PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Niko Diaz (ranked 3287 p4p, 424 weight class) and Yoshihiro Sexyama (ranked 5041 p4p, 564 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Diaz
vs
Sexyama

182 cm
24
190 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

177 cm
29
190 lbs
6 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Freebok (85% Laundry)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Niko Diaz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Yoshihiro Sexyama!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big left from Diaz misses.
Sexyama fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Sexyama uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Diaz.
Diaz ducks right into an uppercut from Sexyama.
Sexyama waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Diaz.
Sexyama avoids the head kick by Diaz.
Sexyama slips under a jab.
Sexyama is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Diaz defending well as Sexyama loads up on a big left hand.
Sexyama misses with a lunging right hand
and Diaz counters with a lovely straight right hand!

It looks like Yoshihiro Sexyama has been cut.
Sexyama throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice defenses there by Sexyama.
Diaz lands with a hook. Sexyama tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Diaz wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Sexyama misses with a hook
and Diaz cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Diaz misses with a few strikes there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sexyama cracks Diaz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
A slow jab from Diaz misses its intended target.
Sexyama connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Diaz's hands.
Sexyama looks to throw the jab but Diaz is out of range.
Diaz uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Sexyama.
A left lands for Diaz.
Diaz throws a hook but Sexyama avoids it easily.
Sexyama shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Diaz as he jumps to the side.
Sexyama throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Diaz cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Diaz displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Sexyama throws out the jab.
The fighters circling - Diaz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Sexyama takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Diaz scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sexyama misses with a hook. Diaz ducked under it nicely.
Sexyama takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Sexyama is rocked!
Diaz showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Sexyama.
Sexyama is still on wobbly legs! Can Diaz finish him?
Diaz throws a body shot but no joy.
Sexyama seems to have recovered his senses.
Sexyama connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Sexyama with a jab.

Diaz gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Diaz is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Sexyama pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Diaz is keeping the position for now.
Sexyama keeps trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sexyama forces his way into half guard.
Sexyama wants to lay and pray for a moment but Diaz keeps working.
Sexyama is pressing down on Diaz's thigh, looking to free his foot. Diaz is holding on for now.
Diaz is staying active underneath Sexyama, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Sexyama trying to control from Diaz's half guard. Diaz has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

Diaz is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Sexyama is aware though and is defending well.

Sexyama avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Sexyama stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Diaz swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sexyama trying to control the position from guard on top but Diaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Diaz seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Diaz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sexyama accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Diaz looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Diaz keeping moving, preventing Sexyama from controlling successfully.

Diaz has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sexyama can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
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 Niko Diaz will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Yoshihiro Sexyama'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.

The fighters circling - Sexyama throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Sexyama misses with the combination.
Yoshihiro Sexyama is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Diaz lands a lovely overhand right.
Diaz throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Sexyama lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Diaz circles away quickly and effectively.
Sexyama slips a jab from Diaz.
A combination from Sexyama does no damage.
A big right from Diaz misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Good shot there by Diaz.
Sexyama walks into a stiff left hand from Diaz.
Sexyama's jab looks to have found its range, popping Diaz under the eye.
Sexyama misses with a hook
and Diaz counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz misses with a body shot.
Diaz gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Diaz shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Sexyama eats them both and turns towards Diaz to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Sexyama takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Sexyama takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

Diaz gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Sexyama avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Diaz keeping full guard, as Sexyama tries to pass.
Diaz wants to sweep but no luck.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Diaz looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Sexyama trying to control but Diaz is working from the bottom.
Diaz looking for a sweep. Not yet Diaz, not yet.
Diaz can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Sexyama controls the pace.
Sexyama trying to control the position from guard on top but Diaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Diaz keeping full guard, as Sexyama tries to pass.
Sexyama must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Diaz is trying to control the position but Sexyama postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Diaz keeping moving, preventing Sexyama from controlling successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Diaz keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Sexyama.
Diaz throwing a counter right hand but Sexyama manages to avoid it.

A head kick lands from Diaz that sends Sexyama to the canvas. Sexyama tries to scramble back to his feet but Diaz brings him back down into side control.
Sexyama managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Diaz.
Diaz tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sexyama tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Diaz presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sexyama is desperately trying to improve his position but Diaz has a good base and remains in mount.
Diaz trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Diaz punching from mount but Sexyama doing a good job of avoiding damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Diaz goes for an armbar but Sexyama turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Sexyama.
Diaz is trying to control the position but Sexyama postures up.

Diaz is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Sexyama is aware though and is defending well.
Sexyama trying to control the position from guard on top but Diaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sexyama stopping the sweep attempt from Diaz.
Sexyama slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Sexyama is trying to get an arm triangle but Diaz is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Niko Diaz dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Yoshihiro Sexyama's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Sexyama throws a hook to the side of Diaz's head but Diaz sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Diaz uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Sexyama.
Sexyama clobbers Diaz with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

It looks like Niko Diaz has been cut.
Diaz scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
A jab from Sexyama does it's job there.
Sexyama throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Diaz.
Diaz lands with a cross.
Diaz is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sexyama.
Sexyama throws a series of punches but Diaz avoids them all with ease.
Sexyama throws an off balance right hand
and Diaz counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Diaz is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sexyama can do to turn this around?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Diaz closes the distance and lands a vicious right hand that drops Sexyama! Diaz dives in looking to finish! Sexyama is still trying to defend himself but he's taking too many shots and the referee has no choice but to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:51 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Niko Diaz!
After the big win, Niko Diaz made sure to do all the important stuff like thanking his sponsors Freebok (85% Laundry) and telling the interviewer how much he loves him.