PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Joko Diaz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benjamin Belleville (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Belleville has chosen The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid as his entrance music. Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Diaz
vs
Belleville

164 cm
33
156 lbs
19 - 9 - 0

170 cm
23
153 lbs
13 - 3 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Milwaukee's Best 160 SALE $140
DTK Designs (Laundry)

Divinity 160Q

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joko Diaz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Benjamin Belleville!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Dmitry Maklakov and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Diaz thows a leg kick but Belleville checks it
and Diaz takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Good standup being displayed there by Belleville as he connects with a hook.
Diaz closes the distance and clinches up with Belleville, looking for a takedown. Diaz pushes Belleville against the cage but Belleville circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Diaz shoots for a double leg takedown but Belleville sprawls well. He's pushed Diaz's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Diaz takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Belleville showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Diaz.
Belleville misses with a body kick.
Belleville throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
An inside leg kick lands from Diaz.
Belleville cracks Diaz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
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!
Diaz moves out of range of the strikes.
Diaz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Belleville.
A looping hook to the body misses from Belleville. Diaz does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Belleville dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Diaz. That did some damage!
A looping hook to the body misses from Belleville. Diaz does a little dance to reset his feet.
Belleville misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Diaz.
Belleville cracks Diaz with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Belleville swings for the body but Diaz moves out of range.
Diaz falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Belleville counter with a right hand.
A combination from Diaz does no damage.
Diaz is trying hard to land a takedown here. Belleville sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joko Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Diaz scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Belleville throws a hook but Diaz avoids it easily.
Diaz steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Belleville.
Diaz misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belleville lands with an overhand left.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Belleville feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Diazs jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Diaz punishes Belleville's body with a nice straight punch.
Belleville throws the kick towards the body but Diaz avoids it.
A head kick misses from Belleville.
A slow jab from Belleville misses its intended target.
Diaz fails with the takedown
and Belleville counters with a straight right hand.
Diaz slips under a jab from Belleville.
A head kick misses from Belleville.
Benjamin Belleville seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Belleville misses with a left hand
and Diaz counters with a two punch combo.
Belleville ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Diaz moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Diaz gets the takedown into side control.
Diaz trying to control the position but Belleville is working away.

Diaz tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Diaz has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Belleville tries to buck Diaz off but Diaz is having none of it.

Diaz looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Belleville is looking to regain half guard here but Diaz keeps moving and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belleville is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Diaz tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Belleville is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Belleville dominated that round.
That's time! Diaz's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Belleville tries to land a leg kick but Diaz saw it coming and moves away.
Belleville digs a good body shot into Diaz's ribs.
A slow jab from Belleville misses its intended target.
A looping hook to the body misses from Belleville. Diaz does a little dance to reset his feet.
Belleville loads up on a big right hand but Diaz slips the punch.
Diaz just misses with a punch to the body.
Diaz moves out of range as Belleville strikes.
Belleville takes a swing at Diaz's ribcage but misses.
Belleville throws a head kick that misses.
Diaz uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Belleville.
Diaz fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz misses with a body shot.
Diaz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Benjamin Belleville is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Diaz tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Belleville lands a nice looking body kick.
A swing and a miss from Belleville.
Belleville walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Diaz checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Belleville connects with an inside leg kick.
Belleville misses with a series of wild punches.
Belleville attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Belleville throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Diaz.
Jab, jab by Belleville - just one landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Belleville connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Diaz momentarily.
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!
Belleville misses with a series of wild punches.
Belleville misses the jab.
Belleville throws a series of punches but Diaz avoids them all with ease.
Diaz bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Belleville tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Belleville throws a shot from downtown. Diaz moves away and avoids it.
Belleville does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Jab, jab by Belleville - just one landing.
Belleville lunges at Diaz with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Diaz's hand.
Belleville scores with a sloppy right hand. Diaz should have avoided that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Belleville swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Belleville misses with a looping left.
Belleville uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Belleville throws a head kick but Diaz moves out of range.
Benjamin Belleville seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Diaz throws a hook to the side of Belleville's head but Belleville sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Jab from Belleville.
Belleville avoids a kick to the body.
Diaz tries to land a leg kick but Belleville saw it coming and moves away.
Diaz connects with a leg kick. Belleville looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Belleville lands with an uppercut that bounces Diaz off the cage and back into range.
A punch combination from Belleville misses.
Belleville throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belleville throws a lazy uppercut
and Diaz counters with a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Belleville throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Diaz tries for a takedown but Belleville sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joko Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Belleville throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
A chopping leg kick lands by Belleville.
Belleville throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Diaz throws a body punch but Belleville moves out of range.
Joko Diaz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Belleville thuds a left hand into Diaz's body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Belleville as he jumps to the side.
Diaz keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Belleville showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Belleville is looking to land body kicks.
Belleville moves out of range of the body kick from Diaz.
Diaz misses with a takedown
and Diaz takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Belleville throws a nice head kick!
Diaz on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Belleville. Belleville obviously looking to wear him down.
Diaz takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
A telegraphed right hand from Belleville misses the target.

Diaz scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Belleville is trying to get back to half guard.
Belleville managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Diaz.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz wants to control for a moment but Belleville uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Diaz sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Diaz is trying to control the action in half guard but Belleville is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Diaz is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Belleville is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Belleville is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz wants to take a breather but Belleville is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Joko Diaz.
Belleville blocks a low kick nicely.
Diaz fails with a takedown attempt.

Belleville gets caught napping as Diaz dives in and scores a takedown. Belleville manages to retain guard.
Diaz looking to sit in guard and control but Belleville gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Belleville in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Belleville is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Belleville postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Diaz is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Belleville, into his guard.
Belleville keeping moving, preventing Diaz from controlling successfully.

Belleville looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Belleville working for a triangle but Diaz defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belleville looking for a sweep. Not yet Belleville, not yet.
Joko Diaz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Belleville can't keep his opponent in guard - Diaz advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Diaz wants to pass the guard but Belleville is defending well.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Belleville is refusing to be controlled, as Diaz sits in half guard.

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 Joko Diaz.
I think Belleville has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Benjamin Belleville!
After the fight, Benjamin Belleville was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.