PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between William Ralph Dean (ranked 821 p4p, 115 weight class) and Nick Graves (ranked 382 p4p, 52 weight class). Graves comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Iron Maiden - Doctor, Doctor kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both these fighters are unbeaten, so somebody's 0 has got to go!Nick Graves has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with William Ralph Dean's chin.

Ralph Dean
vs
Graves

188 cm
20
198 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

183 cm
20
190 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

RISE Nutrition
Urban Fighter

RISE Nutrition
XFighter Clothing

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 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, William Ralph Dean!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Nick Graves!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Chad Campbell and Bruno Lombardi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Dean fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Graves ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Dean throws a combination that misses
and Graves counters with a straight right hand.
Graves looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Dean throws a shot from downtown. Graves moves away and avoids it.
Graves looks like he wants to counter punch here.
The fighters circling - Dean throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Graves uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Dean.
Graves throws a jab but it's blocked by Dean.

Graves fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Dean, pushing him back against the cage.
I was talking to Dean's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Graves misses with a body punch.
Graves has Dean pressed against the cage, preventing Dean from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Graves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Dean is defending well for now.
Graves missing with knees to the body.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dean avoids it.
Dean blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Graves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Dean.
Dean fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dean throws a body shot but no joy.
Dean staying out of range there.
Nice cross by Graves.
Graves uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Dean has time to react.
Dean ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Dean clobbers Graves with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Dean misses with an uppercut
and Graves makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Dean.
William Ralph Dean seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Graves works Dean's body with a nice hook.
Dean throws a hook but Graves avoids it easily.
Dean connects with a good right hand that stumbles Graves. Graves circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Graves is looking to clinch.
Dean slips under a jab.
Graves misses with a wild combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves moves out of range as Dean strikes.
Dean swinging wildly here.
Nice body punch from Dean.
Dean thows a left - swing and a miss!
Dean throws a body punch but Graves moves out of range.
Dean scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Graves keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Graves closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Dean misses with a looping left.
Dean misses the shot to the body.
Graves steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Dean.
Dean throws the left hand but Graves avoids the punch easily.
Nice uppercut there from Dean.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Dean!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves misses with a straight left.
Dean misses with the combination.
Graves moves out of range of the strikes.
Graves tries to counter with a clinch but Dean shakes him off and moves away.
Dean misses the jab.
Dean misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Dean looks to land a right hand but Graves moved out of range.
Graves takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Dean throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Dean takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Dean connects with a single shot there.
Dean walks into a left hand.
Graves takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Graves comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dean throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Dean swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dean throws an off balance right hand
and Dean takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Dean swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A countering left hand to the body from Graves misses.
A telegraphed right hand from Dean misses the target.
Dean misses with a series of wild punches.
A nice side step and Graves releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Dean throws a good cross that connects.
Dean misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A looping hook to the body misses from Dean. Graves does a little dance to reset his feet.
Graves gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Dean.
Dean throws out a loose jab but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
Graves is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Graves dodges the punch combination from Dean.
Dean looks to throw the jab but Graves is out of range.
Dean swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Graves throws out a counter right but Dean avoids it with no problem.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Ralph Dean dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Graves takes a swing at Dean's ribcage but misses.
Graves throws a jab when Dean was well out of range.
A big right from Dean misses.
Dean throws a right and a left that Graves avoids nicely.
Dean throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Graves connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Dean throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Graves holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Dean has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Graves misses with a short punch on the inside.
Graves stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dean wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Graves has him pressed against the cage.
Dean working hard to break the clinch.
Dean manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Graves swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dean misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Graves lands a right hand that snaps the head of Dean backwards.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Dean creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Dean lands a right hand that snaps the head of Graves backwards.
Dean looking to stall.
Graves effectively controlling the action here.
Dean has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Dean wants to stall.
Dean stalling in the clinch but Graves improves position.
Graves lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Dean in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Graves lands a left hand that snaps the head of Dean backwards.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Dean in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Graves misses with the head strike.
Graves misses with a short punch on the inside.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Graves misses with a knee to the head.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dean avoids it.
Dean wants to get back to striking at distance but Graves won't allow it.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dean avoids it.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Dean takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Graves lands a left hand that snaps the head of Dean backwards.
Graves scores with a nice hook to the head.
Graves lands a right hand.
Graves using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Graves working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Graves displaying some good clinch control by pressing Dean up against the cage.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Graves in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Graves lands a knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves misses with a body punch.
Dean looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Graves lands a good knee to the midsection. Dean won't want to take too many of those.
Graves lands a good knee to the midsection. Dean won't want to take too many of those.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
Graves misses with the head strike.
Graves lands with a short head shot on the inside.

Dean pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Graves slips under a jab.
A big left from Dean misses.

Graves drives through and clinches with Dean against the cage.
Dean on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Graves is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
A right hand to the body from Graves.
Graves tries to throw a body punch but Dean avoids it by throwing Graves back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Graves lands a hook that snaps the head of Dean backwards.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Graves using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Graves is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Graves creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Graves makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Graves lands a right hand that snaps the head of Dean backwards.
Graves lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Dean is rocked!
Graves using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Dean has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Graves landing knees to the head.
Oh Dean is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Nice body punch from Dean - that landed with a thud.
A short left from Graves.
Knees to the body from Graves.
Graves has the Thai clinch. He lands a big knee to the head that stumbles Dean - he's in trouble! Another big knee to the head from Graves, and another! Dean is out on his feet - the ref jumps in to save him and ends the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:53 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Knees). Nick Graves! Nick Graves retains his middleweight title!
After the big win, Nick Graves made sure to do all the important stuff like thanking his sponsors RISE Nutrition and telling the interviewer how much he loves him.