PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mattias Wakefield (ranked 4656 p4p, 4847 weight class) and Ben Diaz (ranked 504 p4p, 0 weight class). Ben Diaz has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Wakefield
vs
Diaz

167 cm
25
160
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
18
160
1 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mattias Wakefield!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Ben Diaz!
The judges for this bout are Francis DeMontford, Bruno Hogan and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Wakefield drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

Wakefield tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Wakefield has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Diaz is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Wakefield asserts his dominance and retains side control.

Wakefield wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Diaz, who protects the arm well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wakefield is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Diaz will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Diaz really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Wakefield. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

Wakefield tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Diaz is pushing Wakefield's head away, looking to escape. Wakefield manages to hold on to the position though.
Wakefield just content to control the position.
Wakefield creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Diaz sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Wakefield has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Diaz tries to bum rush Wakefield with a series of wild strikes but Wakefield uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Diaz throws a body shot but no joy.
Wakefield appears to be looking for a big counter.
Wakefield takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Diaz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Wakefield is looking for a counter combo.
Diaz misses with a double jab.
Wakefield tries to counter with a takedown but Diaz is quick to defend against it.
A decent looking cross lands there for Diaz.
Wakefield tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Diaz was well out of range. Poor timing from Wakefield.
Diaz cracks Wakefield with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Ben Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Diaz missing with a left hand there. Wakefield was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Wakefield is looking to counter with head kicks.
Wakefield avoids a punch combination nicely.

Wakefield gets a takedown into half guard.
Wakefield tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Diaz.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wakefield takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Wakefield is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Wakefield not doing much here.
Diaz keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Wakefield sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Diaz is trying to stand back up but Wakefield is controlling him
Wakefield content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Diaz throws a shot from downtown. Wakefield moves away and avoids it.
Wakefield throws a body shot but no joy.
Diaz lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ben Diaz will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

The fighters circle momentarily. Diaz darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Diaz misses with a combination

and Wakefield counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Wakefield missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Wakefield won't allow Diaz to get back to his feet.
Mattias Wakefield overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Wakefield would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Wakefield stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Diaz swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diaz wants to get back to his feet but Wakefield passes into half guard.
Diaz wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wakefield wants to get back to his feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Diaz misses with a hook. Wakefield ducked under it nicely.
Diaz misses with a double jab.
Diaz will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Diaz throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Wakefield throws a push kick but Diaz slaps the foot to one side.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wakefield takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Wakefield breaks from the clinch.
Wakefield dodges the punch combination from Diaz.
Diaz just misses with a punch to the body.
Diaz lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Diaz stalks Wakefield and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Wakefield's face. Wakefield staggers backwards, shaken.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Diaz misses with an uppercut
and Wakefield counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Wakefield darts in and clinches Diaz up against the cage.

Wakefield tightens his grip and picks Diaz up, before dumping him to the ground. Diaz manages to land in guard.
Wakefield slips nicely into half guard.
Wakefield looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Diaz with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wakefield performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Wakefield'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.

Wakefield is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's four 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.
Wakefield performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Wakefield stands up and beckons Diaz to join him on the feet.
Diaz lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Wakefield backs up against the cage.
Diaz lands with a shot to the body.
Wakefield slips under a jab.
Diaz works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Ben Diaz will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Diaz loads up on a big right hand but Wakefield slips the punch.
Some wild striking there from Diaz.
Ben Diaz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Diaz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Wakefield.

Wakefield closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Diaz's guard.
Wakefield slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wakefield is in close to Diaz's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wakefield controls from within his opponent's guard.
Wakefield is pushing down on Diaz's leg trying to pass to half guard. Diaz is fighting to maintain full guard but Wakefield has managed to sneak the leg through.
Wakefield content to control rather than advance.
Diaz is looking to escape.

Wakefield looking for a submission but Diaz manages to get full guard, putting an end to that submission attempt.

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.
Wakefield postures up in Diaz's guard and throws a big left but Diaz blocks it.
Diaz is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Wakefield is controlling him.
Wakefield looking to pass the guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Wakefield is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Diaz misses with a few strikes there.
Diaz punishes Wakefield's body with a nice straight punch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Wakefield.
Diaz throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

Wakefield looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Wakefield showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Wakefield seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Diaz for as long as he can get away with.
Wakefield in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wakefield not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Wakefield wants to pass the guard but Diaz is keeping the position.
Wakefield is pushing down on Diaz's leg trying to pass to half guard. Diaz is fighting to maintain full guard but Wakefield has managed to sneak the leg through.
Diaz wants to stand back up but Wakefield manages to pass into side control.
Wakefield landing a few strikes.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Diaz wants to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mattias Wakefield showed his dominance in that final round.
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 Francis DeMontford scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 28:29
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ben Diaz!