PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rod De Minaur (ranked 122 p4p, 31 weight class) and Ernest Graves (ranked 16 p4p, 5 weight class). De Minaur comes to the cage accompanied by Seek and Destroy . These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

De Minaur
vs
Graves

177 cm
32
157
33 - 9 - 0

172 cm
42
160
48 - 35 - 2

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

New Standard
Shadow Realm Apparel

Bondi MMA 🏝️
Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (160Q)

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 33 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Rod De Minaur!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 48 - 35 - 2, fighting out of Tokyo, Ernest Graves!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Don Winkell and Percy O'Donnell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De Minaur throws a leg kick that is checked
and Graves counters with a nice uppercut.

It looks like Rod De Minaur has been cut.
De Minaur lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Graves stuns De Minaur with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
A slapping body kick lands there for De Minaur.
Rod De Minaur seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Graves just misses with a punch to the body.
A little feinted left hand from De Minaur on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Graves misses with a hook
and De Minaur connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Graves lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
De Minaur tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Graves tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but De Minaur was well out of range. Poor timing from Graves.
De Minaur cracks a nice hook into Graves's ribs.
Graves jabs at De Minaur's body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Graves misses with a left hand
and De Minaur counters with a nice uppercut.
Graves throws a body shot but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves looks to score with a jab to the body but De Minaur is just out of range.
De Minaur thinks about countering with a body kick.
De Minaur with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Graves throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
De Minaur throws a head kick that Graves semi-blocks.

It looks like Ernest Graves has been cut.
Graves swings and misses with a shot to the body
and De Minaur counters with a straight right hand.

Graves is rocked!
Graves tries to clinch up but De Minaur circles away and keeps his distance.
Graves is still on wobbly legs! Can De Minaur finish him?
Graves misses with the combination.
Graves seems to have recovered his senses.
De Minaur scores with a kick to the body.
Jab from De Minaur.
Rod De Minaur is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Graves lands a slapping body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Minaur lands a jab to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Graves walks into a jab.
Graves takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
De Minaur cracks Graves with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Graves throws a body punch but De Minaur moves out of range.
De Minaur thinks about countering with a body kick.
A nice inside leg kick there by De Minaur. That's going to slow Graves down.
Graves is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down De Minaur rather than just go for the knockout.
De Minaur scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
De Minaur leaves Graves with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
De Minaur is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Graves moves out of range as De Minaur strikes.
De Minaur is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Graves uses good head movement to avoid the hook from De Minaur.
De Minaur looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
A jab from De Minaur does it's job there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Minaur pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Graves slips a straight right by De Minaur.
Graves misses the shot to the body.
De Minaur looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
De Minaur keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Graves comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Graves tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but De Minaur was well out of range. Poor timing from Graves.
Graves misses the jab.
De Minaur thumps Graves with a low kick.
De Minaur ducks under a wild hook from Graves.
De Minaur half committed to a counter leg kick.
De Minaur connects with a solid leg kick.
Graves misses the jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves blocks a jab.
A countering left hand to the body from Graves misses.
Graves throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around De Minaur's waist but De Minaur gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Graves off to one side.
De Minaur throws a poor cross that misses
and Graves counters with a nice uppercut.
De Minaur keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Graves misses with a wild body shot.
It appears De Minaur was looking to counter with a kick there.
De Minaur throws a lazy head kick
and Graves makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
De Minaur walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
De Minaur dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Graves. That did some damage!
Graves misses with a body shot.
De Minaur feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Graves throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck De Minaur on the side of the head.
Graves misses with a body shot.
De Minaur fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Graves manages to avoid it.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Graves! But no joy.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Rod De Minaur will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

De Minaur lands with an uppercut that bounces Graves off the cage and back into range.
Decent striking displayed by De Minaur there.
De Minaur takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
De Minaur connects with a single shot there.
De Minaur connects with a body shot.
Graves lands a jab to De Minaur's midsection.
De Minaur uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Graves.
De Minaur scores with a punch to the head.
Graves lands a body shot.
Graves throws a body shot but no joy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Graves connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Graves misses with a jab to the body
and De Minaur counters with a stiff right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice body punch from Graves.
Jab by De Minaur.
Rod De Minaur is winning the standup battle so far.
Graves stuns De Minaur with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Graves takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Graves uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from De Minaur.
De Minaur moves out of range of the strikes.
A head kick by De Minaur misses
and Graves counters with a left to the body.
De Minaur lands a jab to the nose.
Graves throws out a loose jab but De Minaur uses good head movement to avoid it.
De Minaur takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
De Minaur throws a jab when Graves was well out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Minaur throws a lazy right hand but Graves sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
De Minaur is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
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 uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from De Minaur.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Graves crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from De Minaur - the referee stops the clock and Graves gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says De Minaur. Graves manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
De Minaur fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Graves.
De Minaur throws a jab but it's blocked by Graves.
Graves throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Graves takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
De Minaur throws a head kick that misses.
Graves throws the left hand but De Minaur avoids the punch easily.
De Minaur throws a head kick that misses.
Graves now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Minaur thuds a left hand into Graves's body.
De Minaur lands a glancing blow to the side of Graves's head.
Graves uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by De Minaur.
Graves looks to score with a jab to the body but De Minaur is just out of range.
Nice defenses there by De Minaur.
De Minaur was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
De Minaur throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Graves looks to score with a jab to the body but De Minaur is just out of range.
De Minaur thumps Graves with a low kick.
De Minaur scores with a leg kick.
Graves swings and misses with a shot to the body
and De Minaur counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with each other but Graves might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, De Minaur has got the better of the exchanges.
A jab from De Minaur misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Minaur tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Graves looks to score with a jab to the body but De Minaur is just out of range.
De Minaur is looking to counter with head kicks.
De Minaur digs a good body shot into Graves's ribs.
A punch combination from Graves misses.
Graves misses with a body shot
and De Minaur cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Graves dives in for a single leg takedown but De Minaur sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
De Minaur misses with a body kick.
Graves's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Whack! De Minaur lands a heavy head kick that drops Graves. The ref tackles De Minaur to stop the fight - a great save by the referee because Graves was done.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:48 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Head Kick). Rod De Minaur!
Rod De Minaur took to the mic in his post fight interview and said 'Some fans where missing my KO's, well...'.