PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Raymond Matice (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Holy Diver (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Diver has chosen Holy Diver by Dio as his entrance music. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Matice
vs
Diver

174 cm
27
151 lbs
10 - 17 - 1

161 cm
24
149 lbs
8 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 10 - 17 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Raymond Matice!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Holy Diver!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Matice shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Diver as he avoids it easily.

Diver fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Matice sprawls well initially but Diver persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Matice is looking for a sweep. Diver is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Matice's coaches at UMMA Gym Now with StandUP have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
Matice works his way to full guard. Good work.
Matice will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Diver with a flurry of punches that miss.
Matice manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Matice cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Matice controlling from mount.
Diver in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Diver felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matice with the ground and pound from mount.
Diver is trying to stand.
Matice content just to control the position here.
Matice has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Raymond Matice wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Matice leaves Diver with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Matice attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Diver looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Diver throwing shots but Matice is blocking nicely.
Matice is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Diver's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Diver's back!
Diver covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Matice controls the action.
Matice scores with punches from the back.
What can Diver do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diver looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Matice scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Diver is looking for a way out.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Diver is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Matice.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raymond Matice dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Diver looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Matice is fending him off so far but Diver persists. Nope, Matice circles away and we're back to standing.
Matice connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

It looks like Holy Diver has been cut.

Matice closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Diver to the mat! Diver manages to get full guard.

Diver is rocked!
Matice throwing strikes from guard but Diver blocks nicely.
Diver is still in real trouble! Can Matice finish him?
Raymond Matice overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Matice is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Diver seems to have recovered his senses.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Diver can do anything to dispel that myth.
Matice in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Matice looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Matice chips away with some ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matice throwing strikes from guard but Diver blocks nicely.
Matice landing some decent shots from guard.
Matice is pushing down on Diver's leg trying to pass to half guard. Diver is fighting to maintain full guard but Matice has managed to sneak the leg through.

Matice is looking for a kimura but Diver is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Matice to get the leverage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diver is looking to escape.
Diver is breathing heavily.
Matice not doing much here.
Matice is looking to advance position but Diver won't allow it.
Matice sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Diver changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Matice tries to avoid it but Diver manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Matice to the ground. Matice escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Matice shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Diver pinned against the cage. Diver gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Matice looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Diver!
Diver prevents Matice from improving position.
Matice advances to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matice controlling from mount.
Matice fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Matice controlling from the full mount.
Matice 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.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raymond Matice dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Holy Diver's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Diver tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Matice swivels and escapes.
Diver wants to clinch up but Matice keeps it at a distance.

Matice gets a takedown into half guard.
Matice content to control rather than advance.
Matice passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Diver!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matice controlling the position easily from mount.
Diver takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Diver wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Diver really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Matice. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Matice unloading with bombs!
Matice avoids the attempt from Diver to control.
Raymond Matice is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matice breaks from Diver's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Matice looking to control and managing it successfully.
Matice with good strikes from the mount here!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Matice looking to finish Diver with some ground and pound. This is bad for Diver!
Matice controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You get the feeling that Diver really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Matice controlling from the full mount.
Matice'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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Raymond Matice has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Diver has taken the fight to the clinch.

Diver is fighting off a takedown attempt but Matice is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Diver to the mat. Diver regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Matice thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Diver is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raymond Matice showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Matice, 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raymond Matice!