PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Barton David (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ion Diacon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ion Diacon will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

David
vs
Diacon

150 cm
22
177 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

177 cm
24
177 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Barton David!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ion Diacon!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Dmitry Maklakov and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
David wants to clinch.

Diacon drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
David trying to control the position.
David looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
David not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Diacon throwing strikes from guard but David blocks nicely.
David is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Barton David just wasn't active enough.
Diacon takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
David swats away the attempt to clinch by Diacon.
David could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Diacon tries to close the distance and clinch up but David swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Diacon misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diacon swinging wildly here.
David tries to clinch but Diacon is having none of it.
No joy there for Diacon, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
David tries to clinch but Diacon moves out of range.
David wants to clinch up but Diacon keeps it at a distance.
Diacon scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Diacon looks winded!
Diacon swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ion Diacon seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
David tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Diacon paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Diacon tries to clinch but David is having none of it.
Diacon rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but David moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Diacon looks to clinch

and David counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

David pulls guard successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
David looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Barton David wasn't doing enough on the ground.
David circles away from the clinch attempt.
David moves in looking to clinch but Diacon pushes him off.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

David has taken the fight to the clinch.

David manages to break the clinch.
Diacon fails with an attempt to clinch.
Diacon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Diacon swats away the attempt to clinch by David.
Diacon tries to close the distance and clinch up but David swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diacon avoids the body shot from David.
Diacon looks to score with a jab to the body but David is just out of range.
Diacon darts in trying to clinch

and David counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by David.
Diacon misses with some punches.

David breaks the clinch.

David dives in and scores a takedown into Diacon's guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

Diacon is working an open guard so David takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Diacon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Diacon tries to clinch up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diacon tries to bum rush David with a series of wild strikes but David uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Diacon looks to clinch

and David counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

David decides to stand and escape the position.
David tries to clinch but Diacon is having none of it.

David rushes Diacon and presses him up against the cage.
David changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Diacon fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Diacon fails in his attempt to clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Some wild striking there from Diacon.
David tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barton David dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Nice body punch from Diacon.
Diacon moves in looking to clinch but David pushes him off.
Diacon tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Diacon fails to land with a series of punches.
David is looking to clinch but Diacon is avoiding it.
Barton David is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
David wants to clinch.
Diacon tries to clinch there but David circles away.

David darts in and clinches Diacon up against the cage.
David misses with an elbow over the top.
Diacon wants to break free but David has control.
Diacon is breathing heavily.
Diacon prevents David from breaking the clinch.

David turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and David manages to end up in side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

David thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Diacon avoids any damage from the ground and pound of David.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
David has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
David keeps the fight on the outside.
David slips a jab and a cross from Diacon.
David slips a jab and a cross from Diacon.
Diacon throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Diacon blocks a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diacon swats away the attempt to clinch by David.
Diacon has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as David is landing a low percentage of strikes.
David tries to close the distance and clinch up but Diacon swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Diacon misses with a low kick.
Diacon keeps the fight on the outside.
Diacon is looking to clinch but David is avoiding it.
Diacon is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
David lands a slapping body shot.
Ion Diacon seems to be getting the better of the standup.
David tries to clinch up but Diacon circles away and keeps his distance.

Diacon clinches up against the cage.
Diacon tries to break the clinch but David is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

David breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

David instigates a clinch.

David pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

David pushes Diacon up against the cage in a clinch.

David breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Diacon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Diacon throws a lazy head kick

and David counters by clinching up.
David wants a takedown but no success here.

David breaks the clinch.
Diacon throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
David shoots in but Diacon avoids the takedown attempt easily.
David pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
David lands with a thumping leg kick.
Diacon wants to clinch up but David keeps it at a distance.
David tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Diacon paws at him with a jab and circles away.
David takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
David wants to clinch up but Diacon keeps it at a distance.
David wants to clinch.
Diacon scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

David moves into the clinch successfully.

David has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Diacon uses from the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Barton David dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

David checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
David tries to clinch but Diacon is having none of it.
Diacon misses with a two punch combination.

Diacon closes the distance and clinches.
Diacon misses with a body punch.
Diacon tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
David tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Diacon just stands there and leans against the cage.

David breaks the clinch.
Diacon looks to land a combination but David avoids it well.
Diacon throws a right and a left that David avoids nicely.
Diacon takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

David clinches up with Diacon and pushes him back against the cage.
David is trying to pull guard but Diacon turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

David breaks from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
David slips a straight right by Diacon.
Diacon tries to clinch there but David circles away.
Diacon tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

David rushes Diacon and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
David tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Diacon smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Barton David. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Diacon shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. David manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Diacon trying to control the position from guard on top but David is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
David pulls Diacon in close to his closed guard and prevents Diacon from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Barton David wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Diacon throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

David gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

David breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
David avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Diacon leaves David with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Diacon tries to land a front kick but David steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
David is looking to clinch.
Diacon circles away from the clinch attempt.
Diacon misses with a series of wild punches.
David fails with an attempt to clinch.
Diacon throws a sloppy head kick and David moves out of range easily.
Diacon will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Diacon misses with a two punch combination.
David tries to clinch there but Diacon circles away.
David tries to clinch up.
Diacon fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
David fails in his attempt to clinch.
David is looking to clinch but Diacon is avoiding it.
David tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Diacon throws a series of punches but David avoids them all with ease.
Diacon swinging wildly here.

David has closed the distance and engaged Diacon in a clinch.

David escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Diacon tries to clinch but David moves out of range.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Diacon doesn't manage to clinch there - David circles away.

David gets the takedown into side control.
Ion Diacon has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Barton David is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

David tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

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 Barton David.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for David, 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Barton David!