PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Antone Griffith (ranked 6070 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joey Diaz (ranked 8528 p4p, 0 weight class). Diaz has chosen Ambitionz Az a Ridah as his entrance music. Antone Griffith has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Griffith
vs
Diaz

216 cm
18
177 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

177 cm
18
170 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

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 Helsinki, Antone Griffith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Joey Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Marco Blurström and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Diaz with a poor takedown

and Griffith moves into the clinch.
Diaz tries to break the clinch but Griffith is controlling the position.
Griffith is pushing Diaz up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Griffith really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Diaz has Griffith pressed against the cage, preventing Griffith from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Diaz swings wildly with an uppercut but Griffith uses good head movement to avoid it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Griffith's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Griffith with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz throws a sloppy head kick and Griffith moves out of range easily.
Diaz shoots for a double leg takedown but Griffith sprawls well. He's pushed Diaz's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Griffith tries to counter by clinching up but Diaz breaks away and moves out of range.
Diaz shoots and misses
and Griffith counters with a one-two to the body.
Antone Griffith has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joey Diaz.
Diaz looks winded!
Diaz throws a sloppy head kick and Griffith moves out of range easily.
Diaz lands with a kick to the temple. Griffith shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Griffith shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Diaz keeps the fight on the outside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Diaz drives through and clinches with Griffith against the cage.
Diaz prevents Griffith from breaking the clinch.

Griffith breaks the clinch.
Crunch! Griffith slams his shin into Diaz's torso.
Diaz wants to slow Griffith down by chopping away at his legs.
Diaz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Griffith tries to clinch up but Diaz circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffith tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Diaz is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
A lazy body kick from Griffith

and Diaz counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Griffith has control of Diaz's left arm, preventing Diaz from doing any damage.
Griffith has a closed guard, preventing Diaz from standing up.
Griffith will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Griffith working a defensive guard here.
Griffith has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

Griffith is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Diaz presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
A frustrated look appears on Griffith's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffith is trying to push Diaz away but Diaz has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Diaz throws an elbow but it misses.
Griffith is trying to break the clinch but Diaz has him pressed against the cage.
A short right from Diaz.

Diaz pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Griffith tries to keep at a distance but Diaz has taken the fight into the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Griffith working hard to break the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Joey Diaz will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Griffith tries to close the distance and clinch but Diaz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Diaz clinches up against the cage.
Diaz is looking to break free of the clinch but Griffith has double underhooks.
Griffith is trying to break the clinch but Diaz is controlling him.

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

Griffith pushes Diaz up against the cage in a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffith is looking to break free of the clinch but Diaz has double underhooks.

Diaz is trying to trip Griffith. He has hold of a leg but Griffith is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Diaz persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffith looking to control.
Diaz preventing the sweep.
Griffith looking to control.
Diaz tries to free his leg and advance position but Griffith is retaining full guard.
Diaz forces his way into half guard.
Diaz is breathing heavily.

Griffith has one foot on Diaz's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Griffith connects with a high kick.
Nice takedown defense from Griffith. No joy for Diaz on that attempt.
Griffith is looking to counter the offense by Diaz and move into the clinch.
Griffith wants to clinch up but Diaz keeps it at a distance.
Griffith scores with a head kick. Diaz tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz keeps the fight on the outside.
Griffith is looking to clinch but Diaz is avoiding it.
Diaz throws a right and a left that both miss.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Griffith throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Nice sprawl there from Diaz as Griffith shoots in.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffith shoots for a takedown but Diaz saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Griffith misses with a head kick.
Griffith tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Diaz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Griffith tries to clinch up but Diaz circles away and keeps his distance.

Diaz moves into the clinch successfully.

Griffith escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Diaz lands with a kick to the temple. Griffith shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Diaz is defended easily by Griffith.
Antone Griffith has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joey Diaz.
Griffith throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Diaz's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Antone Griffith will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Griffith pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Antone Griffith is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Diaz closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Diaz lands in his opponent's guard.
Griffith wants to sweep but no luck.

Griffith has his foot on Diaz's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Diaz works his way back into a safe position though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Griffith looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Griffith looking to control.
Diaz tries to free his leg and advance position but Griffith is retaining full guard.
Griffith has a closed guard, preventing Diaz from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Griffith keeping moving, preventing Diaz from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Griffith is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Diaz stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Griffith swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Diaz trying to stand up but can't free himself from Griffith's guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Diaz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Griffith tries to clinch up.
As Griffith backs off Diaz throws a huge counter combo but Griffith manages to avoid it all.
Diaz fails with the takedown.

That's two 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.
Griffith tries to clinch up.
Griffith wants to clinch.
Despite the aggression on Diaz's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Diaz has a takedown stuffed.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz misses with a wild combination.
Diaz misses with a double jab
and Griffith counters with a series of strikes. Diaz will be more careful next time no doubt.
Griffith tries to clinch up.
Diaz throws a counter combo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Griffith throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Griffith.
Griffith tries to close the distance and clinch up but Diaz swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Diaz moves into the clinch successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Griffith keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Diaz's efforts to push away.
Diaz misses with a knee to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Joey Diaz.
I think Diaz has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:27
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a draw!