PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Nikos Stalikas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Daniel James Crawford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Crawford has chosen Kashmir as his entrance music. Daniel James Crawford will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Stalikas
vs
James Crawford

183 cm
23
202 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

190 cm
22
195 lbs
5 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Affordable Quality + Reliable Laundry

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nikos Stalikas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Daniel James Crawford!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Alan Glass and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stalikas is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Crawford.
Stalikas keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Stalikas throws a jab but it's blocked by Crawford.
Stalikas closes this distance looking for a takedown but Crawford circles away.

Stalikas shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Stalikas throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Crawford works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Crawford working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Stalikas.
Crawford has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Stalikas missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Stalikas loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Crawford tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Stalikas trying to control but Crawford is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crawford controls Stalikas momentarily but Stalikas frees himself.
Stalikas loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Crawford wants to sweep here but Stalikas controlling him for the moment.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Crawford connects with a body shot.

Stalikas throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Crawford was covering up waiting for the punch and Stalikas finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Crawford has his hands on Stalikas's head, controlling the position.
Stalikas throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stalikas is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Crawford looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Stalikas throws a big right hand that misses.
Crawford trying to control the position.
Crawford working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Stalikas.
Stalikas has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Crawford scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Daniel James Crawford seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Crawford slips a jab from Stalikas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stalikas with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Crawford to score with a decent uppercut.
Crawford is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Crawford slaps away a takedown attempt from Stalikas, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Crawford lands a nice shot to the body.
Crawford will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Stalikas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Crawford throws a jab when Stalikas was well out of range.
Stalikas misses with an uppercut.
Stalikas takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Crawford scores with a one two! Stalikas had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Crawford scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Stalikas doesn't seem bothered though.
Stalikas fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nikos Stalikas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Stalikas has his takedown stuffed
letting Crawford counter with a right hand.
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!
Stalikas throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Crawford lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Stalikas at a distance.
Crawford fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Crawford lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Stalikas takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.

Stalikas shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Crawford napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Stalikas trying to control the position but Crawford is working away.
Stalikas tries to score with some ground and pound. Crawford controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Stalikas trying to control the action but Crawford is working from the bottom.
Crawford pushes Stalikas away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Stalikas gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Stalikas lands a nice forearm strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Daniel James Crawford will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Crawford misses with a few strikes there.
Crawford throws a body punch but Stalikas moves out of range.
Crawford scores with a nice strike.
Crawford waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Stalikas.
Crawford slips a jab and a cross from Stalikas.
A swing and a miss from Crawford.
Crawford connects with a right hand. Stalikas shakes it off.
Stalikas misses the shot to the body.
Nice straight punches there by Crawford. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Crawford.
Stalikas looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Crawford is fending him off so far but Stalikas persists. Nope, Crawford circles away and we're back to standing.
Stalikas waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Crawford.
Crawford swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Stalikas.
Nice uppercut there from Stalikas.
Stalikas uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Crawford.
Crawford throws a series of punches but Stalikas avoids them all with ease.
Stalikas throws a jab but it's blocked by Crawford.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Stalikas throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crawford throws a shot to the body.
Crawford throws a right and a left that Stalikas avoids nicely.
Stalikas misses with a few strikes there.
Stalikas shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Crawford as he avoids it easily.
Stalikas takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Decent striking displayed by Crawford there.
Crawford cracks Stalikas with an open hand slap.
Stalikas shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Crawford as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nikos Stalikas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Crawford works over Stalikas's head and body with a nice combination.
Nice takedown defense from Crawford. No joy for Stalikas on that attempt.
Crawford moves away from the strike by Stalikas.
Crawford waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Stalikas.
A big left from Crawford misses.
Stalikas misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Crawford throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Stalikas sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Stalikas takes a jab right on the kisser.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Stalikas shoots for a double leg takedown but Crawford sprawls well. He's pushed Stalikas's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Crawford scores with the left hand. Stalikas knows he should have avoided that one.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Crawford scores with a hook to the body. Stalikas takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Stalikas shoots for a double leg takedown but Crawford sprawls well. He's pushed Stalikas's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Stalikas fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Crawford avoids it really well and circles away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Stalikas looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Crawford is fending him off so far but Stalikas persists. Nope, Crawford circles away and we're back to standing.
Crawford stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Crawford wants it to stay on the feet.
Stalikas misses with a jab, cross combination.
Crawford lands a body shot.
Crawford scores with a sloppy right hand. Stalikas should have avoided that one.
Stalikas misses with a wild body shot.
Stalikas misses the shot to the body.
Crawford cracks Stalikas with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Crawford slips under a jab from Stalikas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crawford throws a series of strikes that have Stalikas backpedaling.

It looks like Nikos Stalikas has been cut.
A slow jab from Stalikas misses its intended target.
Stalikas avoids a punch combination nicely.
Crawford throws a body punch but Stalikas moves out of range.
Horrible takedown by Stalikas or perhaps it was just good defense by Crawford which made him look bad.
Crawford connects with a looping right hand.
Crawford throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Stalikas swings for the body but Crawford moves out of range.
Crawford slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Crawford scores with a nice strike.
Crawford throws a body punch but Stalikas moves out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Stalikas is defended easily by Crawford.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Crawford lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stalikas ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Crawford moves away.
Stalikas walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Crawford keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Stalikas takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Stalikas is rocked!
A shot to the liver by Crawford. Beautiful body shot.
Oh Stalikas is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Stalikas is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Crawford's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Stalikas tries for a takedown but Crawford circles away easily
and Crawford counters with a crisp right that sends Stalikas to the canvas! Crawford follows up with punches from the mount and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Daniel James Crawford!
Daniel James Crawford managed to slip a mention for his sponsors, Cripplers Corner, into his post fight interview.