fontolan keeps control of Diamond as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Diamond looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Diamond working hard to break the clinch.
Fontolan is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Fontolan tries for a takedown but Diamond manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Davide Fontolan. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diamond is pressed up against the cage. Fontolan has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Diamond down to the mat. Diamond avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Diamond throws a jab but it's blocked by Fontolan.
Fontolan missing with a left hand there. Diamond was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Diamond! But no joy.
Diamond's coach down at Rollins Fitness was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Diamond's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fontolan fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Diamond, pushing him back against the cage.
A right hook to the body lands for Fontolan.
Diamond being controlled against the cage.
Fontolan has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Diamond after a bit of a struggle.
Fontolan has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Diamond after a bit of a struggle.
Fontolan is trying to drag Diamond to the mat but Diamond just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Fontolan lands a hook that snaps the head of Diamond backwards.
Fontolan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Diamond can do to turn this around?
Diamond is trying to push Fontolan away but Fontolan has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Diamond's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Fontolan is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Diamond gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Fontolan pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Diamond swings and misses with a hook to the body.
It looked like Fontolan was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

Fontolan decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Fontolan is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Fontolan slips a nice elbow through Diamond's hands, connecting with Diamond's forehead.
Diamond on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fontolan seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Fontolan lands strikes from half guard.
Davide Fontolan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet.
Fontolan scoring with strikes to the body and head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Diamond looks like he's trying to stand up.
Fontolan with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Fontolan landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fontolan working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Fontolan connects with a nice short shot to Diamond's temple.
Fontolan takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Fontolan looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Diamond with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Fontolan controlling the pace.
Fontolan looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fontolan controlling the action here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Davide Fontolan dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Davide Fontolan's cut.
That's time! Fontolan's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Fontolan forces Diamond back against the cage and clinches.
Fontolan has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Diamond is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Fontolan lands a body shot in the clinch.

Fontolan lands a takedown into guard.
Fontolan prevents Diamond from getting back to his feet.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Diamond can do anything to dispel that myth.
Fontolan scoring with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fontolan lands a couple of elbows.
Fontolan engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Fontolan is in close to Diamond's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fontolan scoring with some ground and pound.
Diamond is looking to stand up but Fontolan isn't so interested in that idea.
Fontolan slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Diamond trying to remain calm as Fontolan controls from the top position.
Diamond takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Fontolan scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Diamond to see if he's OK.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fontolan prevents Diamond from escaping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fontolan is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Diamond will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet but Fontolan drags him back down.
Fontolan scoring with punches from side control.
Diamond takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

Fontolan tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Fontolan remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Diamond takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Tyler Diamond has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diamond pushes Fontolan away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Fontolan gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Fontolan creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Diamond tries to escape but Fontolan is in control.
Fontolan grinds an elbow into Diamond's temple.
Diamond being controlled for a moment.
Diamond is trying to get back to his feet.

That's four 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.
Fontolan is putting a hurting on Diamond here, landing some big shots from side control.
Diamond is letting Fontolan control him for a moment.
Diamond is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Fontolan asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Diamond throwing some weak shots from the bottom that do no damage.
Diamond is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Fontolan asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fontolan connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Diamond some visible discomfort.

And that's the end of the fight!
Davide Fontolan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Fontolan, 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 Aafke Stam scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:26
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Davide Fontolan!