PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alex Graves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Abdullah Zaire (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Graves comes to the cage accompanied by London Calling. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Graves
vs
Zaire

190 cm
35
198 lbs
16 - 14 - 0

183 cm
26
189 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Very strong

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Lion Fightwear

Reaper Combatwear

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 16 - 14 - 0, fighting out of London, Alex Graves!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Abdullah Zaire!
The judges for this bout are Alyssa Summers, John Roberts and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zaire defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Graves.
Zaire throws a leg kick

and Graves counters with a single leg into guard. Zaire didn't expect that.
Graves trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Graves postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Zaire is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Graves, into his guard.

Graves has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Zaire 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 Graves.
Graves is looking to reverse the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zaire controlling from side mount.
Graves tries to buck Zaire off but Zaire is having none of it.
Zaire is staying tight to Graves's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves tries to buck Zaire off but Zaire is having none of it.

Zaire stands up.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Zaire. Graves shrugs it off though.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Zaire has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Graves is breathing heavily.
A slapping leg kick lands for Zaire.
Zaire with a nice cross.
Zaire throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

It looks like Alex Graves has been cut.
Zaire connects with a leg kick. Graves looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Zaire stuns Graves with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Graves looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Abdullah Zaire seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zaire pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Zaire lands a body shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zaire gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Graves counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Zaire looking to hit a scissor sweep but Graves is one step ahead there.
Graves tries to free his leg and advance position but Zaire is retaining full guard.
Zaire is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Graves is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zaire perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Graves actively working from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zaire prevents Graves from improving his position.
Zaire is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Graves is trying to get back to full guard.
Zaire slows the pace down in half guard.
Zaire prevents Graves from improving his position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Graves looking for submissions off his back.
Graves is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zaire drops an elbow to the side of Graves's head.
Zaire is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Zaire lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Zaire is controlling the pace.
Graves is not content to let Zaire control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Abdullah Zaire dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Alex Graves's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Zaire dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Graves. That did some damage!
Graves takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Zaire lands a front kick.
Graves on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Zaire throws a quick inside leg kick.
Zaire throws a head kick but Graves moves out of range.
Graves drops down looking for a counter takedown but Zaire sprawls and moves away.
Zaire throws the kick towards the body but Graves avoids it.
Graves drops down looking for a counter takedown but Zaire sprawls and moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zaire buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Alex Graves is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Zaire gets caught flat footed, as Graves shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zaire working a defensive guard here.
Graves advances position into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaire holding on.
Zaire is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Zaire keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Zaire won't allow Graves to pass to mount.
Zaire is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.

Graves is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Zaire is just riding it out for now. Graves eventually gives up the hold.

Graves is working for a kimura but Zaire is defending it quite comfortably.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Zaire slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Graves stopping the sweep attempt from Zaire.
Zaire is still trying to improve position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zaire bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Graves's guard.

Zaire is pushing down on Graves's leg trying to pass to half guard. Graves is fighting to maintain full guard but Zaire has managed to sneak the leg through.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Zaire in particular looking to stall.
Zaire looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Graves with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Graves is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Zaire seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Zaire.
Zaire not doing much here.
Graves is not content to let Zaire control the position.
Zaire lands a big elbow from half guard. That looks like it's hurt Graves quite badly. Graves pulls Zaire in close trying to recover. Zaire postures up and lands two really hard shots that put Graves on queer street! The ref takes a look and decides to call an end to the fight! Possibly an early stoppage but Graves doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:44 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Abdullah Zaire!
Abdullah Zaire is the new middleweight champion!
Abdullah Zaire decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.
The defeated Alex Graves had this to say: 'This isn't over. That was luck and we will be back to breaking arms and spirits very soon!'.