PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ross El Diaz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jet Li Iii (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

El Diaz
vs
Li Iii

184 cm
25
183 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ross El Diaz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jet Li Iii!
The judges for this bout are Ron Honeybunn, Steve Erwin and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jab from Li Iii.
Li Iii bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps El Diaz's head backwards.
Li Iii connects with a good right hand that stumbles El Diaz. El Diaz circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
El Diaz is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

El Diaz shoots in and bounces Li Iii off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
El Diaz stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Li Iii swivels though and keeps the full guard.
El Diaz engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Li Iii has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but El Diaz can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
El Diaz pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Li Iii is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Li Iii is on top in guard.

Li Iii throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as El Diaz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
El Diaz is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

El Diaz looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Li Iii with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Li Iii regains full guard. Nicely done.
El Diaz stands up over Li Iii, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Li Iii is looking for a triangle but El Diaz pushes his legs off easily.
El Diaz's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
El Diaz is looking to work some ground and pound but Li Iii has wrist control.
El Diaz sitting in guard here, content to control.
El Diaz 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.
Li Iii is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Li Iii is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Li Iii has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but El Diaz has passed into side control.
You can see the frustration on Li Iii's face as El Diaz controls the position.
El Diaz has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Diaz looks up at the clock and then as Li Iii takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, El Diaz smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Li Iii taking a bit of punishment here - El Diaz scoring with strikes.

El Diaz is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Li Iii has escaped the position, nice work there.

El Diaz is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Li Iii has escaped the position, nice work there.
Li Iii tries to bench press El Diaz off him but El Diaz keeps the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li Iii regains half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. El Diaz connects with a nice short shot to Li Iii's temple.
El Diaz is pressing down on Li Iii's thigh, looking to free his foot. Li Iii is holding on for now.
Well, if El Diaz 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.
El Diaz lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Li Iii trying to control but El Diaz postures up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
El Diaz landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

El Diaz looking to score a takedown here. Li Iii is defending well but El Diaz drives through and ends up in Li Iii's guard.
El Diaz stays in close to Li Iii's body and controls the position.
El Diaz is working Li Iii over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Li Iii is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
El Diaz connects with a couple of short punches.
El Diaz postures up and lands a big shot to Li Iii's brow.
Ross El Diaz overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Li Iii being controlled here, momentarily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Li Iii is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Diaz wants to control from the top but Li Iii keeps moving.
Li Iii is trying to keep El Diaz in close.
Li Iii wants to sweep here but El Diaz controlling him for the moment.
El Diaz sitting in guard here, content to control.
El Diaz landing some decent shots from guard.
El Diaz works over Li Iii with some ground and pound from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Li Iii is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
El Diaz with a nice head shot there.
El Diaz is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
El Diaz trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
El Diaz content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
El Diaz working some strikes from top position.
El Diaz works over Li Iii with some ground and pound from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Diaz trying to control but Li Iii is working from the bottom.
El Diaz works over Li Iii with some ground and pound from guard.
Li Iii working a defensive guard but El Diaz passes into half guard.
El Diaz trying to mount his opponent but Li Iii defends it.
El Diaz seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Li Iii wants to get back to his feet.
Li Iii is staying active underneath El Diaz, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
El Diaz is pressing down on Li Iii's thigh, looking to free his foot. Li Iii is holding on for now.
El Diaz stalling.
Li Iii is looking to control El Diaz's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Li Iii avoid being mounted?

Li Iii looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
El Diaz is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
El Diaz trying to control the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ross El Diaz dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Li Iii lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

El Diaz shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than El Diaz was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

El Diaz is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Li Iii knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
El Diaz advances nicely into full mount.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
El Diaz wants to control but Li Iii has made it back to half guard. Nice work.
El Diaz lands strikes from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Diaz is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Li Iii wants to get back to full guard.
El Diaz tries to pass to full mount but Li Iii defends it.

El Diaz is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
El Diaz scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Li Iii is refusing to be controlled, as El Diaz sits in half guard.
El Diaz is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Li Iii is defending against the submission attempts here by El Diaz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

El Diaz is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Li Iii defends it well.
El Diaz is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Li Iii can do to turn this around?
El Diaz is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Li Iii is refusing to be controlled, as El Diaz sits in half guard.
Li Iii tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
El Diaz working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Diaz is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
El Diaz drops an elbow to the side of Li Iii's head.
El Diaz is controlling the pace.
Li Iii looks like he's trying to stand up.
El Diaz with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Li Iii is looking to get back to is feet but El Diaz passes into side control.
Jet Li Iii has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four 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.
Li Iii is trying to escape the position but El Diaz is controlling the position.
Li Iii prevents El Diaz from moving into mount.
El Diaz scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Li Iii to see if he's OK.
Li Iii is trying to escape the position but El Diaz is controlling the position.
El Diaz passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Li Iii!
El Diaz can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Li Iii is looking to escape.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Li Iii sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Ross El Diaz is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Li Iii misses with some strikes from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ross El Diaz showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for El Diaz, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Ron Honeybunn scores the fight for Ross El Diaz!
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight for Ross El Diaz!
Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight for Ross El Diaz!

Ross El Diaz wins by unanimous decision!