PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Diablo Maradona (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antonio Ravia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Maradona
vs
Ravia

180 cm
20
170 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

185 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent knees
Enjoys gardening

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Diablo Maradona!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Ravia!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Alexandre Firmino and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Maradona breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Maradona moves into the clinch.
Maradona missing with knees to the body.
Ravia tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Maradona wants a takedown but no success here.
Ravia jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Maradona walks away with a smile on his face. Ravia gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Maradona instigates a clinch.
Ravia lands a nice knee to the body.

Ravia pulls guard successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maradona sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Maradona pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Ravia is keeping the position for now.
Maradona's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Ravia is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Ravia working for a triangle but Maradona defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maradona controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Maradona is pushing down on Ravia's leg trying to pass to half guard. Ravia is fighting to maintain full guard but Maradona has managed to sneak the leg through.

Maradona decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

Maradona gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Ravia wants to get back to striking at distance but Maradona won't allow it.

Maradona manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Maradona has Ravia pulled in close to control his posture.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maradona manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Ravia holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Maradona tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Ravia tries to lock up and control but Maradona gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Maradona with good strikes from the mount here!
The referee warns Ravia that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Ravia tries to hold on but Maradona postures up.
Maradona controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maradona's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

Maradona looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Maradona with the ground and pound from mount.
Ravia is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Maradona content just to control the position here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maradona unloads with some shots from mount but Ravia bucks and avoids them well.
Maradona sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ravia is trying to stand.
Maradona looking to control and managing it successfully.
Maradona landing shots from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diablo Maradona dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ravia tries to keep at a distance but Maradona has taken the fight into the clinch.

Maradona manages to break the clinch.

Maradona closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Maradona thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Maradona wants to control but Ravia is keeping him busy.

Maradona decides to stand back up.
Ravia wants to clinch

and Maradona counters with a single leg into guard. Ravia didn't expect that.
Maradona passes Ravia's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Maradona trying to pass the guard but Ravia defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maradona perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Maradona tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Maradona content to control rather than advance.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Diablo Maradona just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Maradona throws a sloppy head kick and Ravia moves out of range easily.
Ravia tries for a takedown but Maradona circles away easily

and Maradona counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Ravia is breathing heavily.
Maradona uses his free foot to push down on Ravia's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Ravia.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maradona controlling from mount.
Ravia is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Maradona punishing his opponent with strikes.
Maradona postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Ravia looks a forlorn figure.
Maradona controlling the pace for now.
Ravia is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maradona fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Maradona forces the positional change into back control.
Maradona controlling from the back.
Maradona looking to soften up his opponent with punches.

Ravia is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Maradona gets his way!
Ravia is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Maradona.

Maradona is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Ravia knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Ravia for a finish.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maradona misses with an elbow to the head.
Maradona controls the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diablo Maradona dominated that second round.
That's time! Maradona's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Maradona rushes Ravia and presses him up against the cage.
Ravia wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Ravia using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Maradona has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Maradona ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Maradona no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Maradona looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Maradona 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.
Maradona will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Maradona pushes Ravia off and gets back to his feet.
Maradona is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ravia can do to turn this around?
Ravia blocks a low kick nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ravia tries for a takedown but Maradona circles away easily

and Maradona counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Maradona.
Ravia takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Maradona content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

Maradona gets to his feet - Ravia follows without any prompting.
Left hook, right uppercut from Maradona.
Ravia misses with a takedown

and Maradona holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Maradona manages to pull guard.

Maradona uses the cage to get back to his feet.
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!

Ravia gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Maradona to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Ravia can't keep his opponent in guard - Maradona advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Well, if Maradona is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Maradona gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Maradona looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Ravia is trying to maintain the position but Maradona is very close to passing his half guard.
Maradona moves nicely into side control.
Maradona in side control, just content to control the action for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maradona lands a decent elbow from side control.
Maradona has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Maradona looking to control and managing it successfully.
Maradona dominating with strikes here.

Maradona jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Ravia manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Ravia is trying to escape the position but Maradona is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Maradona decides to stand up, so the ref orders Ravia to his feet.

Maradona gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Maradona pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ravia clinches but Maradona breaks the clinch

and Maradona counters with a nice double leg into guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Maradona sitting in guard, not really doing much.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Diablo Maradona showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Maradona has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:25
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:25
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Diablo Maradona!