PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jamil Hurst (ranked 857 p4p, 845 weight class) and Attilio De Fiore (ranked 126 p4p, 124 weight class). Hurst comes into the arena with Keep Their Heads Ringin' blaring out of the sound system. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Hurst
vs
De Fiore

188 cm
23
201
9 - 2 - 0

193 cm
23
185
8 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (160Q)

Conviction

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 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jamil Hurst!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Attilio De Fiore!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Daniel Franklin and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hurst throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
De Fiore waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Hurst.
Hurst fakes high and swings low for a body shot but De Fiore manages to avoid it.
De Fiore lands a jab.
De Fiore slaps away a takedown attempt from Hurst, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Good leg kick by De Fiore.
Hurst 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.
Nice defenses there by De Fiore.
De Fiore lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Fiore misses with a wild body shot.
Hurst misses with a hook
and De Fiore counters with a thumping low kick.
De Fiore lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Hurst misses with a hook.

Hurst closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. De Fiore did well to prevent Hurst getting side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hurst is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hurst wants to take a breather but De Fiore is having none of it.
Ground and pound from Hurst.
De Fiore regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Hurst.
Hurst throwing strikes from guard but De Fiore blocks nicely.
Hurst passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Hurst tries to advance to mount but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hurst is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, De Fiore has escaped the position, nice work there.

Hurst tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Hurst has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Hurst working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Hurst is staying tight to De Fiore's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fiore is trying to control Hurst's posture but Hurst avoids it.

Hurst tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
De Fiore tries to buck Hurst off but Hurst is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Hurst is trying to get an arm triangle but De Fiore is defending well.
Hurst wants to lay and pray for a moment but De Fiore keeps working.
De Fiore felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
De Fiore tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Hurst wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
De Fiore prevents Hurst from improving position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
De Fiore looks to score with a jab to the body but Hurst is just out of range.
De Fiore uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hurst.
Hurst throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

De Fiore swings and misses with a hook to the body.
De Fiore fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Hurst.

Hurst drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
De Fiore is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Hurst seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Hurst connects with a couple of short punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Fiore keeping moving, preventing Hurst from controlling successfully.
Hurst passes De Fiore's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Jamil Hurst overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hurst looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Hurst is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
De Fiore is doing well to control the position and prevent Hurst from advancing to side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Hurst throwing shots but De Fiore is blocking nicely.
Hurst works his way into full mount!
De Fiore blocking the ground and pound.
Hurst sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Hurst landing strikes from the mount and De Fiore is in trouble!
Hurst landing strikes from the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fiore avoids a series of strikes thrown by Hurst.
We've been hearing that Hurst has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Hurst controlling the position easily from mount.
De Fiore is bucking up trying to escape but Hurst cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
De Fiore reaches up to try and control the position but Hurst seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! De Fiore rolls and tries to escape and now Hurst has his back!
De Fiore trying to control but not successfully.

Hurst tightening his grip on De Fiore, looking for the choke.
De Fiore is taking damage to the body and head.

It looks like Attilio De Fiore has been cut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Hurst looking to break De Fiore's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. De Fiore remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Hurst will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

Hurst is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. De Fiore is defending well though. Hurst let's go of the attempt for now.
Hurst lands with a hammerfist to the side of De Fiore's head.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Hurst has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, De Fiore has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jamil Hurst dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Attilio De Fiore's cut.
That's time! Hurst's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

De Fiore bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hurst avoids the body shot from De Fiore.

Hurst darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Hurst seems to be trying to get a kimura but instead De Fiore has recovered full guard.
Hurst trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Fiore looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hurst is one step ahead there.
Hurst trying to control the position from guard on top but De Fiore is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hurst controlling from the top position.
Hurst trying to control the position from guard on top but De Fiore is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hurst throws a big right hand that misses.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hurst swings for the body but De Fiore moves out of range.
Hurst throws a jab when De Fiore was well out of range.
De Fiore attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Attilio De Fiore is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
De Fiore jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Hurst pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Hurst scores with a body shot.
Hurst looks to land a left hand but De Fiore moved out of range nicely.
De Fiore pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Hurst scores with a jab. De Fiore acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
De Fiore misses with a looping left.
Hurst shoots in but De Fiore avoids the takedown attempt easily.
De Fiore throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
De Fiore paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fiore swings for the body but Hurst moves out of range.
A nice combination there by De Fiore.
De Fiore lands with an uppercut that bounces Hurst off the cage and back into range.
De Fiore connects with a leg kick.
Hurst moves out of range as De Fiore strikes.
De Fiore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hurst throws a lazy right hand but De Fiore sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Hurst throws a hook but De Fiore blocks it.
Hurst chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before De Fiore can pounce on him.
De Fiore throws a leg kick but Hurst checks it.
Hurst checks the leg kick.
Hurst on the wrong end of a nice hook.
De Fiore avoids the body shot from Hurst.
Hurst slips under a jab from De Fiore.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hurst changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. De Fiore tries to avoid it but Hurst manages to keep hold of a leg and drag De Fiore to the ground. De Fiore escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hurst misses the shot to the body.
De Fiore uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Hurst.
Hurst backing away here, and De Fiore unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
The fighters circle momentarily. Hurst darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hurst swings and misses with a hook to the body.
De Fiore ducks under a wild hook from Hurst.
Hurst thuds his right hand into De Fiore's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Jamil Hurst is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
De Fiore getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Hurst slips a jab from De Fiore.
Hurst is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that De Fiore can do to turn this around?
Hurst misses with a wild body shot.
De Fiore looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Hurst ducks under a wild hook from De Fiore.
Hurst swings and misses with a hook to the body.
De Fiore misses with an uppercut.
Attilio De Fiore has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hurst fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Attilio De Fiore.
I think Hurst has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jamil Hurst!
A very excited looking Jamil Hurst made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.