PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Nick Graves (ranked 145 p4p, 16 weight class) and Tiago Gomes Da Rocha (ranked 619 p4p, 71 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Graves
vs
Gomes Da Rocha

183 cm
22
190 lbs
12 - 0 - 0

188 cm
21
195 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Nick Graves!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tiago Gomes Da Rocha!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, David Schapiro and Dean Styles.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Da Rocha takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Graves swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Da Rocha connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Da Rocha throws an overhand right that lands on Graves's shoulder, as Graves tries to avoid the shot.

Graves closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Graves blocks an uppercut.
Da Rocha wants to stall.
Da Rocha misses with a punch to the body.
Graves lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Still in the clinch, Da Rocha scores with a nice short uppercut.
Graves throws a head punch that misses.
A short left from Da Rocha.
Da Rocha lands with a light punch inside.
Da Rocha tries to stall but Graves uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Graves lands with a short shot to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Da Rocha misses with some punches.
Da Rocha presses Graves against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Da Rocha creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Da Rocha is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Graves is keeping busy.
Graves tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
Da Rocha makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Da Rocha struggles to land a body shot inside as Graves controls his hands.
A knee to the head by Graves.

It looks like Tiago Gomes Da Rocha has been cut.
Graves tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Rocha avoids the damage to the body.
Da Rocha throws a head punch that misses.
Graves stalls.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Da Rocha tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Da Rocha.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Graves.
A knee to the head by Graves.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
Graves lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Graves trying to stall but Da Rocha improves his position.
Da Rocha misses with a punch to the body.
Da Rocha is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Da Rocha avoids it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Graves.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Da Rocha trying to control the position but instead, Graves has worked for underhooks and has pushed Da Rocha into the ropes.
Graves landing knees to the body.
Graves lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Da Rocha working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Graves lands with a right to the head.
Da Rocha blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Graves blocking some punches.
Graves blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Our sources have told us that Graves has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
Graves throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Da Rochas head.
Graves misses with a hook from the clinch.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Graves trying to land knees to the body.
Graves is trying to maintain a safe position but Da Rocha gets an underhook and turns Graves into the ropes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Da Rocha tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Graves's elbow.
Da Rocha tries to stall but Graves uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Graves tries to land a knee to the head but Da Rocha blocks with his arms.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Graves throws a knee to the head but misses.
Graves pushes Da Rocha back against the ropes and unloads with a body punch.
Da Rocha doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Graves blocks an uppercut.
Graves tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Rocha avoids the damage to the body.
Graves with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Graves swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Graves pushes Da Rocha back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Da Rocha misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Graves swings wildly with an uppercut but Da Rocha uses good head movement to avoid it.
Da Rocha lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Da Rocha swings wildly with an uppercut but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
Graves manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Da Rocha has a couple of punches blocked by Graves.
Da Rocha fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A right hand to the body from Da Rocha.
Nice body punch from Da Rocha.
Da Rocha misses with a short punch on the inside.
Graves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Da Rocha.
A nice left hand lands by Graves.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Da Rocha misses with a body punch.
Graves landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Graves throws a head punch that misses.
Da Rocha swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Graves misses with some punches.
Da Rocha is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Graves lands a nice knee to the body.
Graves lands a nice uppercut.
Graves tries to land a knee to the head but Da Rocha blocks with his arms.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Graves dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Tiago Gomes Da Rocha's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Graves throws a big shot that misses.
Graves misses with a jab to the body
and Da Rocha counters with a straight right hand.
Graves wants to clinch but Da Rocha slips to the side
and Da Rocha connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Da Rocha avoids the body shot from Graves.
Graves pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Graves blocks a jab.
Graves is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Da Rocha can do to turn this around?
Graves connects with a jab and follows up with a big overhand right! Oh that's hurt Da Rocha! He's out on his feet! Graves rushes in and drops Da Rocha with another big right hand, forcing the referee to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:36 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Nick Graves!
Nick Graves retains his middleweight title!