PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Carl Draiman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rafael Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Draiman
vs
Almeida

178 cm
27
193 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

191 cm
28
195 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Experienced

Good takedowns
Solid Muay Thai
Knockout power

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)
Alpha Male

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Carl Draiman!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rafael Almeida!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Tarja Halkonen and Arvi Lind.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Almeida tries for a takedown but Draiman circles away easily
and Draiman connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Draiman fails with the takedown

and Almeida counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Almeida.
Almeida stays in close to Draiman's body and controls the position.
Almeida throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Almeida is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Let's hope that Almeida has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Rafael Almeida wasn't active enough on the ground.

Draiman looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Almeida!
Almeida has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida is trying to improve his position.
Almeida sneaks back into half guard.
Almeida wants to get back to his feet.
Draiman wants to free his trapped foot but Almeida is holding on for dear life with his legs.

Almeida looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Draiman controlling the action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Almeida is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Draiman pulls his head out easily.
Draiman stops Almeida from getting back to his feet.
Almeida is looking to control Draiman's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Almeida avoid being mounted?
Almeida is positioning himself well to prevent Draiman advancing to mount.
Almeida manages to get to full guard.
We've been hearing good reports from Draiman's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Draiman wants to stand but Almeida has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Draiman sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Draiman looking to pass the guard.
Draiman prevents Almeida from getting back to his feet.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Almeida looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Almeida keeping moving, preventing Draiman from controlling successfully.
Draiman pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Almeida is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Draiman trying to control the position from guard on top but Almeida is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Almeida seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Draiman has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Carl Draiman just wasn't active enough.
Almeida dives in and grabs Draiman's left leg, looking for a takedown. Draiman pushes down on Almeida's head and hops out.
Draiman shoots in and drives through. Almeida sprawls well.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Draiman tries to clinch up.
Almeida shoots in for a takedown but Draiman shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Carl Draiman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rafael Almeida.
Draiman closes the distance and clinches up with Almeida, looking for a takedown. Draiman pushes Almeida against the cage but Almeida circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Almeida 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.

Draiman tries to land a front kick but Almeida steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Draiman shoots in for a takedown but Almeida shows good takedown defense.

Almeida changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Draiman looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Almeida tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Draiman gets back to half guard.
Draiman slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Almeida throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida trying to control but Draiman is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Almeida is looking to pass into half guard but Draiman pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Draiman is in guard.

Draiman got a little sloppy there for a moment and Almeida has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Draiman has managed to get both his arms back between Almeida's legs - danger averted.
Draiman is stalling in the full guard.
Almeida is pulling down on Draiman's head. It's preventing any offense from Draiman, at least for the moment.
Draiman trying to control the position from guard on top but Almeida is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida managing to control the position.
Almeida manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

Almeida gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
Draiman keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Draiman misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Carl Draiman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida shoots for a double leg takedown but Draiman sprawls well. He's pushed Almeida's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Draiman throws a lazy head kick
and Almeida counters with a left and a right that stings Draiman.
A leg kick checked by Almeida.

Almeida shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Draiman manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Draiman has control of Almeida's left arm, preventing Almeida from doing any damage.
Almeida advances position into side control!

Almeida is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Draiman is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Draiman's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Almeida wants to lay and pray for a moment but Draiman keeps working.

Almeida is in a dominant position here, looking for a kimura. Draiman looks calm but he's in trouble here. Almeida gets his leg over his opponent's head and yanks on the arm. Draiman is tapping like a morse code operator on the titanic! SOS! SOS! Almeida lets go of the hold and Draiman can pop his arm back in it's socket.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:47 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Rafael Almeida! Rafael Almeida retains his middleweight title!