PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kai Diao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xavi D Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). D Cruz comes into a darkened arena with his song building. mama said knock you out kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Xavi D Cruz has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Diao
vs
D Cruz

173 cm
24
173 lbs
4 - 3 - 1

178 cm
21
179 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Determined

Asphyxiation Ltd. 14.99-24.99 (CBK)

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 - 3 - 1, fighting out of London, Kai Diao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Xavi D Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Andrew Berry and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
D Cruz with a hook.
D Cruz throws a combination. Diao tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Diao doesn't manage to clinch there - D Cruz circles away.
Diao wants to clinch up but D Cruz keeps it at a distance.
D Cruz smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Diao fails in his attempt to clinch.
D Cruz lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
D Cruz lands the left hand.
Diao avoids the head kick by D Cruz.
Diao throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
D Cruz throws out a loose jab but Diao uses good head movement to avoid it.
D Cruz closes the distance and lands a one-two.
D Cruz misses with a double jab.
D Cruz lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Diao blocks a jab.
A right-left combo lands from D Cruz.
Diao buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
D Cruz scores with a decent looking hook.
Diao ducks under a wild hook from D Cruz.
Nice sprawl there from Diao as D Cruz shoots in.
Diao on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
D Cruz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Diao moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

D Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Diao missing with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
D Cruz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Diao scores a nice knee to the body.
Diao cracks D Cruz with a nice body shot.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Diao takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
D Cruz blocks an uppercut.
Diao is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Diao is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
D Cruz tries to break the clinch but Diao is controlling the position.
Diao throws a knee to the head but misses.
D Cruz tries to break the clinch but Diao is controlling the position.
Still in the clinch, D Cruz scores with a nice short uppercut.
D Cruz tries to break free but Diao pushes him back against the cage.
Diao lands an elbow just above D Cruz 's eye.
Diao looking to stall.
D Cruz wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Diao using the Thai plumb to throw knees but D Cruz has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Diao keeps the fight in the clinch, despite D Cruz's efforts to push away.
Diao keeps the fight in the clinch, despite D Cruz's efforts to push away.
D Cruz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

D Cruz escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
D Cruz throws out a loose jab but Diao uses good head movement to avoid it.
D Cruz missing with a left hand there. Diao was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by D Cruz.
D Cruz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

D Cruz scores a takedown into full mount!
D Cruz breaks from Diao's wrist control and lands an elbow.
D Cruz working away from the top, dropping strikes.
D Cruz thowing shots but they're missing.
Diao tries to hold on but D Cruz postures up.
Diao is wriggling around trying to escape.
The referee warns Diao that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
D Cruz has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Diao's face.
D Cruz postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Diao looks a forlorn figure.
D Cruz fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
D Cruz with good strikes from the mount here!
Diao working to try and regain half guard.
Diao takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
A nice elbow there by D Cruz.
Diao tries to lock up and control but D Cruz gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
D Cruz looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Diao is breathing heavily.
D Cruz looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
D Cruz is landing with some decent strikes but Diao is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Diao regains half guard.
Diao is looking to control D Cruz's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Diao avoid being mounted?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
D Cruz takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Diao on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
D Cruz thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Diao's head.
D Cruz sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Diao defending well though.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. D Cruz lands a nice short elbow.
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!
D Cruz scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Diao keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
D Cruz is looking to take a break and control but Diao is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Diao is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Diao has hold of D Cruz's hands but D Cruz slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavi D Cruz dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Diao lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Xavi D Cruz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Diao walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
D Cruz lands a lovely overhand right.
D Cruz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
D Cruz bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Diao throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
D Cruz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Diao moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

D Cruz clinches.
D Cruz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
D Cruz can't break the clinch.
Diao is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

D Cruz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
D Cruz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Diao throws the kick towards the body but D Cruz avoids it.
Diao tries to close the distance and clinch but D Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
D Cruz connects with a good right hand that stumbles Diao. Diao circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Diao swings and misses with a hook to the body.
D Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
D Cruz throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Kai Diao is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diao tries to clinch but D Cruz moves away
and D Cruz counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Diao looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Diao tries to close the distance and clinch but D Cruz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Diao tries to clinch but D Cruz moves out of range.
D Cruz lands with an overhand left.
Diao slips under a jab from D Cruz.
D Cruz misses with a series of wild punches.

Diao has taken the fight to the clinch.
Diao stalling against the cage.
D Cruz working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
D Cruz wants to break free but Diao has control.
D Cruz is trying to break free.
D Cruz is trying to force a seperation but Diao has the dominant position.
Diao taking a breather.
Diao stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
D Cruz letting Diao take a breather here.
Diao with a knee to the head.
Diao tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and D Cruz avoids it.
D Cruz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
D Cruz wants to break free but Diao has control.
D Cruz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Diao throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.

