PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Nick Diamond (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and ron artest (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). ron artest has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Diamond
vs
artest

200 cm
20
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

196 cm
18
158 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Nick Diamond!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, ron artest!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Diamond closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
artest regains full guard. Nicely done.
Diamond controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

artest working for a triangle but Diamond defends it easily.
Diamond wants to control from the top but artest keeps moving.

artest is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Diamond wants to control from the top but artest keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diamond postures up in artest's guard and throws a big left but artest blocks it.
Diamond advances to half guard.
Diamond is taking a breather. artest says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Diamond is looking for a kimura but artest is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Diamond to get the leverage.
Diamond tries to pass to full mount but artest defends it.
Diamond misses with a head shot. artest uses the momentum to regain guard.
Diamond trying to control but artest is working from the bottom.
Diamond connects with a couple of short punches.
Diamond pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. artest is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
artest seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
artest controls Diamond momentarily but Diamond frees himself.
Diamond wants to control from the top but artest keeps moving.
Diamond wants to pass the guard but artest is keeping the position.

Diamond drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and artest dives on top into guard.

Diamond throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Diamond trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
artest wants to pass the guard but Diamond is keeping the position.

artest avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
artest is stalling in the full guard.
artest trying to control the position from guard on top but Diamond is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
artest passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Diamond wants to control but artest postures up.
Diamond really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
artest scoring with punches and elbows.
Diamond sneaks back into half guard.
artest tries to pass the half guard into mount. Diamond knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Diamond slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Diamond isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. artest stacks Diamond on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by artest!
artest working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nick Diamond will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

artest shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Diamond counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
artest on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Diamond tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but artest paws at him with a jab and circles away.
artest has his takedown stuffed

and Diamond counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Diamond.

Diamond turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!

Diamond tries for a kimura but artest is defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Diamond trying to control the position but artest is working away.
Diamond has knee on belly and moves into mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
artest is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
artest is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Diamond fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Diamond punishing his opponent with strikes.

Diamond is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. artest can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Diamond fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
BOOM! Diamond connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Diamond is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But artest has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from artest!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Diamond is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

artest thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Diamond looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Diamond is looking for a triangle here but artest uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Diamond is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
artest scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Diamond to see if he's OK.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diamond struggling a bit here.
Diamond trying to remain calm as artest controls from the top position.
Diamond is looking to work his way out of this bad position but artest is controlling him well.
Diamond can't do much from the bottom here.
Diamond is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because artest is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
artest creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
artest looks up at the clock and then as Diamond takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, artest smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Diamond is trying to improve his position.

artest working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
artest wants to control but Diamond is keeping him busy.
Nick Diamond overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Diamond regains half guard.
Diamond tries to roll over but artest keeps him under control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Diamond dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Diamond listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.

artest shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Diamond keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Diamond wants to get back to his feet.
artest looking to finish Diamond with some ground and pound. This is bad for Diamond!
Diamond really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Diamond is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diamond is trying to reverse the position but instead artest has taken his back - oops!
Diamond manages to reverse the position and now he's in artest's guard. Nice work there by Diamond.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Diamond is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! artest is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! artest has escaped and now he's on top!
artest postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
artest trying to control the position from guard on top but Diamond is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Diamond working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. artest doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. artest manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Diamond had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. artest is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Diamond Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take artest's back instead.
Diamond thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.
artest breaks Diamond's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.

Diamond has his foot on artest's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. artest works his way back into a safe position though.
artest pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Diamond is keeping the position for now.

Diamond has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. artest is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Diamond.
Diamond on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
artest landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
artest tries to move to mount but Diamond blocks the move with his legs.
Diamond is looking to reverse the position.
Diamond wants to control but artest postures up.
Diamond tries to buck artest off but artest is having none of it.
Diamond is trying to control artest's posture but artest avoids it.
artest wants to control but Diamond is keeping him busy.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Diamond fails to land with a series of punches.
Diamond lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but artest circles away quickly and effectively.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
artest avoids the head kick by Diamond.

Diamond looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Nick Diamond is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
artest not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Diamond drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Diamond jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

artest is looking for a triangle but Diamond pushes his legs off easily.
artest tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Diamond trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
ron artest has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

artest looking for a guillotine here but Diamond defends easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
ron artest comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Diamond has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nick Diamond!