PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jermaine Barksdale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Doug Graves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barksdale comes to the cage accompanied by Ain't No Sunshine- DMX. Graves has chosen Alvarez as his entrance music. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Barksdale
vs
Graves

190 cm
32
211 lbs
17 - 6 - 0

190 cm
32
205 lbs
26 - 14 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

GREEN!160

Hellbent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jermaine Barksdale!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Doug Graves!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Daniel Franklin and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barksdale connects with a good right hand that stumbles Graves. Graves circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

It looks like Doug Graves has been cut.
Barksdale throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Barksdale throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Graves keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A jab from Graves misses.
Barksdale missing with a left hand there. Graves was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A slapping leg kick lands for Barksdale.
Barksdale misses with a straight right.
Graves slips a straight right by Barksdale.
Graves has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Graves fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Barksdale.
Barksdale takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Graves scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Barksdale throws a head kick but Graves moves out of range.
Graves tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Barksdale fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Graves on the side of the head.
Graves moves out of range as Barksdale throws a body kick.
A big right from Graves misses.
A jab from Graves misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barksdale throws a leg kick but Graves sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Graves with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Barksdale to score with a decent uppercut.
Graves tries to land a front kick but Barksdale steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Graves scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Graves takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
A jab lands there for Graves.
Barksdale tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Barksdale shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Barksdale uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Graves.
Barksdale connects with a leg kick. Graves looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Barksdale thows a body shot but no joy.
Graves delivers a nice body kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barksdale throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Graves takes a swing at Barksdale's ribcage but misses.
Graves ducks under a wild hook from Barksdale.
Some bone on bone action there as Graves checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale lands a nice leg kick that just misses Graves's sensitive parts.
Barksdale throws the kick towards the body but Graves avoids it.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Barksdale, as that shot connected.
The fighters circle momentarily. Graves darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Graves thuds his right hand into Barksdale's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Graves moves out of range of the strikes.
Graves misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Graves turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Barksdale smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Graves on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Barksdale has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Graves.
Graves throws a body kick that misses.
Graves wants to land a leg kick but Barksdale is out of range.
Graves turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Graves scoring well with a low kick there.
Graves throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale throws a jab but it's blocked by Graves.
Barksdale ducks under a wild hook from Graves.
Barksdale looks to score with a jab to the body but Graves is just out of range.
Graves moves away from the strike by Barksdale.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Graves.
Barksdale takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Barksdale walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

Graves tries to keep at a distance but Barksdale has taken the fight into the clinch.
Barksdale stalling in the clinch.
Graves scores with a shoulder strike.
Graves takes a shot to the head.
Graves trying to control the position but instead, Barksdale has worked for underhooks and has pushed Graves into the cage.
Graves throws a punch but it's blocked by Barksdale.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale stalling against the cage.
Barksdale creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Barksdale lands a hook to the side of the head.
A short right from Graves on the inside.
Barksdale misses with the head strike.
Barksdale lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Barksdale slowing the pace effectively.
Graves blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A hook to the body from Barksdale.
Graves blocks an uppercut.
Graves working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Graves holding his opponent close, against the cage.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A head punch on the inside from Graves fails to land.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Barksdale.
Barksdale lands a nice uppercut.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Doug Graves will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Doug Graves's cut.
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.

Graves fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Barksdale manages to avoid it.
Barksdale scores with a nice right hand.
Doug Graves seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Barksdale decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Barksdale throwing shots but Graves is blocking nicely.
Barksdale trying to control from half guard but Graves is working away.
Barksdale thows a huge punch but Graves dodges it nicely.
Barksdale not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Barksdale throwing shots but Graves is blocking nicely.
Graves tries to get to full guard but Barksdale has control of the leg.
Barksdale misses with a head shot. Graves uses the momentum to regain guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Graves keeping moving, preventing Barksdale from controlling successfully.
Barksdale is working Graves over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Graves wants to sweep but no luck.
Barksdale throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Graves trying to control the position.
Graves working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Barksdale.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves controlling the position.
Barksdale stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Graves swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Barksdale postures up in Graves's guard and throws a big left but Graves blocks it.
Graves looking to hit a scissor sweep but Barksdale is one step ahead there.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Barksdale accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Barksdale passes Graves's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Graves regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Barksdale.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves trying to keep a closed guard but Barksdale is proving a slippery customer.
Graves trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Barksdale 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.
Barksdale is looking to work some ground and pound but Graves has wrist control.
Barksdale postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Barksdale looking to sit in guard and control but Graves gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Barksdale looking to hit a scissor sweep but Graves is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale is pulling down on Graves's head to control his posture.
Jermaine Barksdale overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Barksdale'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.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Barksdale working a defensive guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jermaine Barksdale dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Doug Graves's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Barksdale swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Barksdale misses with a hook
and Graves makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Barksdale really felt that one!
A punch combination from Graves misses.
Barksdale digs a good hook to Graves's body.
Barksdale throws a shot from downtown. Graves moves away and avoids it.
Graves avoids the body shot from Barksdale.
Graves throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Graves ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Graves misses with a body kick.
Graves closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Graves. Barksdale shrugs it off though.
A jab lands there for Graves.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Barksdale misses with a body shot.
An inside leg kick lands from Graves.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves lands a nice shot that snaps Barksdale's head back.
Graves misses with a body kick.
Barksdale lands with a straight right. Graves didn't see that one coming.

Barksdale clinches.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Barksdale.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Barksdale.
Barksdale tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves blocks an uppercut.
Graves is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Barksdale swings wildly with an uppercut but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
A short left from Graves.
Graves tries to stall but Barksdale uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Graves tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves lands a right hand that snaps the head of Barksdale backwards.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Barksdale fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Graves on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Barksdale lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Graves backwards.
Barksdale lands a nice uppercut.
Barksdale comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Barksdale with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Barksdale misses with a punch on the inside.
Graves scores with a shot to the side of Barksdale's head.
Graves lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Graves makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Barksdale misses with the head strike.
Barksdale lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Graves lands a body punch.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
Barksdale stalling in the clinch but Graves improves position.
Barksdale has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Graves is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Barksdale on the inside.
Barksdale leaning his opponent against the cage.
Graves with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
A short right from Barksdale on the inside.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Barksdale blocks an uppercut.
Barksdale takes a shot to the head.
Barksdale swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Barksdale is looking to control Graves's arms but Graves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Barksdale has his back to the cage.
A short uppercut from Barksdale.
A nice right hand lands inside from Barksdale.

Graves is rocked!
Barksdale is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Graves is still on wobbly legs! Can Barksdale finish him?
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Graves blocking some punches.
Barksdale fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Barksdale stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Barksdale misses with a hook from the clinch.
Barksdale fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Barksdale throws a punch but it's blocked by Graves.
Barksdale stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barksdale misses with a punch on the inside.
Barksdale fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Barksdale.

That has opened up Doug Graves's cut even more.

Barksdale pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Barksdale cracks Graves with a hook to the temple - Graves is on wobbly legs here! Barksdale swarms him with hook after hook, landing with each one! Graves falls to the canvas face first and the referee dives in to stop the fight! Barksdale wins by TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:11 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Jermaine Barksdale!
Jermaine Barksdale retains his light heavyweight title!
A very excited looking Jermaine Barksdale made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.