D Cruz breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
D Cruz scores with a shot to the body.
Diao moves in looking to clinch but D Cruz pushes him off.
D Cruz lands a slapping body shot.
D Cruz catches Diao with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Diao on the wrong end of a nice jab.
D Cruz might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
D Cruz throws a series of punches but Diao moves out of range.
Xavi D Cruz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Diao staying out of range there.
D Cruz lands a nice shot that snaps Diao's head back.
D Cruz looks to land a left hand but Diao moved out of range nicely.
D Cruz works the jab nicely.
Diao wants to clinch up but D Cruz keeps it at a distance.
Nice straight punches there by D Cruz. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of D Cruz.
D Cruz connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Diao tries to clinch up but D Cruz circles away and keeps his distance.
Diao takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
D Cruz cracks Diao with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
D Cruz cracks Diao with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Diao misses with a looping left.
D Cruz connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Diao takes a jab right on the kisser.
Diao with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling D Cruz to score with a decent uppercut.
D Cruz throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Diao sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Diao shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
D Cruz goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
D Cruz scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.

Diao gets a clinch.
D Cruz wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on D Cruz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Diao tries to land knees in the clinch but D Cruz avoids the damage to the body.
Diao looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
D Cruz takes a knee to the side of the body.
Diao working D Cruz over with knees to the body.
D Cruz is breathing heavily.
D Cruz wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Diao has him pressed against the cage.
Diao looking to stall.
D Cruz tries to circle away but Diao has him pinned against the cage.

D Cruz's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diao tries to clinch there but D Cruz circles away.
D Cruz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Diao has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from D Cruz finds it's way round the side to connect with Diao's head.
Diao doesn't manage to clinch there - D Cruz circles away.
Diao darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Diao throws a shot from downtown. D Cruz moves away and avoids it.
Diao takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Diao takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
A lazy left from D Cruz finds it's target.
D Cruz slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
D Cruz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Diao lands a head shot.
Diao on the wrong end of a nice hook.
D Cruz takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
D Cruz lands with a hook. Diao tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Diao is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
D Cruz scores with a nice head shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavi D Cruz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Diao's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Diao uses good head movement to avoid the hook from D Cruz.
D Cruz throws a front kick aimed at Diao's knee but Diao avoids it well.
A jab from Diao finds it's way through D Cruz's defenses.
D Cruz throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
D Cruz looks to land a combination but Diao avoids it well.
Diao tries to move into range but D Cruz moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
D Cruz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Diao tries to clinch but D Cruz moves out of range.
A left and a right from D Cruz both land. Nice combination.
A telegraphed right hand from D Cruz misses the target.
Diao swings and misses with a shot to the body
and D Cruz counters with a nice body shot.
D Cruz throws a right and a left that both miss.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from D Cruz.
D Cruz swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Some wild striking there from D Cruz.
Diao dodges the punch combination from D Cruz.
D Cruz misses with a hook. Diao ducked under it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
D Cruz lands with a shot to the body.
Some wild striking there from D Cruz.
D Cruz jabbing away but nothing is landing.
D Cruz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Diao.
D Cruz loads up on a big right hand but Diao slips the punch.
D Cruz catches Diao with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Diao pivots, looking for a leg kick but D Cruz is out of range and Diao settles back down.
D Cruz lands a two punch combo.
A jab lands there for Diao.
Diao needs to keep his hands up - D Cruz had a free shot at his head there.
Diao misses with a wild body shot.
Diao misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
D Cruz throws a series of punches but Diao moves out of range.

Diao darts in and clinches D Cruz up against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on D Cruz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
D Cruz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
D Cruz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diao lands a good knee to the midsection. D Cruz won't want to take too many of those.

D Cruz breaks the clinch.
D Cruz moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
D Cruz catches Diao with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

D Cruz tries to keep at a distance but Diao has taken the fight into the clinch.
D Cruz blocks an elbow strike from Diao.

D Cruz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
D Cruz scores with a body shot.
Diao moves in looking to clinch but D Cruz pushes him off.
Diao ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
D Cruz throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Diao moves out of range as D Cruz strikes.
D Cruz closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Diao tries to clinch but D Cruz is having none of it.
Diao misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Diao gets cracked there but stands up to it.
D Cruz lands a nice shot that snaps Diao's head back.
D Cruz closes the distance and clinches up with Diao, looking for a takedown. D Cruz pushes Diao against the cage but Diao circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
D Cruz misses with a body punch
and Diao counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
D Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
D Cruz scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Diao doesn't seem bothered though.
Diao tries to clinch
and D Cruz counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Diao throws a push kick but D Cruz slaps the foot to one side.
Diao bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

D Cruz closes the distance and clinches.

D Cruz breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
D Cruz swats away the attempt to clinch by Diao.
Diao moves out of range of the strikes.
D Cruz lands with a nice combination. Diao backs away looking to recover.

D Cruz decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
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. D Cruz connects with a nice short shot to Diao's temple.
D Cruz scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Diao on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Diao tries to get out of the position.
Diao trying to hold on to D Cruz's head to control him but D Cruz postures up.
D Cruz blocks the strikes from Diao.
Diao has his hands clasped together around D Cruz's back. He's all about the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diao trying to get back to full guard but D Cruz takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Xavi D Cruz is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
D Cruz working Diao over with strikes here.
Diao is wriggling around trying to escape.
Kai Diao has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Diao is bucking up trying to escape but D Cruz cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
D Cruz looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
D Cruz postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Diao looks a forlorn figure.
D Cruz lands a nice shot to the head.
D Cruz is landing with some decent strikes but Diao is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
D Cruz scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Diao?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
D Cruz scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Diao?

And that's the end of the fight!
Xavi D Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got D Cruz winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xavi D Cruz!