PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Denis Opal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alberto Diagana (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Diagana has chosen Judas Priest - Painkiller as his entrance music. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Opal
vs
Diagana

156 cm
31
135 lbs
17 - 8 - 0

168 cm
32
149 lbs
15 - 19 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Powerful

Golden Supplements [O.R.G]

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 17 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Denis Opal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 19 - 0, fighting out of London, Alberto Diagana!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Richard Clark and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Opal will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Opal misses with a head kick.
Diagana fails in his attempt to clinch.
Opal fails with the takedown

and Diagana counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Diagana.
Diagana lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Opal scores with a shot to the side of Diagana's head.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Knees in the clinch landing for Diagana.
Diagana taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Diagana lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Opal is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Denis Opal. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Diagana working Opal over with knees to the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Diagana.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diagana lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
The referee calls for Diagana to work.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Alberto Diagana.
Diagana lands with a nice combination. Opal backs away looking to recover.
Diagana throws a series of punches but Opal moves out of range.
Diagana tries to clinch but Opal moves out of range.
Diagana feints and then cracks Opal's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Opal down.
Diagana darts in trying to clinch
and Opal counters with a stiff right hand.

Opal drives through and clinches with Diagana against the cage.
Diagana tries to land a knee to the head but Opal blocks with his arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diagana stalling.
Opal on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Diagana is pushing Opal up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Opal wants to stall.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Diagana misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Opal.
Opal wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Diagana gets through Opal's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Opal working hard to break the clinch.
Diagana lands an elbow that stopped Opal in his tracks for a moment.
Diagana lands a damaging elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Opal has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Diagana after a bit of a struggle.
Opal is trying to pull guard but Diagana turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Opal wants a takedown.
Diagana stalling against the cage.
The referee calls for Opal to work.
Opal has Diagana pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Diagana manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Diagana dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Opal tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Diagana smiles and moves away.
Opal blocks a head kick by Diagana.

Diagana has closed the distance and engaged Opal in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Opal can't get the takedown.
Opal takes an elbow to the temple.
Diagana landing knees to the body.
Diagana stalls.
Diagana unloads a knee to the mid-section. Opal lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Opal avoiding damage as Diagana throws knees to the body.
Diagana lands an elbow inside that Opal shrugs off.
Opal wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Opal is trying to force a seperation but Diagana has the dominant position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Diagana tries to land knees in the clinch but Opal avoids the damage to the body.
Diagana manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Opal fails to pull guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alberto Diagana dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Diagana rushes Opal and presses him up against the cage.
Alberto Diagana seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Diagana dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Opal misses with a knee to the head.
Diagana throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Opal avoiding damage as Diagana throws knees to the body.
Diagana gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Opal is trying to break the clinch but Diagana is controlling him.
Opal jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Diagana walks away with a smile on his face. Opal gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Opal fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Diagana throws a series of strikes that have Opal backpedaling.
Opal shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Diagana as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Denis Opal. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Diagana misses with a wild combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diagana rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Opal moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Alberto Diagana is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Opal swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Diagana tries to clinch up but Opal circles away and keeps his distance.
Diagana tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Opal paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Diagana throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Opal counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Opal stops Diagana from getting back to his feet.
Opal prevents Diagana from improving his position.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Diagana works his way to full guard. Good work.
Opal stops Diagana from standing up.
Opal trying to control the position from guard on top but Diagana is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diagana wants to sweep but no luck.
Opal trying to control but Diagana is working from the bottom.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Diagana is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Opal has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Denis Opal.
Diagana misses with a jab, cross combination.
Opal misses with a takedown attempt - Diagana sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Opal clinches with his opponent.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Diagana.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Opal blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Diagana landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Opal tries to pull guard but Diagana holds him up against the cage and eventually Opal drops back down to his feet.
Diagana stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Diagana lands with a left to the head.
Diagana is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Diagana receives a warning from the referee for stalling.
Opal is trying to pull guard but Diagana has him pressed against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diagana prevents a takedown attempt there.
Diagana trying to land knees to the body.
Diagana dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Alberto Diagana.
Opal avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Diagana misses with a jab, cross combination.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Opal shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Diagana sprawls well. Diagana wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Opal gets slowly back to his feet.
Denis Opal is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Opal misses with a takedown
and Diagana counters with a head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alberto Diagana showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Opal fails with the takedown
and Diagana counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Opal is lucky that one didn't land flush.
No joy there for Diagana, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Diagana is looking to clinch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Opal.
Opal swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Opal closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Opal is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Denis Opal. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Opal is trying to break free.
Opal is trying to pull guard but Diagana has him pressed against the cage.
Diagana lands a knee to the head.
Diagana tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Opal avoids it.
Opal wants a takedown but no success here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Opal jumps guard but Diagana turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A short right from Diagana.
Diagana crunches a lovely knee into Opal's ribcage.
Diagana slows down the pace here.
Opal is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Diagana is defending well.
Opal is looking for a takedown.
Opal wants to take the fight to the mat but Diagana manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Diagana takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Diagana landing knees to the head.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Diagana.
Opal is trying to pull guard but Diagana has him pressed against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Opal wants a takedown but no success here.
Opal wants a takedown.
Diagana scores with a knee to the head.
The referee calls for Diagana to work.
Diagana lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Opal looking to stall.
Diagana stalling the fight.
Diagana gets underhooks to prevent Opal's takedown attempt.
Diagana scores with a knee to the head.
Diagana manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Diagana on the inside.
Opal jumps guard but Diagana turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Opal takes a knee right on the jaw!
Opal takes an elbow to the temple.
Alberto Diagana is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Diagana lands a good knee to the midsection. Opal won't want to take too many of those.
Diagana lands a good knee to the midsection. Opal won't want to take too many of those.
Opal tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Come on Diagana - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Diagana throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diagana is struggling to control the position.
Diagana lands a knee to the body.
Diagana pressing his opponent against the cage.
Diagana lands a good knee to the midsection. Opal won't want to take too many of those.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Diagana effectively controlling the action here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Alberto Diagana.

Diagana has Opal up against the cage in a clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Opal is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Diagana to keep the fight standing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alberto Diagana comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Diagana 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alberto Diagana!
During a confident post fight interview, Alberto Diagana thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.