PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Yair Lopez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Diaz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). David Diaz will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Lopez
vs
Diaz

175 cm
22
185 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

178 cm
22
184 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Yair Lopez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, David Diaz!
The judges for this bout are , and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Diaz throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Diaz misses with a wild combination.
Diaz throws a right hand that Lopez ducks under and follows up with a left that Lopez also avoids with ease.
Danga de danga de dang - Diaz scores with a four punch combination!
Diaz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Lopez closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Diaz to the mat! Diaz manages to get full guard.
Lopez won't allow Diaz to get back to his feet.

Lopez stands and steps away. Diaz gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
A combination from Diaz does no damage.
Diaz misses with a series of wild punches.
Diaz misses with a looping left.

Diaz gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Lopez is looking to work some ground and pound but Diaz has wrist control.
Diaz wants to stand but Lopez is controlling the position.
Lopez is in close to Diaz's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lopez stands up over Diaz, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Diaz keeping moving, preventing Lopez from controlling successfully.
Lopez has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Lopez decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Diaz, up you get!
Lopez is breathing heavily.
Lopez shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Diaz pinned against the cage. Diaz gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Lopez shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Diaz as he avoids it easily.
A punch combination from Diaz misses.
Diaz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Horrible takedown by Lopez or perhaps it was just good defense by Diaz which made him look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yair Lopez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Diaz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
David Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Left hook, right uppercut from Diaz.

Diaz closes the distance and pushes Lopez back into the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz is trying to break the clinch but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Diaz wants to break free but Lopez has control.
Diaz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Lopez tries for a takedown but Diaz manages to get underhooks.
Diaz is trying to break the clinch but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Lopez is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Diaz pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Lopez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Diaz lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Lopez.
Diaz wants to break free but Lopez has control.
Diaz wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Diaz is trying to break the clinch but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Diaz tries to break the clinch but Lopez is controlling the position.
Diaz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Diaz is trying to break free.
Diaz can't break the clinch.
Diaz can't break the clinch.
Diaz misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Lopez.
Diaz can't break the clinch.
Diaz tries to break the clinch but Lopez is controlling the position.
Lopez keeps control of Diaz as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Diaz.
Diaz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lopez prevents Diaz from breaking the clinch.
Diaz is trying to break the clinch but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Lopez keeps control of Diaz as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Diaz can't break the clinch.

Diaz escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Lopez shoots in for a takedown but Diaz shows good takedown defense.
Some wild striking there from Diaz.
Diaz fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Lopez drives through and clinches with Diaz against the cage.
Diaz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Diaz.
Diaz is trying to drag Lopez to the mat but Lopez just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

Lopez gets control of Diaz's arms and successfully pulls guard. Lopez will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lopez is on top in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diaz striking off his back but it's not causing Lopez any problems.
Diaz is looking to stand up but Lopez isn't so interested in that idea.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lopez pushes down on Diaz's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Lopez works his foot free and advances to mount.

Lopez is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
The fight stays on the outside here - Diaz looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Diaz misses with a jab, cross combination.

Lopez feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yair Lopez dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Diaz throws a right and a left that both miss.
Diaz closes the distance looking to clinch

and Lopez counters by clinching up.
Lopez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Diaz avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Diaz is looking to break free of the clinch but Lopez has double underhooks.
Diaz scores with a hook to the body.
Diaz wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Diaz tries to break the clinch but Lopez is controlling the position.
Lopez tries for a takedown but Diaz manages to get underhooks.
Lopez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Diaz cracks Lopez with a nice body shot.
Diaz wants to break free but Lopez has control.
Diaz wants to break the clinch but can't.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diaz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Diaz can't break the clinch.
Diaz is trying to break the clinch but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Diaz wants to break free but Lopez has control.
Diaz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Diaz wants to break free but Lopez has control.
Diaz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz is looking to break free of the clinch but Lopez has double underhooks.
Diaz wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Lopez has him pressed against the cage.
Diaz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Lopez has picked Diaz up - he's going for a ride! Lopez dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Lopez is keen to just control but Diaz is a slippery customer.

Lopez seems to be working for a kimura but Diaz defends the submission attempt.
Diaz is looking to escape.

Lopez gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Diaz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Lopez counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Diaz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Lopez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Lopez is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Diaz is just riding it out for now. Lopez eventually gives up the hold.
Lopez is trying to control the action in half guard but Diaz is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lopez is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Diaz is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Lopez tries to pass to full mount but Diaz defends it.
Lopez is trying to control the action in half guard but Diaz is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Diaz is trying to stand back up but Lopez is controlling him
Lopez trying to control the action but Diaz is working from the bottom.
Diaz looks like he's trying to stand up.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Lopez slips a jab and a cross from Diaz.
No luck for Diaz with that takedown attempt.
Diaz will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz has a takedown stuffed.
Yair Lopez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Diaz.

Lopez drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Diaz is not content to let Lopez control the position.
Diaz is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Yair Lopez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Lopez tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Lopez has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Diaz pushes Lopez away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Lopez gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Lopez is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Diaz knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lopez prevents Diaz from escaping the position.

Lopez is trying to get an arm triangle but Diaz is defending well.

Diaz sneaks out the side door and pushes Lopez away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
A punch combination from Diaz misses.

Lopez closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Diaz to the mat! Diaz manages to get full guard.
Diaz being controlled here, momentarily.
Lopez throwing strikes from guard but Diaz blocks nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yair Lopez dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Diaz.
Diaz throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Diaz tries for a takedown but Lopez circles away easily

and Lopez counters with a shoot takedown. Diaz fights it but they end up in guard.
Lopez works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Lopez in half guard on the top. He's looking for a kimura... He's got it locked and he's managed to free his trapped foot. Diaz tries to escape but it's on too tight and he has to tap! Great BJJ skills there from Lopez!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:47 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Yair Lopez!