PBP Commentary

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

Diaz
vs
Romero

190 cm
25
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

175 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 Tokyo, Nate Diaz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Michael Romero!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Diaz with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Romero to score with a decent uppercut.
Decent striking displayed by Romero there.
Left hook, right uppercut from Diaz.
Romero listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Diaz shoots in looking for a takedown. Romero tries to sprawl out of it but Diaz keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Romero manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Diaz drives through and clinches with Romero against the cage.
Diaz has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Romero avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Romero misses with a short punch on the inside.
Diaz blocks a body shot from Romero.
Romero misses with a hook from the clinch.
Diaz lands a body shot in the clinch.
Romero gets through Diaz's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Romero pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nate Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A right hook to the body lands for Diaz.
Romero misses with some punches.
Romero tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Romero is trying to break the clinch but Diaz is controlling him.
Romero lands a shoulder strike.
Romero throws a head punch that misses.
Romero working aggressively here.
Romero avoiding damage as Diaz throws knees to the body.
Romero throws a punch but it's blocked by Diaz.
Romero is leaning against Diaz and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Romero.
Diaz blocks an uppercut.
A frustrated look appears on Romero's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Romero working aggressively here.
Diaz tries to score a body lock takedown but Romero shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Romero misses with some punches.
Diaz fails to pull guard.
Diaz is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romero misses with a short punch on the inside.
Diaz blocking some punches.
Diaz goes for a takedown in the clinch but Romero prevents it.
Diaz works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Diaz.
Romero is looking to break free of the clinch but Diaz has double underhooks.

Diaz breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A head kick misses from Diaz.
Romero lands a really nice looking cross but Diaz seems unphased.
Diaz closes the distance and clinches up with Romero, looking for a takedown. Diaz pushes Romero against the cage but Romero circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Romero throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Diaz on the side of the head.
Left hook, right uppercut from Romero.
Diaz throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Romero's waist but Romero gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Diaz off to one side.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero moves into range and connects with a jab.
Romero throws a right and a left that Diaz avoids nicely.
Romero lands a jab to the nose.
Romero sizes up Diaz with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Romero defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Diaz.
Romero throws a counter combo.
A jab from Romero finds it's way through Diaz's defenses.
Diaz misses with a takedown attempt
and Romero connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Nate Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Romero scores with a hook.
Diaz walks into a left hand.
Diaz tries to clinch but Romero is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Good standup being displayed there by Romero as he connects with a hook.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Romero connects with a single shot there.
Diaz takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Diaz looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Romero is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Diaz had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Diaz fails with a takedown attempt.
Romero works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Diaz lands a nice looking kick to the body. Romero takes a step back to recover.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Romero dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Diaz moves into the clinch successfully.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Diaz.
Romero misses with a short punch on the inside.
Romero presses Diaz against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Romero tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Diaz jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Romero walks away with a smile on his face. Diaz gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Diaz tries to clinch but Romero is having none of it.
Romero has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Romero connects with a single shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Romero scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Romero connects with a good right hand that stumbles Diaz. Diaz circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Diaz gets a clinch.
Diaz blocks a body shot from Romero.
Diaz really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz goes for a takedown attempt but Romero pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Romero keeps the fight on the outside.
Romero fails to land with a series of punches.
Diaz is looking to clinch.
Diaz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Romero moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Michael Romero is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Romero cracks Diaz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Good standup being displayed there by Romero as he connects with a hook.
Romero cracks Diaz with a good jab.
Romero scores with a nice right hand.
Romero throws a nice looking combination but Diaz bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Diaz moves forwards but Romero connects with a nice, crisp jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Romero gets tackled into the cage by Diaz. Diaz maintains the clinch.

Diaz breaks from the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Romero stuffs the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nate Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Diaz is defended easily by Romero.
Diaz takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Diaz gets cracked there but stands up to it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Romero takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Diaz throws a right hand that Romero ducks under and follows up with a left that Romero also avoids with ease.
Diaz fails in his attempt to clinch.
It seemed like Romero was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Diaz takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Diaz tries for a takedown but Romero sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Diaz takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Romero lands a really nice looking cross but Diaz seems unphased.

Diaz moves into range and clinches up with Romero.
Romero throws a punch but it's blocked by Diaz.
Romero misses with a hook from the clinch.

Romero is fighting off a takedown attempt but Diaz is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Romero to the mat. Romero regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Romero is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Diaz is controlling him.
Diaz is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Diaz scoring with some ground and pound.
Diaz engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Romero showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Diaz rushes Romero and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Romero misses with a punch to the body.
Diaz prevents Romero from breaking the clinch.

Diaz drags the fight down to the ground.
Diaz pulls Romero in close to prevent any damage.
Diaz keeping moving, preventing Romero from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Romero missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Diaz holds on and takes a little breather.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Diaz escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Romero gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Diaz has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Romero is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Romero misses with the head strike.
Romero tries a body shot but Diaz blocks it.
Diaz looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Romero working aggressively here.

Diaz breaks the clinch.
Romero scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Romero connects with a good right hand that stumbles Diaz. Diaz circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Romero throws a good cross that connects.
Romero connects with a good right hand that stumbles Diaz. Diaz circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Diaz darts in looking for a takedown but Romero gets double underhooks and turns Diaz into the cage.
Diaz shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Romero connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Diaz shoots for a takedown but Romero saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nate Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Romero with a nice cross.
Nate Diaz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Romero misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Romero cracks Diaz with a good jab.
Romero lands with a hook. Diaz tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Diaz closes the distance and clinches.

Diaz's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Diaz has a takedown stuffed.
Michael Romero seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Romero scores with the left hand. Diaz knows he should have avoided that one.

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

Diaz works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Diaz chips away with some ground and pound.
Diaz seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Diaz stands up and waves to Romero to follow him.
Diaz will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Romero might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Romero throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Diaz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Romero circles away.

Diaz has managed to clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Diaz jumps guard and drags Romero to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Nate Diaz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Romero won't allow Diaz to sweep him here.

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 Nate Diaz.
I think Romero has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 27:30
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 27:30
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Romero!